NLJ PROFILE: James Berry, Serjeants’ Inn

You were the MP for Kingston and Surbiton 2015-17. Please tell us about your time at Westminster.

I was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Heath, elected as a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, chaired two All Party Groups and sat on Bill Committees including those for the Policing and Crime Bill and the Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Bill, which drew on my experience as a barrister working for clients in the police and healthcare sectors. This was on top of a very high volume of constituency casework and local issues.

How did you come to be elected as MP? Were you out canvassing for years beforehand? What was it like?

I think our elected representatives should have different careers before getting into politics. I had no political experience to speak of prior to seeking selection as a Parliamentary candidate beyond helping out with campaigns on the ground. Once I was selected in Kingston & Surbiton in December 2013 I worked very hard to get elected—it was a safe Lib Dem seat at the time.

A lot of lawyers want to be MPs. Do you have any words of advice for those aspiring politicians out there?

If public service, and politics specifically, are in the blood, then go for it. But I would urge the same caution I do on aspiring barristers—to succeed, you have to be willing to make it your whole life, not just a job or even a career.

You have now returned to private practice as a barrister at Serjeants’ Inn. How does the law compare to politics? And what has the transition back to legal practice been like?

I found out I had lost at about 4am the Friday 9  June. The following Monday I was in Chambers at 7am. I was in court by the middle of the week and have been busy ever since—I’m lucky to have first class clerks at Serjeants’ Inn. As an MP, I’d frequently have half a dozen meetings or committees to attend and a few speeches to give on top of constituency casework and voting, on any given day. Returning to the Bar, I’ve enjoyed being able to focus on one case for sustained periods of time.

What was your initial route into the legal profession?

I studied law at UCL and, after Bar School and an LLM at Harvard Law School, I was lucky to secure pupillage and tenancy at Serjeants’ Inn Chambers where I have been ever since.

What has been your biggest career challenge so far?

I’ve been fortunate to be involved in lots of notable cases such as the Leveson Inquiry and the Hillsborough and Raoul Moat Inquests. My biggest challenge so far has been appearing in the first inquest to explore whether Taser was the cause of a death following police restraint. The other Interested Persons were represented by much more senior counsel including a silk. I was meant to be representing the Chief Constable to deal with a relatively contained issue about training, with a silk representing the police officers who had been involved in the actual incident. The Thursday before the hearing I found out I was representing the officers too. That was a busy weekend.  

And what’s been the highlight of your legal career?

The case of Salter v Chief Constable of Dorset, which was the first successful judicial review of a Police Appeals Tribunal and culminated in a decision of the Court of Appeal which set the tests for the value of mitigation and the sanctions for dishonesty in police disciplinary cases. I can’t help a wry smile when the case is almost invariably quoted by an opponent or by the panel at a police misconduct hearing.

Which person within the legal profession inspires you most?

On the bench, the late Lord Bingham, although I didn’t always agree with his decisions. At the Bar, my joint Head of Chambers John Beggs QC, whose ability to identify and phrase the winning issue in a case, then advance it through devastating cross examination and careful submissions in a variety of tribunals, regardless of whether his client’s cause is difficult or unpopular, is second to none.

If you weren’t a lawyer or a politician, what would you choose as an alternate career?

Teaching English law or politics in a US college—but I’ve already had two careers I love and have no designs on a third!

Who is your favourite fictional lawyer?

James Kavanagh—I enjoyed watching Kavanagh QC with my mum when I was growing up.

What change would you make to the profession?

An independent Bar is essential to the rule of law. If it is going to survive, it must retain a reputation for excellence and for independence. That means counsel being remunerated properly and promptly whether they are appearing in a minor bail application or a major banking dispute. It also means a halt to the worrying rise of counsel or chambers being seen to be on the ‘right’ side of cases and, worse still, criticised for following their client’s instructions.

How do you relax?

When I get the chance to relax, I like hiking in the National Parks in the UK and the US.