Emily Jennett – Pupil

Emily joined Becket Chambers as a Pupil in October 2024, and is in her first six. She studied Law at Kent University before winning a scholarship to take the Bar course at Cardiff University, where she was awarded ‘very competent’. After qualifying, she worked for two years as a paralegal for Pathfinder Legal Services, a firm representing local authorities, dealing with Public Child Law cases.

Emily was always interested in pursuing a career in law, and becoming a barrister appealed to her interest in advocacy, conference skills and a client-facing role. Enthusiastic about public speaking, she took part in many debating competitions and mock advocacy contests to hone her skills.

She was particularly interested in Family Law, and during two years as a paralegal developed her appreciation of the intensely personal aspects, and the impact of the outcome of a case on the course of someone’s life.

Emily has always been passionate about helping and protecting vulnerable children, and genuinely cares about their wellbeing. From growing up around neurodiversity, to her experience as a youth leader where her group was joined by children who had been exposed to abuse, she has learned how to build relationships with vulnerable people. Working with those children as a Scouts’ Association young leader, in particular, drove her determination to go into law so that she could take an active role in protecting others.

At the same time, she has developed a strong constitution, able to empathise with people in extremely difficult and emotional situations while remaining objective. She describes herself as ‘not easily shaken’, having worked as a paralegal on some of the toughest cases involving abuse, FGM or infant death.

She has excellent interpersonal skills and is able to build rapport with clients with mental health or learning difficulties. She puts some of her skills down to her experience as a waitress while she was studying. As Emily says, “sometimes people can be dismissive of service roles, but actually in a job like that, you meet people from all walks of life, and get very good at de-escalating situations, and explaining to people why they can’t necessarily have what they want, right now! As a barrister, being honest about likely outcomes also means that sometimes I have to tell emotional or vulnerable people things that aren’t what they want to hear.”

Emily is also highly analytical, and enjoys the challenge of seeing beyond the numbers in family finance cases to assess the true situation.

She has a strong appreciation of the need, as an advocate, to present the facts in a case clearly and objectively, to avoid becoming emotionally involved, and to respect the decision of the court.

She was excited to join Becket Chambers as she had first met members during her studies at Kent University. She was delighted to be able to join a regional chambers and return to the Canterbury area.