Being self-employed has given 1 Temple Gardens barrister Tim Kevan the flexibility to pursue his non-legal passions

One of the joys of the Bar is that you are self-employed and therefore get a lot more freedom over your own destiny than most. For my part, as a keen surfer, this meant that over the years as a common law barrister at 1 Temple Gardens I have frequently been able to take breaks by the coast to catch the odd wave when the surfing conditions were right. It also meant that I had time to indulge another hobby, writing.

Having brought together these two interests in my first book, Why Lawyers Should Surf, which I co-wrote with Dr Michelle Tempest, I still had an ambition to write a novel, especially a legal thriller. But instead what popped out was a legal comedy about a fictional young barrister doing pupillage.

I called him BabyBarista, which was a play on words based on his first impression being that his coffee-making skills were probably as important to that first year at the Bar as any forensic legal abilities he may have. It's a strange thing to say, but I discovered that this bold, irreverent and mischievous voice, along with a collection of colourful characters, had simply jumped into my head and the words started pouring onto the page.

I wrote it in the form of a diary and posted it online as a blog. I was hopeful it might raise a few smiles, but in my wildest dreams I never imagined the extraordinary set of circumstances that then unfolded. Having been approached by a literary agent, I was contacted by The Times, which offered to host the blog, and then I got a book deal with Bloomsbury Publishing. All of this happened within the space of less than three months.

In the meantime, I had co-founded a couple of legal businesses that were starting to take off – the first providing free legal email newsletters (lawbriefupdate.com) and a subscription law journal; the second involving online continuing professional development training for personal injury and employment lawyers through video seminars (cpdwebinars.com).

With all this going on, I was still trying to get down to the coast as much as possible. I had bought a house in North Devon, not far from where I had been brought up, near to the various surfing beaches in that area. While trying to juggle all of these things, I eventually decided to move there full-time and take a break from the Bar. It meant I could finish the novel and work on the businesses, as well as get into the sea whenever there was swell.

Freedom

Since then I've sold my flat in Soho, central London, and paid off the mortgage down here, freeing me up financially. It's also been a long haul both with finishing the first draft of the book and then the editing that followed, as well as being involved with the businesses.

The book itself is called BabyBarista and the Art of War and it came out in August. It centres around BabyBarista's first year in chambers, where he fights his fellow pupils for the coveted prize of a permanent tenancy.

It's a fictional caricature of life at the Bar and includes characters that probably exist in most workplaces. Alongside the pupillage race is an altogether battle with BabyBarista's corrupt pupilmaster, TheBoss, whose dishonest fiddling of chambers' records to avoid a negligence action all starts to unravel and threatens to embroil BabyBarista's entire career.

Thankfully, it seems to have been well-received, with broadcaster Jeremy Vine describing it as "a wonderful, racing read – well-drawn, smartly plotted and laugh out loud", The Times books section mentioning its "relentlessly racy, rumbustiously Rumpolean humour" and Thom Dyke in Legal Week suggesting that the book is "compulsory reading for prospective pupils and pupilmasters alike".

It's certainly been an exhilarating period, and wonderful to have some time out to concentrate on other things rather than law. Being back by the sea has really made me appreciate how important it is to concentrate on the quality of life and give myself the time and space to pursue passions and interests.

Quality time

This has meant getting out into the sea and enjoying all that the countryside has to offer. It has not just been through surfing, but also through simple pleasures such as taking on a little border terrier puppy and getting him out to the beach and into the hills and rivers, growing things in the garden, from runner beans to rhubarb, and even brewing elderflower wine and making sloe gin.

Work-wise, I'm continuing to write the blog for The Times, as well as working on a sequel to the novel and watching over the two businesses. Ultimately, I intend to return to the Bar part-time, based in Devon, but hopefully through my chambers in London.

The perspective of having spent time out should ensure that I maintain some sort of balance; not only between work and play, but also between the various different types of work that we as lawyers are able to take on.

Tim Kevan is a barrister at 1 Temple Gardens and the author of BabyBarista and The Art of War, published by Bloomsbury. For more information, visit www.timkevan.com.