Governance at the chambers is a question we take seriously. The structures below are the ones we have settled on after four decades of practice.
The chambers is governed by a Council of Members comprising the founding partners and the senior practitioners responsible for each of the six offices. The Council meets in person twice each year and remotely on a monthly cadence. Its remit covers strategic direction, financial discipline, partnership and associate development, and the chambers’ public-service commitments.
Each of the chambers’ fourteen disciplines is led by a Practice Head appointed by the Council. The Head is responsible for the substantive direction of the discipline, the development of the members within it, and the integration of the discipline with the broader bench.
The chambers’ day-to-day operations are managed by a Chief Operating Officer who reports to the Council. Operational governance is deliberately separated from substantive practice direction; members are not asked to manage the chambers’ business systems any more than is necessary, and the operations team is held to substantive professional standards.
“The institutional discipline that holds the chambers together.”