The Hot 100 career quiz: 3VB’s Saima Hanif QC

What’s your most vivid memory from being a pupil?

Two things people typically associate with barristers are that they work in elegant buildings in the Inns and that they are fighters, with Ciceronean rhetoric their weapon of choice. I came to the Bar believing and hoping for exactly this.

The surprise is that the reality of pupillage lived up so brilliantly to my hopes.

My first pupil master’s room was large with high ceilings, wooden floors and huge Georgian sash windows overlooking Gray’s Inn and, to my delight, there was a beautiful desk for me in the corner.

Later, I watched him cross-examine a witness in court. The questions were delivered with such charm and guile that the unsuspecting witness obediently complied, not realising where they were heading, and the drubbing they were taking along the way. It was a great demonstration that effective advocacy need not be aggressive. It was also a ‘Eureka’ moment as I realised then, the sort of barrister I aspired to be.

What is the thing in your professional career that has terrified you or taken you out of your comfort zone the most?.

My temperament suits the Bar and I don’t find the intensity of trial preparation, advisory work or client-handling painful – I relish them and pretty much all aspects of the job.

What I did find tough however was the meandering path my career took after my first chambers, a respected public law set, collapsed suddenly while I was on maternity leave. I never expected to move, so it was a shock to be in a situation where I had to find another chambers quickly. I bounced anxiously into one set, and then another. Sometime later, my journey culminated in a lateral move to 3VB.

In retrospect, my career is richer and more distinctive for getting here the long way: my practice sits at the intersection of banking and finance (one of 3VB’s core areas) on the one hand, and financial regulation and public law, on the other. This unusual blend has helped me approach my clients’ problems from a novel perspective – I have successfully judicially reviewed the FCA twice and achieved other regulatory precedents.

What is the wisest thing anyone ever said to you (and who said it)?

Hopefully you will indulge me and allow me to share two anecdotes…

My former pupilmaster (Philip Coppel QC, now head of chambers at Cornerstone) invited me to come and see him, when I was formally offered tenancy, and gave me heartfelt guidance about life as a tenant. It included the unforgettable exhortation that as I was now a fully-fledged tenant, I did not need to be deferential to anyone – and that as a self-employed individual, I was the captain of my own ship. Whether that ship sailed successfully or sank, was entirely down to me.

I also remember speaking to my former head of chambers when, despite only being a few years into practice, I decided to make an unorthodox move and take a sabbatical from chambers for a long secondment. He waited while I said my piece, nodding the whole time. I fully expected resistance or an attempt at dissuasion, only to find he was hugely supportive. He finished with the words that people often regret the opportunities they don’t take – and he was absolutely right in my case. That secondment (to the FS department of Clifford Chance, then a further placement with the FMLC at the Bank of England) was my introduction to financial services: without it, I would not have discovered how much I enjoy the area and I would not be where I am today.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get to where you are/do the job you do?

At entry level for the Bar, there is a huge emphasis on academic ability. Although academic ability is critical, in the longer term what really matters is your drive and raw hunger. Intellectual skills can be worked on and improved over time, whereas ambition is intrinsic. It keeps you motivated and ensures that decades into your career, you will still approach a new case with the same vim and enthusiasm as your first. If you ever lose that hunger, it is probably time to move on.

What’s your best friend from law school doing now?

I am pleased to say that Sarabjit Singh QC is now a successful silk at 1 Crown Office Chambers. He came from an unconventional background (as the son of immigrants from rural Punjab, India, who attended his local comprehensive school) yet took silk in his 30s. Even more impressively, he is still every bit as subversive and humorous as he was at university.