Blackstone Chambers hunts for juniors to stabilise gearing

Joint head of chambers Ian Mill QC said: “We now have four new commercial silks in chambers. It hasn’t given us a complete imbalance, but it does mean that there are fewer people to take on the junior work.

“Increasingly we see ­solicitors who want to work in teams with barristers. There’s nothing wrong with having somebody from another set, but solicitors prefer to have everybody under the same roof, it’s just easier.”

The gearing ratio of each individual practice within the set is determined by the silks in each practice area, said Mill, adding: “There’s no formula - we’re ­responding to what our clients want and we’re being proactive about it.”

In July competition junior Kieron Beal joined the set from Matrix Chambers. This came after the arrival of employment junior Diya Sen Gupta from Devereux Chambers in January last year.