Atkin Chambers’ Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC was named in the Hot 100 in 2008, the same year she held the impressive accolade of being the youngest woman to be made up to silk in that round.
Since then her energy, infrastructure and shipping practice has gone from strength to strength as she has taken on weightier mandates and bigger international clients.
“It’s a big step in your career to take silk,” she recalls. “Immediately, other than the excitement, your practice changes relatively little in the first six months. Then, about a year in, you find yourself doing much bigger cases in terms of value and complexity.”
Doerries’ particular focus significantly benefited from the appointment as international shipping and infrastructure clients “really recognise the rank of QC as a respected kitemark of excellence”, she adds.
Over the subsequent years she has been involved in major arbitrations, FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading installation) disputes and traditional oil and gas work in Europe and Asia.
“My field has seen a colossal growth in relation to construction disputes and payment disputes in the past few years,” Doerries says. “It’s an interesting area as it has been heavily affected by the general economic climate – first the financial crisis and now low oil prices.”
Professional champion
All that will be put on pause this year, as Doerries has been appointed chair of the Bar Council for a one-year term, effective January 2016.
The role will see her championing the profession before Government, regulators and big business. She steps into the role at an important time, as the legal profession is facing swingeing budget cuts in the criminal sector and other significant changes in terms of legislation and Government attitudes.
Her appointment follows four years as chair of the international committee and Bar Council vice-chair-elect for one year.
“It gave me a real flavour of what the Bar Council does,” she says. “I think of it as my way of giving back to the profession.”
The top job involves representing the bar and lobbying on its behalf.
“It appealed to me because representing the profession I care about felt like something worth doing,” Doerries says. “We live in challenging times for legal services and there is much need for strong voices in proposals to reform it.”
Doerries says her Bar Council role has allowed her to see the profession from outside her relatively narrow practice.
“It’s one of the things I love most about the job,” she says. “ The profession has become so specialist but this is giving me a chance to look at it more broadly. It reminds me of when I first came to the bar. You don’t have a burning desire for a particular area straight away.
“The last year and a half has been a learning curve. I’ve spent a lot of time meeting lawyers from a variety of practice areas, getting involved with circuits beyond my own field and visiting Crown Court and prisons. I’m using skills from my day job to soak up a lot of information and figure out what matters to the bar, then using this to come up with some ideas and strategies.”
She adds: “My main ambition as chair is to leave my profession and the Bar Council stronger. Both face challenges and the Bar Council is there to ensure the profession is representative and represented, and give the public and industry a better understanding of our services.”
Initiatives Doerries is championing include the Ethics Hotline, run throughout the year for any barrister with an ethical concern. It takes around 6,000 calls every year. She is also undertaking research into wellness in the profession and continuing negotiations with the Government in relation to criminal legal aid.
Survive and thrive
“One of the greatest challenges we face day-to-day is that we as a profession run the risk of taking for granted that our justice system will continue to survive in a way that is accessible for everyone,” Doerries says. “We need to persuade Government and society generally that we have to pay for our justice system to keep people confident in it.
“The job of the Bar Council is about focusing on the profession to ensure it can survive and thrive in the future.”
Chantal-Aimée Doerries
Born in 1968 Doerries was the youngest woman to be made up to silk in 2008, and the accolade was clearly well-deserved. Her skills in the courtroom see her involved in many of the largest and most high-profile disputes in the construction and energy sectors. Most recently she has been leading a substantial legal team for a European energy company bought by a multinational energy joint venture arising out of a Middle East power project.
The Lawyer Hot 100 2008
