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Tenancy

What are we looking for in a tenant?

9KBW wants to attract those candidates who will adhere to the principles we have established over the years; The provision of the highest quality of service in all that we do, fearless representation for our clients, a willingness to play a full part in the progress of Chambers and the desire to succeed as an individual as well as a member.

 

We will consider applications from those with established practices, as well as those of junior call or have recently completed pupillage and who demonstrate exceptional ability, commitment and enthusiasm. 

We are a common law set and although we practice predominantly in Criminal Law, many of our members have mixed practices with Regulatory and Immigration Law a vital part of our work. We also welcome applications from those qualified, or who are intending to undertake the training, to accept Direct Public Access instructions. More details about our direct access work can be found on the Direct Access page of this website.

Chambers is extremely busy with an unprecedented level of heavy and exciting work being received by  members at all levels. Our probationary tenants find that they have thriving practices from the commencement of their probationary period. We would warmly welcome applications from those who practice in any of specialist areas and at all levels of call and can offer you the assurance of a stable and committed set of Chambers where the level of incoming work is of an exceptionally high standard in all of the areas in which we specialise.

Whilst the Covid -19 crisis was ongoing, Chambers members became increasingly involved in court and tribunal hearings conducted remotely and we continue to conduct some of our work, as well as conferences and meetings using a number of electronic platforms. We therefore welcome applications from those not necessarily living on the South-Eastern Circuit.

What can 9 KBW offer you?

The experience and stability that comes with being one of the longest established sets in the Temple. We are a diverse and multi-cultural set with friendly and approachable members, who provide strong and genuine support for one another, on a daily basis. 

As a member you will have the opportunity to rapidly expand your current practice or to develop a junior one at a high level and quickly. We believe firmly in the fair and equal distribution of work at all levels and we ensure that our junior tenants, probationers and pupils are all given the same equality of opportunity to experience work in many courts, in cases of varying gravity and weight and with fast progression in criminal cases to a Crown Court practice. Fair allocation of work is regularly monitored and assessed , in accordance with Bar Council guidance and our very experienced and dedicated clerking team go that extra mile and then add another mile to that, to ensure that members achieve and maintain a very high standard and volume of incoming work.

Several of our senior members are instructed as Leading Counsel, for both prosecution and defence, and we offer ample opportunity for those at senior level to lead and for those of junior call to be led.

If members or pupils wish to apply for the Crown Prosecution Service Advocate Panels, or other agency panels, our highly experienced Managing Consultant and Senior Clerk are there to guide each through the process. Our clerks are very well versed in knowing the experience necessary to qualify for general as well as specialist panels and will assist and guide those considering whether to apply through achieving the necessary experience and knowledge to do so. 

Since the inception of Advocate Panels our success rate at all levels, including Grade 4 in Serious Crime, Serious Fraud, RASSO for the CPS, and the SFO Panel has been exceptional.

Several of our juniors are members of the GLD Panel and the specialist CPS Extradition Panel and all juniors are assisted with the application process for these opportunities at an early stage. 

We do considerable work for Regulatory bodies and no matter how junior our tenant or pupil, our clerks will always assist and encourage those who wish to gain experience in this area of law, to do so.

We have members who undertake Immigration Law at all levels and again, new members are offered the opportunity to either take on this work or gain experience if they have an interest.

We offer membership of a set who have already undergone the rigorous process of the Bar Council Supervision Strategy Assessment and who, in 2021, repeated a similarly extensive exercise with the BSB Regulatory Return. Our working practices, policies and procedures have therefore been thoroughly tested at all levels. Chambers adheres fully to the BSB Transparency Standards and we firmly believe and adhere to the principles set out in our own Practice Policies and Procedures and the BSB Handbook Rules and Guidance.

Chambers has recently applied to become an AETO and we are currently undergoing the assessment of that application. We currently have five experienced Pupil Supervisors and members are encouraged to take on the role of a Pupil Supervisor whenever qualified to do so. This means that we are able to give our pupils the widest possible experience and opportunities to shadow and assist several members of Chambers in their widely differing practices with three monthly rotations of supervisors during their 12 months of pupillage.

