Fountain Court Chambers

Fountain Court is committed to Equality and Diversity in all aspects of our business.

We strive to recruit and retain talented individuals from all walks of life and frequently review our policies in order to adopt best practice and to reduce the risk of unconscious bias. We regard it as essential to our standing as a leading commercial set of chambers that we should seek to excel in this regard, as in the rest of our business.

We believe in and promote equal and fair treatment for all. We recognise that the obligation not to discriminate against clients, members, pupils or staff on grounds of gender, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, race (including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins), sexual orientation, age, disability, marriage and civil partnership or religion or belief is a fundamental obligation and not simply because it is imposed on us by legislation and the Bar Code of Conduct. We seek to go further and to identify and seek to address structural issues which might lead to individuals from any of these groups being underrepresented within Fountain Court Chambers or at the commercial Bar as a whole.

Mentoring for Underrepresented Groups: A scheme run by Commercial Barristers’ Chambers

We are proud to have joined with nine other commercial sets to create a mentoring scheme to support and encourage individuals from all underrepresented groups to pursue a career as a barrister.

10,000 Black Interns

Fountain Court is a proud supporter of the 10,000 Black Interns Initiative (run by The 10,000 Interns Foundation), a programme designed to give internships to young Black talent.

Bridging the Bar: Mini-Pupillage Programme

We are also seeking to enhance diversity at the commercial bar by supporting and participating in Bridging the Bar, an initiative through which candidates from underrepresented groups are able to apply for mini-pupillages in chambers.

Combar Scholarship Scheme

Chambers also participates in the Combar Scholarship scheme which seeks to promote social mobility and encourage a wider range of candidates to consider a career at the commercial bar.

Fountain Court also regularly partners with universities in equality and diversity initiatives aimed at students: for example sponsoring and participating in the 2020 ‘Diversity at the Bar’ panel discussion held by Bristol University Bar Society and sponsoring events with King’s Women in Law (of King’s College, London).

Pegasus Access and Support Scheme (‘PASS’)

We support Inner Temple’s Pegasus Access and Support Scheme which aims to improve access to the profession and to support high achieving students from under-represented backgrounds by providing experiences and developing skills that will support a career at the Bar.

Pathways to Law

We have close links to the Pathways to Law scheme, which supports academically able students from non-privileged backgrounds who are interested in pursuing a career in law. The project offers placements to students to enable them to gain an insight into the life of chambers and the work of its barristers.  It is part of a nationwide scheme developed by The Sutton Trust and The Legal Education Foundation.

Equal Opportunities in Recruitment

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity in all aspects of our recruitment.

We use published and objective selection criteria in recruiting staff, pupils and tenants and we ensure that all those involved in recruitment have recent equality and diversity training.

We assess applications for mini-pupillage, pupillage and tenancy on merit, but particularly encourage applications from individuals within groups currently underrepresented at the commercial Bar. We actively seek to identify and eliminate unconscious bias through the use of specialist training and techniques such as blind reviews of application forms and assessed work.

Equal Opportunities in Work Allocation

We take seriously our obligation to ensure fairness in allocation of work opportunities as between practising barristers and we are continually seeking to improve and enhance our monitoring and analysis of work opportunities for barristers in chambers.

Transitioning at Work

We wish to foster an inclusive culture in which clients, members, employees, pupils, mini-pupils and applicants from all backgrounds feel welcome and are treated fairly. We have introduced a Transitioning at Work Policy which addresses the support available to anyone at Chambers who wishes to transition.

Caring Responsibilities and Flexible Working

We promote a healthy work-life balance and an inclusive, family-friendly atmosphere and this commitment is reflected in a generous parental leave and flexible working. We also subscribe to “My Family Care” to ensure that those members with familial and other caring responsibilities have additional support in times of need.

Wellbeing

Chambers takes seriously the wellbeing of its members and staff, and we recognise that it is important to manage wellbeing and resilience in order to remain happy and fulfilled and to perform effectively. Our Wellbeing Committee considers and actions work streams to maintain and improve the wellbeing of our members and staff.

Gender Equality

We manage a number of initiatives aimed at increasing and retaining the representation of women at the Bar. Examples include the Female Advocates Breakfast, originally conceived by one of our female silks, which provides a forum for women across the profession to meet and get to know one another in an informal setting. We are also a signatory to the Women in Law Pledge created by the Bar Council, the Law Society and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives and have sponsored various gender equality focused events in the past.

LGBTQ+ Equality

Fountain Court welcomes LGBTQ+ applicants and is proud to have a number of LGBT+ members.

Race Equality

Fountain Court is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity and treatment for all applicants, regardless of race or ethnicity. We participate in a number of initiatives specifically designed to help widen the pool of potential applicants and to encourage those from more diverse backgrounds to consider the commercial bar as a career. We also have a Race Equality Audit and Action Plan which includes a target for increasing the number of Black applicants for pupillage to 10% by the recruitment round commencing in 2025.

Disability and Accessibility

At Fountain Court, we are committed to ensuring that talented applicants, and our members and staff, are able to succeed and we believe that disability should not be a barrier to that success. We have taken steps to ensure that where possible our facilities are accessible and that our working practices accommodate disabled members.

Work Experience

As part of our ongoing efforts to encourage those from non-traditional backgrounds to consider a career at the Bar, we offer work experience opportunities to year 10, year 11 and sixth form or college students where they have the opportunity to try out a range of roles.

PRO BONO

We have a longstanding and proud commitment to pro bono work.

Advocate

Former member of Fountain Court Lord Goldsmith QC established the Bar Pro Bono Unit (now, Advocate), which enables access to justice through providing barristers’ services on a pro bono basis.

We continue to support Advocate’s work in various financial and non-financial means. Fountain Court is a Gold Patron of Advocate and many of our barristers also provide financial support to the charity on an individual basis. Fountain Court is also an enthusiastic participant in the London Legal Walk, a fundraising event arranged by Advocate on behalf of free legal advice agencies in London.

Our barristers also provide legal advice and assistance on a pro bono basis through Advocate. More senior members support its work as case reviewers, and Philip Brook Smith QC is a trustee of Advocate and a member of its management committee.

Other pro bono work

First year tenants provide free legal advice in the Bethnal Green Advice Centre on a weekly basis, as part of Fountain Court’s ongoing commitment to the centre.

Chambers also participates in Pro Bono Connect, a scheme that maintains a network of chambers and firms of solicitors willing to work together on pro bono cases. Through this scheme, Fountain Court barristers have been instructed by law firms on a pro bono basis to provide a joined-up approach to the provision of pro bono legal services.

Our barristers also participate in a number of the pro bono schemes operated within the RCJ, including:

• The Queen’s Bench Division Interim Applications Court Pro Bono Advocacy Scheme.
• The Chancery Litigants in Person Scheme.
• The Commercial Court and London Circuit Commercial Court Pro Bono Scheme.