What is a tenancy?
Barristers working within a set of chambers are self-employed and are known as tenants. Tenants therefore work under the ‘umbrella’ of chambers for themselves, but with an experienced barrister at its head and usually a clerk to manage the flow of work. New tenants will often be expected to pay towards the costs of running the chambers (although costs are usually apportioned on a sliding scale by earnings) and in some cases even to buy into a company that, for instance, owns the chambers building. There are approximately 11,000 independent barristers in England and Wales, with about 5,500 in London. They work within some 500 sets of chambers, including sole practitioners. Even though they have completed pupillage there is no guarantee that they will manage to secure a tenancy. In fact, as low as only one-third of pupils find a tenancy. The most obvious place to look for a tenancy is the chambers at which they did their pupillage. Normally a tenancy committee will consider their academi
