Barnards Inn director of chambers Andrea Kennedy has left the set after three years to investigate the possibility of setting up an independent practice management consultancy for chambers.
Kennedy joined Barnards Inn, which covers a wide range of work, including banking, consumer law and civil rights, shortly after it was formed in 1993.
"I was bought in to raise the profile of the set because it was a brand new chambers with a new name," she said. "I was one of the first whose brief was a much more marketing-oriented role," said Kennedy of her job.
On Monday last week, Kennedy told a managing and marketing seminar organised by The Lawyer that she was leaving Barnards Inn. "I had been there three years; I thought I had done what I was asked to do," she said.
While she is expecting to do consultancy work for another chambers, which she declines to name, Kennedy is also weighing up future options.
"I had always thought there was a market for an independent practice management consultancy at the Bar," she said.
Any consultancy would deal with issues such as marketing strategy, business plans and appraisal systems.
The departure of the ex-pat American lawyer has attracted interest from other chambers, and Kennedy is considering her options before making any firm statements on her future.
Timothy Bowles, head of chambers at Barnards Inn, said it was a mutual parting of the ways. However, the set has yet to decide if it will appoint a replacement for Kennedy.
