David Forsdick, barrister, Landmark Chambers

I assumed I would end up as a solicitor when I was doing my conversion course, as I thought becoming a barrister would be too expensive and was not an option for someone with a 2.1 in history from Warwick and no contacts. All that changed when friends encouraged me to get involved with the Free Representation Unit (FRU), a charity that provides representation in social security cases. I realised that I loved advocacy and approached Gray’s Inn to find out about scholarships. After some gruelling interviews, I was offered an award that would be enough to get me through Bar school. The compulsory ‘dining’ at the Inn was an eye-opener. A friend said before my first night, ‘Don’t worry, it’s just like being back at school.’ It wasn’t much like lunch time at my comprehensive!

Sherry and a pupillage

Bar school was not taxing and I spent most of my time at FRU, where I was able to make some very useful contacts at the Bar. At one pupillage interview the first thing I was asked was why I had not got a first and why I had only gone to Warwick; at another I was offered sherry and a pupillage before I had said anything much. I eventually got funded pupillages in two forward-looking sets. My memories of my mid-twenties are of working exceptionally hard, being pretty stressed a lot of the time and trying to party as if I was still at uni.

Work/life balance at the Bar

Twelve years down the line, the old traditions have largely gone. I have a fantastic and varied job and a much better work/life balance than I would have as an employed solicitor. The Bar is still an extremely difficult profession to become established in, but I would do it again – although many of my friends who did not get pupillages or tenancies would disagree.