Which area of law does a common law lawyer or barrister practice in?
‘Common law’ chambers offer practice in a wide variety of areas of law with particular emphasis on contract and tort. The current trend is for common law sets to have a number of specialist practice groups so that they allow their members to develop a specialist practice whilst offering expertise across a broad number of legal fields. The precise nature of work will vary with each set, but will inevitably be varied and unpredictable. This means it can be difficult to organise your workload as instructions can arrive at the last minute, leading to late night preparation. Pupils and junior member can usually expect to be in court 3 times a week and will tend to be involved in small personal injury claims, property disputes and contractual claims. There are quite a few mixed chambers where practitioners are involved in a wide range of areas of practice. Those specialising in family law tend to be described as common law practitioners because they are not practising criminal law.
