Bristol and Exeter are both thriving centres for the South-West regional bar, reports Grania Langdon-Down

‘When I am going to court in Truro on the King Harry ferry crossing the Fal, I think: “This is a lot better than being on the Piccadilly line going to Wood Green”,’ says Paul Dunkels QC, head of Walnut House Chambers in Exeter, as he highlights the ‘distinctive feel’ of the south-west.


The buoyant legal market makes for an energetic regional bar, with two main centres in Bristol and Exeter. Criminal law work is a key area for the south-west bar, which means local barristers are watching the outcome of the Carter review and the future of legal aid with concern.


‘What everyone is terrified about,’ says George Monck, chambers director of Bristol’s Guildhall Chambers, where just under half the barristers specialise in crime, ‘is that if young barristers aren’t properly supported by an acceptable level of fees, there won’t be a decent criminal bar in a few years’ time.’


Bristol has nine sets of chambers, compared to five in Exeter. ‘Bristol most certainly dominates the Western Circuit,’ says Mr Monck. Guildhall Chambers has 59 barristers and five QCs, organised into five specialist teams in crime, personal injury, property, insolvency and commercial. ‘I think some of the London barristers are quite surprised when they come down here, to see what skilled opposition they meet,’ he says.


While many of the south-west law firms make a point of offering a City service at regional prices, Mr Monck says price is not always an issue. ‘My perception is that, a lot of the time, there isn’t that differentiation in price with London chambers.’


Christopher Sharp QC, family law silk and head of St John’s Chambers in Bristol, says the wide range of specialisms are behind the success of the Bristol bar. St John’s was founded in 1978 and has 65 barristers, including three silks. ‘We are very strong on family, planning and property, with a good but fairly small criminal team. Guildhall has a strong criminal team and is also very strong on insolvency, Albion has good criminal and family law teams, while Queen Square is good on employment. The centres of excellence are spread over more than one chambers, so there is a degree of competition which I regard as particularly healthy.’


Mr Sharp says their work mainly comes from law firms in the south-west, though they are often instructed on cases in London, while a number of sets have sources of work outside the region. But he adds: ‘We are certainly not in the shadow of any other region. Birmingham is Birmingham and they don’t come here very much. I go to the Midlands sometimes. We also have a strong personal injury group, which does a lot of defence work, and the insurers send [our barristers] all over the country.’


While the Bristol bar may claim to dominate the region, those in Exeter do not feel overshadowed. With 20 tenants, including three QCs, Mr Dunkels says his competition comes from Exeter sets Colleton Chambers, Southernhay Chambers and Rougemont Chambers, as well as sets in Plymouth and Truro. ‘Those are the people jockeying for position for the work in Devon and Cornwall, though we do see Bristol practitioners down here, and our silks go to Bristol as there is more serious crime there.


‘Legal aid is a worry and it is beginning to become harder to recruit in this area. However, we intend to grow, so we are looking for new areas of work, such as Parole Board and mental health tribunals.’


The size of the region means barristers spend a lot of time travelling between the principal courts in Exeter, Plymouth and Truro, as well as Barnstaple, where the Crown Court sits once a month, and the county courts in Torquay.


Philip Alden is senior clerk of Colleton Chambers, which has doubled in size over the past six years and now has 21 barristers. Its work is split fairly evenly between crime and family, with about 80% legally aided.


‘Bristol is not seen as dominant,’ he says. ‘The local bar very much holds its own. We have four silks in Exeter, though the nature of the beast means we do see people down from Bristol. It amazes me that you occasionally see people down from London. But how they can afford to come down for a £100 hearing when it is £200 on the train is beyond me.


‘It is competitive, but in a good-natured way. Everybody knows each other. It is still very much circuit-based and it is unusual to be against someone you don’t know.’


All the chambers are watching how the government’s reform of the legal services sector will develop. Mr Sharp does not anticipate a ‘great appetite’ for new business structures, although he foresees barristers moving towards alternative dispute resolution and other areas of work. ‘We are making pretty specific plans for changes in the future, but not in a way which would bring us into multi-disciplinary organisations,’ he says.


The chambers in both Bristol and Exeter acknowledge some difficulty in recruitment, although the lifestyle offered by the region is a big attraction.


Mr Dunkels says: ‘One of our more fruitful ways of recruiting in recent years has been among people who started life in London, and thought, “there must be something better than this”.’