Nurturing Diverse Talent
Why Gatehouse is putting equality and inclusion at its core
Based in central London, Gatehouse Chambers (formerly known as Hardwicke Chambers) is a leading, award-winning barristers’ chambers specialising in advocacy and advisory work in construction, commercial, insurance and property law. We are a modern forward-thinking organisation with over 90 barristers and 35 staff working to provide an outstanding service to our domestic and international clients.
A moment here to reflect on our own journey to Gatehouse Chambers. During the course of 2020 and the BLM protests following the murder of George Floyd, a number of legal bloggers started to investigate historic legal figures, including Lord Hardwicke, the 18th century Lord Chancellor. Lord Hardwicke was one of two authors of the Yorke-Talbot opinion in 1729 which was relied on by slave owners as providing legal justification for slavery for many years.
The premises of Hardwicke Building was named by Lincoln’s Inn and became the name of our chambers when we occupied the building in 1991. Once we discovered the association, the name Hardwicke did not sit comfortably with our values. We were planning to move location by then, and the concept of perpetuating the legacy of Lord Hardwicke by taking the name with us when we moved was unthinkable and did not make any business sense.
The name change and building move enabled us to review our core values and agree on an organisational ‘Gatehouse Chambers Charter’ setting out an internal pledge and one shared publicly on our website. We are the proud winners of many accolades and awards for equality, diversity and inclusion. Barristers’ chambers have traditionally struggled to attract and retain diverse talent. We strive to recruit those who in the past might not have considered applying to the Bar, and then to provide support, encouragement and opportunities to develop and retain that talent. Gatehouse Chambers is committed to promoting equality of opportunity and good relations with all those we work with and for.
The journey to becoming a barrister at Gatehouse Chambers starts with training. Those selected for pupillage are supported and welcomed into the collegiate atmosphere. Pupils are treated as part of the team from day one. This first year of training is a chance to explore the things you are interested in. You are exposed to many different areas of law from the very outset. The training period is a chance to work with a range of different barrister colleagues, from those who have just started out in practice at the Bar through to Queen’s Counsel and those who sit as part time judges. The programme encompasses a variety of different types of training including advocacy exercises and presentations on case law. However, the success of our approach is the investment we make in all those who train with us.
In addition to supervisors from different practice areas, each pupil is assigned other practicing members (we call them ‘wingers’) who provide further support; whether that is to listen, answer questions, take them to Court or give them a few words of encouragement when needed. We celebrate training at all levels and in developing the careers of members. We were proud to win awards given by Legal Cheek for Best Chambers for Training and Best Chambers for Colleague Supportiveness in 2021.
Alongside our own training programme, we are delighted to be one of the founder members of Bridging the Bar, an initiative aimed at attracting people from minority ethnic groups to consider a career at the Bar, and to invite them in for crucial mini pupillage opportunities.
Chambers’ culture is built around its people, its core values and its policies, embodied in our Charter. We believe that policies are not just for show but are there to guide and direct our actions, and their implementation has led to a culture which we consider is positive, empowers and supports all talent and is strongly anti-discrimination, anti-victimisation, anti-harassment and anti-bullying.
Our barristers develop their practices in the early years with opportunities to practice across many areas of the law. From an early stage they have the opportunity to build strong relationships with and represent our clients at the many courts and tribunals around England and Wales (and, sometimes, even overseas).
Gatehouse Chambers is proud of the professional management and business support on offer to our barristers and clients. There are many staff roles that contribute to the smooth running of things, from fees collection (debt recovery), office assistants and a marketing team.
We advertise widely when recruiting to the staff team. Our Staff Team Mission Statement identifies six key commitments which underpin our work and aims. Drawing from our Mission, we have a shared commitment to learning and developing ourselves and one another. It is important to us that we nurture diverse talent and are proud that many staff members have developed their careers and been promoted within the Gatehouse staff team. We are very proud to have a diverse staff team, drawn from folk from different backgrounds and experiences. We think this helps us stand out.
Gatehouse Chambers champions and participates in many equality initiatives including supporting Stonewall, FreeBar, the Women in Law pledge, Black History Month, LGBTQIA+ History Month, Neurodiversity in Law, Freehold, Through the Looking Glass, ERA Pledge, and a number of other initiatives (some in collaboration with City law firms) aimed at promoting diversity in Chambers, at the Bar and in wider society. Chambers monitors its diversity in terms of sex, gender identity, sexuality, age, race, beliefs and socio-economic backgrounds on a regular basis and is always seeking to learn from that data so as to ensure equality of opportunity at the recruitment and development stages of the careers of its members and staff. That data shows that chambers has barristers and staff from all walks of life, and that diversity is on the increase.
We also have an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee and three taskforces with specific remits aimed at identifying and implementing ways in which we can educate and create an organisation with equal opportunities for all staff, members, pupils and those with whom we work.
For many years Gatehouse Chambers (and previously as Hardwicke) has been known as a leader at the Bar for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity with a focus on access to the legal profession, youth and education. It is a CSR priority to provide talented people access to the legal profession, particularly those who have not in the past had the opportunity, or do not have other connections. As well as our involvement in a range of mentoring activities, we know that inviting people into our work space to spend time with our barristers, pupils and staff can make a real impact on people’s career choices, and assist them in building a network of contacts for the future. For many years we have run a successful work experience programme which gives students the opportunity to gain an insight into the workings of a barristers’ chambers.
Being a barrister involves hard work, a willingness to speak confidently before others and the judgement to give firm and commercially sound recommendations to clients; it isn’t for everyone. However, nobody is expected to have all of these skills on day one. We look for potential, and the ability to learn quickly from experience.
The modern barrister must also be skilled in business development. This is something we recognise as key to career development, and we have systems in place to train and nurture barristers in making high quality contacts and building up a bank of good clients. We therefore support our barristers, but they must also be ‘self-starters’, willing to seize the opportunities that come their way and build on them. You run your own business but you are better when you have a great team helping and collaborating with you!
Improving equality and diversity at the Bar is a profession-wide priority, and we consider it vital to be at the forefront of that important process. We have a strong belief that anybody with the necessary ability should have a fair chance at fulfilling their potential and joining what is a very exciting profession. We really would encourage anyone thinking about making an application, who has the ability and drive to succeed, to do so.
A leading set specialising in commercial, construction, insurance and property law
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