My first day at Matrix was quite daunting at first, as I’d never done work experience at a chambers or interacted with barristers before. However, as soon as I went there, I was welcomed by the receptionist and was introduced to my fellow work experience students who I’d be collaborating with for the duration of the week. We were told to come early, and upon arrival, we were immediately taken out by Iona to go to Westminster Magistrates Court to watch my first court case. After going through all security checks at court (which I had not expected – especially having to drink water from your bottle in front of the security guards), we managed to find our way to the courtroom, where we went directly into the public booth. One thing I immediately found out was that all courts had public viewing areas, and as members of the public, we could go in and watch any of the proceedings. The case we went to see was an extradition case about a man who had allegedly conspired to commit arson to a car in Azerbaijan. One of the Matrix barristers, James Stansfield, was defending the man in question, and it was very interesting hearing the arguments James was bringing forward; even though we knew almost nothing about the case, it amazed me how the clear advocacy and clarity of both of the barristers allowed us to understand all of the complexities of the case. He was also very kind to us after the hearing, essentially explaining everything in the case, and answered any questions about the case and about being a barrister generally on the way back to the chambers.
Afterwards, we did a task with the marketing team, where we had to use Canva to create an invite for an imaginary silk party that is both traditional and flamboyant in its style. It was an enjoyable task and required me to use my creative skills. Once this was done, we were taken on a tour of Gray’s Inn and Lincoln’s Inn, where we were given information on the path required to become a barrister and information on the history of the different Inns of Court. Since we had extra time, we also looked around the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ).
On the second day, we first had coffee with two of Matrix’s trainees, Zoe and Jessica, where we learnt more about the pupillage route in England, as well as their reasons for becoming barristers and the fields of law they personally enjoy. In addition to this, we learnt more about life as a trainee at Matrix and what they were required to do on a daily basis. After that, we had an induction session with the fees and finance team with Christine, where we learnt about the different types of funding that are provided to a barrister for their services (e.g. private funding, legal aid, VHCC and CFAs). Afterwards, we did another marketing task, this time using my creative skills to produce a post on both LinkedIn and X promoting an article on the Matrix website. This reminded me that barristers chambers didn’t only have barristers, but also support staff in order for them to only focus on the law and advocating.
On the third day, we followed James Laddie KC to the RCJ, where we watched him expertly “dismantle” the opposing litigant-in-person’s arguments. It was a very interesting case, with all of us being so hooked on its intricacies that we forgot to get lunch on time. Watching the tense atmosphere and the astute skills of James, I was truly able to understand the level of standard required to be a KC which separates them from junior barristers.
On the final day, we started with a session with the legal support team, where Sonder and Donella introduced us to what they do and their experiences and paths to law. Sonder showed us the legal databases they use, Westlaw and Lexis, and gave us clues which we had to use to search for the specific case R v Hallam. We spent the rest of the morning reading and discussing the case, where Sonder really helped us scrutinise the individual paragraphs in a case reporting, giving us an insight into her work.
After lunch, we prepared for a series of mock interviews, where we were asked to imagine that we were applying to become an Office & Outdoor Assistant at Matrix – these really tested my ability to think on the spot.
Overall, my time at Matrix was absolutely amazing and has really inspired me to pursue studying law at university. I would strongly recommend anyone sitting on the fence about doing law or becoming a barrister to apply here.