law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

, a barrister's chambers or barristers' chambers are the rooms used by a barrister or a group of barristers. The singular refers to the use by a

sole practitioner A sole practitioner or solo practitioner is a professional, such as a lawyer or an architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connect ...

whereas the plural refers to a group of barristers who, while acting as sole practitioners, share costs and expenses for office overheads. The concept of barristers' chambers is commonly thought of as a law firm.

Description

In England and Wales, New Zealand, Australia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong, chambers may refer to the office premises used by a barrister or to a group of barristers, especially in the

Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...

. In these jurisdictions, barristers are forbidden from forming or becoming partners in law firms (though they may be employed by them) and (except for those employed by a law firm or by a government agency) are theoretically all solo practitioners. However, to share costs and expenses, barristers typically operate fraternally with each other as

unincorporated association Unincorporated associations are one vehicle for people to cooperate towards a common goal. The range of possible unincorporated associations is nearly limitless, but typical examples are: :* An amateur football team who agree to hire a pitch onc ...

s known as "chambers". The term "chambers" is used to refer both to the physical premises where the barristers' set conduct most of their work from, as well as the 'set' or unincorporated association itself. Chambers typically have office spaces for the barristers to work from, conference rooms with infrastructure to conduct video conferencing for a large audience, printing and photocopying sections, a substantially large and updated

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

as well as rooms for the barristers' and clients' dining and entertainment. Most chambers have a staff to look after administrative matters, including a fully-fledged kitchen and dining hall to serve up meals and refreshments. The transactional side of chambers are administered by

barristers' clerk A barristers' clerk is a manager and administrator in a set of barristers' chambers. The term originated in England and is also used in some other common law jurisdictions, such as Australia. In Scotland, the equivalent role is advocate's clerk. ...

s who receive cases from solicitors and agree on matters such as fees on behalf of their employers; they then provide case details to the barristers and conduct office management for them. Some chambers specialise in particular areas of law. Members are known as tenants and may be dismissed only for gross misconduct. There are chambers all over England and Wales; however, the largest concentration of them is in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. A report by the

General Council of the Bar The General Council of the Bar, commonly known as the Bar Council, is the representative body for barristers in England and Wales. Established in 1894, the Bar Council is the 'approved regulator' of barristers, but discharges its regulatory functi ...

in 2006, showed that of the 355 practising chambers in the United Kingdom, 210 were based in London. In Hong Kong, the 133 chambers within the special administrative region are almost exclusively located in the

City of Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. In Sri Lanka, counsels would maintain their chambers at their residence, which serve as their office and contain their personal library.

References

{{Law English legal terminology