Full-service set 36 Bedford Row has dumped the chief executive management model for a return to the traditional senior clerk set-up, following the departure of practice manager Peter Bennett last year.
The move has raised eyebrows at the Bar as the 71-member set was one of the first chambers to adopt progressive management by appointing Bennett as its first practice manager nearly six years ago.
Senior clerk Bill Conner, who joined last year from the late George Carman QC's dissolved New Court Chambers, will lead the new administration and be responsible for all clerking matters.
Louise West, formerly of Matrix Chambers, is taking the supporting role of director of finance
and administration. Bennett had overall responsibility for all administrative aspects of chambers life.
A general squeeze on fees, alongside the government's legal aid reforms have been suggested as the set's decision to dispense with a practice manager. The set is still largely reliant on publicly funded work, although the chambers denied that financial pressures were behind the move.
West told Legal Week: "The main reason for the change is because of the size of the chambers, one person cannot be responsible for everything."
She added that Conner was in the lead role because of his greater experience in clerking and administrative matters.
Head of chambers Michael Pert QC praised the structures put in place by Bennett.
He added: "Peter said at the time of his appointment that if he did the job well he would effectively put himself out of a job."
Bennett, one of the Bar's best-known practice managers, left at the end of last year to head
up Maitland Chambers, the chancery set formed by the merger of Lincoln's Inn Chambers, 13 Old Square and 7 Stone Buildings.
His term at 36 Bedford Row was generally regarded as a success, despite a failed merger with the Nottingham chambers St Mary's and King Charles House. The chambers grew considerably, opening annexes in Leicester, Northampton and Nottingham.