Name: Jason Galbraith-Marten QC
Organisation: Cloisters
Role: Barrister
Based: London
Trained at: Law degree at Magdalene College Cambridge then Inns of Court School of Law. First six pupillage at Old Square Chambers with the late Jeremy McMullen, second six at Cloisters with Michael Turner and Tim Horgan
Year of call: 1991
What’s your most vivid memory from being a pupil?
In the days when it was usual to do two six month pupillages rather than a single 12 months, I spent my second six at Cloisters which at that time was a thriving common law and criminal set. I chose to do a criminal pupillage to get court experience. Representing defendants in criminal trials was certainly eye-opening – from graphic pictures of murder victims to the trauma of rape cases. I especially remember being sent along to defend a man accused of a racially-motivated assault.
Being the child of parents who emigrated to the UK from India that was a challenge. But the overriding memory is of just how hard criminal practitioners work: in court all day, returning to chambers around 6pm to collect papers for the following day, preparing well into the night – night after night. It definitely gave me a strong work ethic.
What is the thing in your professional career that has terrified you or taken you out of your comfort zone the most?
I had two terrifying experiences in the very early days of practice – the first was being told late one afternoon that a senior member of chambers was part way through a Judicial Review case but was double booked for the following day, so I was being instructed to attend court in his place to listen to the end of my opponent’s submissions and make a reply. Having had no involvement in the case up that point I had to read all the papers and work out what was going on and be in a position to make a reply if necessary. That gave me a sleepless night!
The second was being at a Crown Court to fix the date for a trial – all very straightforward – but just as I was about to leave I heard my name over the public address system. I went to the desk to be told that I had to do a plea in mitigation that afternoon as the person originally booked to do it was no longer available. I trotted off to court and discovered that it was a complex child sexual assault case. My client was a 69 year-old man. The papers were voluminous and included expert reports. We went into court and I explained to the judge that I had only just been instructed and needed time to read the papers. He asked how long I needed. The truthful answer was about a week. I said two hours. The judge said I had one.
I think if you can survive that sort of pressure, you can manage anything the Bar throws at you.
What is the wisest thing anyone ever said to you (and who said it)?
Michael Turner told me not to be such a diva and to ‘just get on with it’. Jeremy McMullen told that a ‘public service vehicle’ is not necessarily a bus i.e. attention to detail is all important. My former head clerk Michael Martin told me not to get carried away with an offer of tenancy and that ‘you haven’t made it at the Bar until you’ve survived the first five years’.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to get to where you are/do the job you do?
Two pieces of advice. Firstly, and most importantly, be brave. Take that chance. Accept that brief. Say yes more than you say no. Push yourself beyond your comfort zone. It is the only way to succeed.
But just as importantly, stand out from the crowd. There are so many very good lawyers out there that you really have to have something unique about you to rise above the rest. For the first few years of practice I grew my hair long and wore it in a pony tail in court – the only man at that time to do so as far as I am aware. I meet judges today who still remark on it.
