A day in the life of a Bar Representative

My name is Charlotte Ash, I am the Leeds JLD Bar Representative for 2025. I am an Associate in the Housing Management & Property Litigation team at Devonshires.

How does a regular day go for you?

I work in a high-volume litigation team specialising in housing management and property litigation. I cover a broad spectrum of work for different housing providers so I never quite know what will land on my desk on any given day. I spend a lot of my time dealing with different court deadlines, drafting new applications, proceedings, witness statements and negotiating the resolution of claims. All of my work is on behalf of housing providers so I offer whatever services they need to progress the claims they receive or are pursuing. As an Associate, I will also help the more junior members in my team and in the wider Leeds office with any queries they might have that need input from a solicitor. My week is currently hybrid, with me generally being found in the office (or floating around the country to different offices or courts) for 2 days per week. I like to have that split of in-office and at home working. It is nice to have a few days from home to be able to get my head down and slog through tough drafting jobs without some of the distractions of the office but also to have the option and opportunity to go into the office and collaborate with the wider team and create those relationships with my colleagues (and to have access to the coveted snack box every week!).

I balance my work alongside my role as the Leeds JLD Bar Representative for 2025. I work closely with a number of the barristers chambers in Leeds as my role this year is to try to encourage more membership from junior barristers and get more events arranged with chambers. I deal with emails and calls about JLD business around my work obligations and can often be found bothering the senior Partners in Leeds about JLD events whenever the opportunity presents itself!

What made you want to get involved with the LJLD Committee?

I had been a member of Leeds JLD for a number of years before I put myself forward for my committee role at the end of 2024. I found out about Leeds JLD when I qualified and joined Weightmans in 2021. I have worked in various litigation teams for approximately 10 years. I have seen first hand the benefit of a close relationship between Solicitors, Barristers and their clerking teams. When the Bar Representative seat opened at the end of 2024, I put myself forward as I wanted to get involved creating those close links between young Barristers and Leeds JLD as it appeared to me that more work needed to be done to encourage both halves of the profession to get out there and socialise with each other to forge those bonds.

What does your role require you to do?

In my role as the Bar Representative, I am responsible for liaising with local barrister chambers in Leeds and encouraging their clerks and junior Barristers to come to events and join Leeds JLD as members. I am also responsible for arranging events with local chambers and encouraging continued collaboration between chambers and the committee generally.