Baby at The Bar

"The Bar has long been synonymous with intellectual rigour, independence and resilience. Yet, for too many years, its culture has been shaped by assumptions that did not account for the realities of parenthood. This book, Baby at the Bar, is a timely and necessary intervention. It shines a light on the lived experiences of women and men who have navigated the dual demands of advocacy and parenting, often in the face of structural and cultural barriers."

"It really helps to know that it IS difficult and it is not just you and you are not failing by finding it a struggle at times."

"Baby at the Bar is the tool needed both to identify the matters which should be considered – chambers’ parental leave policies, managing school holidays, for example – and to deal with those things in a way which ensures that having babies and practising as a successful barrister are not mutually exclusive roles. Yet the book goes further than that. It is aimed not only at new and prospective parents but at the wider profession – clerks, colleagues and judges – highlighting and offering solutions to these challenges. 

It also has the virtue of being genuinely engaging. There is a mix of expert guidance and insights from other practitioners with lived experience, and there is a comforting sense that the reader is – perhaps contrary to assumptions – not alone in navigating parenthood while practising. The book is funny, too. The final chapter features experiences such as crayons lodged in wigs while delivering jury speeches. 

Baby at the Bar offers a much-needed route out of the loneliness and anxiety that can creep up on new parents at the bar." 

"For anyone with a baby, toddler, or about to have a baby at the bar, may I recommend this book. Funny, supportive, understanding."

"If this book had existed 21 years ago, our house would have had a worn-out copy of it."

"The book is beautifully written … It provides the perfect blend of personal stories told with good humour and searing honesty, aimed not only at would be/ new/ seasoned barrister parents, but also their clerks, colleagues, opponents, leaders and judges."