I was delighted to be asked to join Cornwall Street Chambers to take up the post of Practice Manager in January 2013. They are a modern and dynamic set comprising of around 65 barristers based in Birmingham, Oxford and recently joined by our new colleague in Maidstone.Noted by the Legal 500 as a Leading Set and with expertise across a broad range of legal disciplines my role will predominately be to further enhanced the civil teams within chambers, whilst at the same time assisting and guiding all other practice groups. Having worked at the set (albeit under the guise of 6 Fountain Court) some 20 years ago it has been wonderful to get reacquainted with clients, counsel and staff.Cornwall Street is noted by the Legal 500 as being ‘very accommodating’, ‘provides a very personal service’ and ‘goes above and beyond’. The ‘superb’ clerking team is ‘very helpful’ and ‘will always meet client needs, prioritising urgent instructions and finding appropriate counsel at short notice, if needs be’. Practice manager and civil clerk Matt Fleming is ‘always on-hand’ and ‘always exceeds expectations’.

Managing the practices of the barristers within chambers covering crime, regulatory and common law Citadel now have a national presence thanks to a commercial alliance with New Park Court Chambers. Based in both Leeds and Newcastle and boasting 140 members the association will allow strong strategic positioning to cover not only crime but family, employment, personal injury and commercial work.

St Ives "houses one of the biggest and most versatile Court of Protection teams outside London" and "its barristers are unique" Chambers and Partners 2012St Ives Chambers has ‘some of the best family practitioners in the Midlands’ and "is the preeminent family and housing law set on circuit" The Legal 500, 2012A year spent covering maternity leave I was primarily responsible for the clerking and development of the family team within chambers as well as utilising my experience to promote and assist other practice areas such as commercial, employment, general civil and regulatory - in addition to dealing with Licensed and Public Access issues.

Initially Chief Clerk at one of the largest chambers in the country I became an integral part of the team that led to the merger that initially created this "super-set" and then two subsequent mergers. I later took up the specialist mantle of Senior Civil Clerk. My remit was to organise a team of approximately 60 barristers across employment, personal injury, property and commercial law and to be the key contact for both Licensed and Public Access within chambers. Keeping up to date with changes in the profession and being conversant with the threats and opportunities offered via the recommendations made by the OFT and the Clementi Report and duly enacted by the Legal Services Act 2007. Being au fait with the formation of Alternative Business Structures, Legal Disciplinary Practices, amendments to the Public Access regime and the potential funding changes suggested by the Jackson Report. In addition I led the clerking of the ADR group within chambers, a team of some 20 barristers who set up a separate limited company to deal with mediation and arbitration. This entailed drafting and adapting the mediation contract, liaising with parties as to their particular requirements and steering them towards the correct mediator for the dispute at hand.

Running a mixed set of civil, family and criminal barristers. The huge success of these Chambers led to the merger that created St Philips.

Dealing with all aspects of clerking in a common law mixed set

General post room and clerking duties, data entry.