Chambers of Stephen Hockman KC and Mark Watson KC

EQUALITY & DIVERSITY

Chambers is committed to the principle of equality of opportunity without discrimination.

We are committed to the promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion (‘EDI’) amongst all our members and staff.

In relation to all our recruitment exercises, we encourage and welcome applications from women, people of minority ethnic origin and people with disabilities, as well as candidates from other groups which are underrepresented in the legal sector.

Our EDI policies and procedures are intended to support and facilitate our underlying commitment on a day to day basis. A copy of Chambers’ overarching Equality and Diversity Policy may be viewed here

An Equality and Diversity Officer and a Diversity Data Officer are appointed in Chambers. Lee Bennett is our Equality and Diversity Officer and Grace Cullen is our Diversity Data Officer.

We also have a Steering Group set up to further consider and review EDI matters including, amongst others, race and the position of women at the Bar and in Chambers.

We recognise that to ensure the effective implementation of our policies and to realise an equal, diverse and inclusive workplace in Chambers we must all work to that end.

We also recognise that the Bar needs to make better progress in encouraging people from diverse backgrounds to enter the profession. Members of Chambers accept this as a responsibility we can all commit to.

Regularly monitoring diversity data is one tool we use. In accordance with the Bar Standards Board Handbook, we collect and publish the results of our diversity data monitoring exercises. The results of this and more detail on our policies can be viewed here

PRO BONO

“Pro bono” work is legal advice and representation provided free of charge, for clients of limited financial means, in the public interest. Clients can be individuals or groups – for example community campaign or interest groups.

Our members regularly accept pro bono instructions, usually through other organisations like Advocate, the Environmental Law Foundation, and Planning Aid, in all areas of chambers’ work but particularly Public and Administrative Law, Planning, and Environment.

For example, Grace Cullen is an honorary legal assistant providing regular advice and drafting for clients at Citizen’s Advice. Nicholas Ostrowski has successfully represented an asylum-seeker in judicial review proceedings, a local authority tenant in a dispute about water charges (securing a pro bono costs order for several thousand pounds), and has also advised an environmental water charity on changes to the Environment Bill as it travelled through Parliament, to protect watercourses from discharges from combined sewer overflows. Noémi Byrd and James Harrison have also worked pro bono in environmental cases, on planning judicial review and noise nuisance respectively.