Ep 60: David Grief (former Senior Clerk, Essex Court Chambers) - Building the Careers of Barristers&Judges - a podcast by Ling Yah

David Grief is the CEO of David Grief International Consultancy Pte & former Senior Clerk at Essex Court Chambers - known as one of the UK's most prominent commercial sets with a multimillion-pound turnover. 

Described in a recent TIMES article as a “giant among clerks”, David has spent over 40 plus years managing barristers’ chambers including at Gray’s Inn Chambers, 17 Old Buildings, Lincoln’s Inn and finally, as Senior Clerk and Head of Administration at Essex Court Chambers. 

But what does a barristers’ clerk actually do?

This might be a bit of a struggle to understand if you’re unfamiliar with how the UK legal system works and indeed even for practicing lawyers. Unless you’ve worked in chambers in London before, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what they do!

But the short of it is this: barristers’ clerks are traditionally referred to as “the Law’s Middleman” and are known to “make or break” a barrister’s career. They manage the diaries of their barristers in chambers, the client relationships, the negotiations and collecting of fees and general running of chambers. They are also a barrister’s therapist, marriage counsellor, discipline master, agent, debt collector and some might even say, ‘pimp’!

Much has been written about the clerking world but less so in the modern day and in this episode, David peels back the layers.

He shares how he first got into the world of clerking, his love of flying, how he manages and grows his relationships with instructing solicitors and barristers, and how he has moulded the careers of his barristers, helping them become silks and even getting onto the bench.

Some of the barristers he used to clerk for include the former Chief Justice of England & Wales and other barristers who have gone on to sit at the UK Supreme Court, International Court of Justice and Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

David also shares his plans in helping to develop the legal industry in Singapore and his plans moving forward with the establishment of his new consultancy - David Grief International Consultancy Pte. 

Highlights:

• 4:46 Being passionate about flying
• 8:30 His interviews to become a junior clerk
• 9:45 Clerking before the age of the Internet
• 11:46 What a barristers’ clerk actually does
• 17:19 Knowing the breaking points of a barrister
• 19:40 Collection of fees
• 22:49 Going through the 1974 UK Miners’ Strike & 3-Day Work Week
• 24:47 Building relationships with instructing solicitors
• 30:02 Being the only clerk with a license to fly
• 35:18 Working with barristers
• 37:06 Direct access
• 38:53 Managing situations when a barrister cops out
• 43:09 Identifying barristers with star quality & when they’re ready to take the silk
• 48:17 People who have most influenced David’s career
• 50:47 Joining Essex Court Chambers
• 57:05 Why David moved to Singapore
• 1:01:32 Challenges in establishing Singapore’s first pure chambers practice 
• 1:04:41 Innovations that David anticipates happening in the legal sector
• 1:06:26 “Don’t ask, don’t get”

📍Show notes: www.sothisismywhy.com/60  

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