Jason Beer KC: “My most vivid pupillage memory? Watching an all-barrister punch-up.”

What’s your most vivid memory from being a pupil?

It was the first two weeks of my second-six pupillage. I was sent along to take a note on behalf of the police service at a high-profile inquest for those two weeks. The inquest was being held in a Crown Court because of security concerns, and the need for bag searches/a security arch etc. The atmosphere crackled every day in court between the other counsel (notwithstanding the nominally inquisitorial nature of the proceedings). I was not involved – I just wrote things down.

There came a point when an issue needed to be discussed between all counsel – this took place in a side-room outside of the courtroom. I attended too – just to write things down. I witnessed the almightiest row between two senior barristers (the like of which I have not seen since): it descended into fisticuffs, and then one of them blocking the exit to the room by holding on to the door handle (“You will listen to my argument”), and the other grappling to escape (“Your conduct has satisfied all of the ingredients of the tort of false imprisonment”). I just wrote it all down.

Tell us about a sliding doors moment when your career could have gone in an entirely different direction?

When I was qualifying, there was no centralised system that administered applications for pupillage. No Pupillage Gateway, or similar. Equally, there was no limit on the number of applications an applicant for pupillage could make.  It was simply a question of how many letters you were prepared to write (the internet/email had not caught on at this time). I made applications to a wide range of chambers (about 20 in total, as I recall). l was lucky enough to receive a number of offers of pupillage. Some were from commercial sets. Others from common law sets (including 5 Essex Court – now 5 Essex Chambers).

I seriously considered the offers from the commercial sets – especially the pupillage awards on offer, and the promise of the likelihood of significant earnings. I decided in the end to choose the set that everyone I spoke to said was the friendliest, most collegiate and most supportive – 5 Essex. Thirty-two years later, I couldn’t be happier with my choice.

What’s the hardest question you’ve ever been asked at interview, and how did you answer?

When I was being interviewed for a place at university, I was asked something along the lines of: ‘Does law claim authority?‘  Being only 17, not having studied law, and having attended a school that didn’t prepare students in any way, still less for questions like this, I answered it poorly. That was certainly the view of the two dons interviewing me, who told both me and each other what they thought of my attempt at an answer.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get to where you are/do the job you do?

Work hard and be kind.

Tell us about ONE former colleague who you miss, and why? (It doesn’t have to be a lawyer)

Jeremy Gompertz KC. Jeremy was Head of Chambers when I joined 5 Essex, and in my formative years at the Bar.  He led me in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and in the Hutton Inquiry (both of which led to the development of my public inquiry work), as well as a good many civil cases involving the police service.

Jeremy has absolute integrity, rock-solid judgement, and was a beautiful advocate. I (and a number of others in chambers) would often confront tricky issues, especially ethical or professional conduct issues, with the question: ‘What would Jeremy do in this situation?’