Serle Court barristers Gareth Tilley and James Mather on why the often overlooked area of chancery law is a good bet for aspiring barristers

To be completely honest, chancery chose me rather than me choosing it. At law school I was keen on a whole load of subjects, but knew I would have to specialise eventually. I didn't begin my university studies with law – I was a musician. But that never felt like it was the right thing for me so I made a quick side-step to law school. After law school I qualified as a solicitor in New South Wales (I'm from Sydney) and worked in a commercial law firm for a few months and then as an associate for a chancery judge for about a year.

I moved to England to seek my fortune and studied a master's degree in restitution since it involved a lot of areas I liked – such as contract, trusts and property. Then all of a sudden my CV looked pretty strong chancery-wise and it made sense to continue in that vein at the Bar.

The great thing about chancery, particularly commercial chancery, is the variety – one day you're in a Dickens novel arguing about whether an evil aunt drugged granddad to get him to change his will; the next day you might be on a massive multi-party dispute about misrepresentations made in the takeover of an insurance company. At the moment I'm principally briefed in a long-running offshore trusts dispute with a very distinguished leader. This has been great both as a learning experience, for a bit of cash-flow stability, and to get exposure to great practitioners in the field. I also find time to squeeze in smaller matters of my own like small commercial claims in the County Court or company applications in the High Court.

Gareth Tilley is a junior barrister at Serle Court chambers.

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Like Gareth I came to the law fairly late – my undergraduate degree was in history. Although chancery work is often quite technical and legalistic, that sort of background is common in this part of the Bar and certainly no handicap. In the early years at least, encyclopaedic knowledge is less important than the ability to get on top of areas that you might have little or no previous experience of, in double quick time. For me, that's a major part of what keeps the job interesting.

Another is the stories. Variety is the name of the game. Each dispute tends to give you a glimpse into some slice of life or some colourful personality, the likes of which you haven't seen before.

Part of the skill in any litigation is turning your client's version of events into a narrative that a court can readily understand. That tends to bring you, whether for a week a month or a day, to a fleeting familiarity with your client's world, only for your next case to draw you into quite another.

'Chancery', as a description of a part of the modern Bar, is one of those words that probably does more to confuse than to clarify. There's a large overlap with the 'commercial' Bar, partly reflecting the courts' growing tendency to draw on equitable concepts such as fiduciary duties as a tool for regulating commercial life.

As a result, which camp you find yourself in only does so much to dictate the kind of cases you might find yourself working on. Still, there remains a difference of culture and approach that is as intangible as it is real.

There's no doubt that chancery is tough – it's very academic and there's a lot of talent vying for the top chambers. But don't let that put you off. If you like the sort of work involved and are prepared to work hard, it brings great rewards. Being your own boss from day one of your career is unbeatable, no two cases are the same, and the collegiality in chambers creates a great environment to work in. And to top it all off, on some days you walk into court, persuade someone of your argument, and bring a bit of justice about for your client. And that really makes it worth the effort.

James Mather is a junior barrister at Serle Court chambers.

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It's not just wills

The Chancery Bar Association has recently published a new brochure emphasising that recruitment into chancery sets is based on merit, not on what school or university you went to, and that the work encompasses not only the traditional areas but also more commercial aspects of company law.

The brochure aims to correct the perception held by many students that chancery law is stuck in the 19th Century and confined to dealing with wills. It outlines the fact that when the credit crunch hit it was the chancery lawyers to whom the banks facing financial meltdown turned – with a lot of the issues relating to the Lehman Brothers' collapse being heard by the Chancery Division of the High Court. It also explains how traditional chancery concepts such as trusts are relevant models for modern business structures.

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