Should our application to become an AETO be successful, Chambers will be able to train and appoint our own Pupil Supervisors from 2023. A Supervisor Training Programme is already in place, pending AETO assessment and authorisation from the BSB.

We have a strong belief in the recruitment of Pupils as they are the lifeblood of the Bar. We currently have three pupils in their first six and in 2023 we will be offering three Pupillages with a view to tenancy in 2024

Two of our recent pupils have recently accepted Tenancy after completion of their second six and our last three Probationary Tenants have all been offered and accepted Tenancy. Our juniors are extremely busy, the majority of the time in the Crown Courts in Jury trials, and they have also undertaken the training required in order to undertake regulatory work. 

At 9 KBW we are highly proactive in making sure that those who join us, at any level,  are offered every opportunity to expand their practice into other areas if they so wish. Those who join us, who have not prosecuted before, but wish to do so, are given every full guidance on the process. Similarly those who would like to undertake regulatory work or join the GLD panel will be taken through what is needed by our not only very experienced clerks, but our highly approachable and supportive clerks.

The structure and offices appointed for the management of Chambers is very clearly set out in our Constitution. We have two highly committed Joint Heads of Chambers, Shabeena Azhar and Jonathan Mole and an elected Management Committee, responsible for the governance of Chambers.

Our Managing Consultant, Christine Eadie, is responsible for the daily management of Chambers, regulatory compliance as well as Chambers administration and finance .

We have a highly motivated and experienced clerking team, headed by our Senior Clerk Dave Fardon..

Our clerking team pride themselves on timely and highly accurate fee billing and collection

Our premises are in the very heart of the Temple. They are not extensive but we offer comfortable communal accommodation for members with the addition of a dedicated conference room, keeping our overheads to a minimum.

Despite the difficulties our clerking team provided smooth and efficient remote working arrangements during the pandemic restriction and are well versed in dealing with remote working and electronic hearings..

We have secure and up to date IT systems and methods of communication. We are fully able to deal with paperless prosecutions and we accept electronic instructions from most of our Solicitors in all areas of practice.

Chambers is highly pro-active and dedicated to the marketing of all individual members and Chambers itself.

 If the above is what you are looking for, then why not give us a call or drop us an e mail asking for a confidential discussion. You are welcome to speak to either Heads of Chambers or a member of the Tenancy Committee or Dave Fardon, Senior Clerk. All will be happy to talk to you.

If you would like to apply, it is a straightforward process consisting of a written application followed by an interview. Details of how to apply are set out below. 

 

Applications

Applications should take the form of a covering letter, CV and references (or details of potential referees) and should be e mailed to Christine Eadie  christine@9kbw.com

If your application is successful you will be invited to an interview by the Tenancy Committee, who make a decision based upon your written and oral application. You will normally be notified of the result within 7 days.

Anyone wishing to know more about tenancy, prior to making an application and would like to set up either a confidential Zoom discussion or a confidential meeting, with either our Senior Clerk Dave Fardon, or any of our team, we will be delighted to do so.

Our Heads of Chambers are Shabeena Azhar and Jonathan Mole

Our Tenancy and Pupillage Secretary is Claire Stevenson 

Our Managing Consultant is Christine Eadie christine@9kbw.com

Our Senior Clerk is Dave Fardon dave.fardon@9kbw.com

Equality and Diversity Data Monitoring 

We would be grateful if each applicant would complete and Equality and Diversity Monitoring Form. This allows us to review our data annually and to ensure that Chambers meets its statutory duty under the Equality Act 2010 as well as assisting us in developing our Equality Action Plan and Recruitment Policy for the future.

Please select the from the forms below and send the completed anonymous version to our Equality and Diversity Data Officer.

Information supplied will be kept entirely confidential and is seen only by Chambers EDDO

Tenancy Equality and Diversity Form

Probationary Tenancy Equality and Diversity Form