Benjamin recently completed his Third Six at Selborne Chambers and accepts instructions across all areas of Chambers’ practice areas. Ben read Law at Cambridge and History of Art at the Courtauld. After an art world career – which included a spell curating theatre and performance exhibitions at the V&A – he returned to the Law, placing top of his year in the BPTC. See Benjamin Levy‘s website profile here.
How was your experience as a third-six pupil at Selborne Chambers?
Intellectually invigorating, socially stimulating, occasionally exhausting, but never boring.
Being a third-six pupil at Selborne is an unusual experience; you are neither a secure tenant nor an apprentice under the thumb of an eagled-eyed supervisor. Instead, the focus is on developing a healthy court practice, forging solicitor relationships, getting to know the clerks and, of course, demonstrating to the membership that you have the academic and practical skills to succeed in the job.
Crucially, I was given the opportunity to do all of those things in a friendly, non-intimidating and engaging environment where everyone was rooting for me to succeed. There were no “silly questions” and no expectations of unblemished perfection; the keystone is learning and improvement.
I have been especially grateful for the guiding hand and wise counsel of Isabel Petrie throughout the process.
What do you enjoy most about the cases you work on?
The intellectual puzzle and the variety.
As to the former, every case comes with its own often-formidable challenges. Primarily practising in property, I like the process of puzzling together everything from ancient rights of way over land to conceptual matters of land registration. I enjoy drawing from those strands of analysis a conclusion which will assist the client’s objectives.
As to the latter, I have had the opportunity to venture beyond property work and throw myself into everything from insolvency to conflicts of laws, civil fraud to arbitration. That is one of the great things about Selborne; it has grown from what was once a very small, specialist set into a formidable player in the commercial Chancery field. There is now a great deal on offer; I have even had the opportunity to do some interesting private client tax work.
Outside of the law, what are your other interests or passions?
My path to the Bar is unconventional. Despite reading Law for my undergraduate degree, I did not rush to become a barrister straight out of university. I pursued two further degrees in History of Art, worked in an auction house and then became a music and performance curator at the V&A. I am a published author and a semi-professional pianist. I can also often be heard on the radio talking about classical music. In short – and this is something I wish I heard when applying for pupillage – competitive mooting, a penchant for legal history, and a passion for working as a judicial assistant are not pre-requisite interests. They may help, but ultimately the Bar is a broad church of convivial personalities. In fact, it is my intervening experiences which have equipped me with a unique skillset for practice.
And finally, how would you like to develop your practice in the future?
Whilst property work has been my mainstay, and I should like it to continue as such, I would love to broaden my reach into civil fraud and private client work. With my background, I would also welcome instructions in media and entertainment work. There are countless avenues of practice development down the line and open to exploration, and I cannot think of a better place to undertake that journey than at Selborne Chambers.
See Benjamin Levy‘s website profile here.