Court Out - By Elle Wynne Page 0,19
sadly, it’s a far cry from the reality. The Government is on a mission to cut fees as much as they can and the latest round of slashes has really hit us hard. The senior barristers have taken some terrible blows too; the fees for murder cases have been reduced beyond recognition.
“Whatever. It’s not like he abandons them altogether,” she huffs back at me. “It’s not his fault he is so busy he has to compromise”
“Whoa, chill!” I quickly attempt to backtrack, knowing that if I induce one of Serena’s legendary moods then I’ll have to spend the next week trying to make peace. “So who’s his junior?”
“I don’t think I’ve met him, guy from London called Andrew Rivers. I’ve googled him, but there’s no picture of him on his Chambers profile”
“No, the name doesn’t ring a bell with me either. God, I hope people don’t look us up via our website!”
Serena laughs. About six months ago we had a photographer come in to Chambers to take our mug shots for the website. We’d been out the night before, Serena drowning her sorrows after losing a trial that seemed bullet proof. The first round of cocktails had gone down way too quickly and as I was out of court the next day, I put up little resistance to the second. Or the third. Or the, well, you get the picture.
Serena had been unusually maudlin that evening, bemoaning her skills as an advocate and complaining that the Magistrates had convicted her Defendant on the basis of prejudice not evidence. The night ended rather messily with me trying to cheer her up. My attempts at sympathy were not received well as I’d just won a rather complicated fraud, leading to Serena thinking I was being patronising. I wasn’t but when we parted I couldn’t help but sense a note of resentment when she said goodbye. The combination of a killer hangover and a nagging feeling that I’d done something wrong did not make for a good photograph and I have been immortalised looking like a cross between a labradoodle and a post-conviction Lindsay Lohan. Not good. The worst thing is that our mini-pupils print out copies to find barristers at court, so I can never escape it. I’ve offered to pay to have a new one done, but my generous request has been refused on the grounds that my current picture cheers up the clerking team on Monday mornings.
“So when does the trial start?” I ask, staring at the offending photo on my laptop. Wow, it really is as bad as I remember.
“Four weeks tomorrow. It’s come at the perfect time as my diary was looking quite empty.”
I log on to our online diary system that shows us which cases we’ve been booked for to see what the next few weeks have in store for me. I notice with alarm that whilst the next fortnight is busy, my diary is looking rather sparse the week after that. If I were the jealous type, I’d question why Serena’s got at a week of easy money and I’m potentially out of court. Good job I’m not. Well, ok, I am a little jealous, I mean imagine being involved in such an important case, working side by side with one of the most notorious silks in the country. She interrupts my reverie.
“Yeah, plus, the case has been moved to Farrington from Birmingham, so it’s not like I’ll even have to travel much each day”
“That’s a relief, there’s nothing worse than having to get up at some ungodly hour each day to get to court. By the way, did you get an invitation to the reunion too?”
“Yes! Can’t wait, should be a night to remember!”
A night of carnage would be more accurate given past performances.
“It’ll be great,” I confirm. “Can you remind me to send off a cheque in the week? Speaking of, what are you up to tomorrow?”
There’s a pause before she speaks quickly, “Just some papers in Chambers. Right, well I’d better get off before the shops shut. See you anon!”
I barely have time to reply, “Take care” before she disconnects the call.
As I put down my phone, I wonder what that was about. I’ve noticed recently that Serena hasn’t been as busy as the rest of us, often having three days out of court a week. Given we’re all self-employed with a commitment to pay Chambers a set amount of ‘rent’ every month, regardless of how much we work, it can be difficult