SITTING OUTSIDE a closed-for-the-night petrol station while waiting for a pick-up truck is not how most people envisage a day in the life of a successful barrister.
Some 13 hours after her working day began Maura McNally, a barrister for 20 years in Dublin, had been travelling home after a lengthy session in the Cavan Circuit Court when she noticed a flat tyre that disrupted her modest expectations of being home before midnight.
Travel is very much a part of her job and – aside from numerous attempts to attach a spare tyre that was the wrong size – it had been a good day’s work for her.
Maura had spent the day fighting the case of a widowed woman who was in a dispute with neighbours over land. Hard work preparing the case in the days prior to the hearing had hopefully paid off as she felt she argued well in court.
During the drive from Dublin to Cavan earlier that morning (which thankfully was not disrupted by the two-hour delay that would be experienced on the return journey), Maura explained that clients rarely see the majority of hours put in by their barrister.
Paperwork, travelling and consultations were just some of the tasks she blamed for taking up a huge amount of time outside of the visible hours spent arguing cases before a judge.
Originally from Co Leitrim, Maura has, over 20 years, built a steady supply of work based mostly around the northeast of the country. While she is earning a comfortable wage now, charging roughly €1,500 for a case, it has been a long road.
She was the first in her family to enter the legal profession and recalls working as a drinks promoter to see herself through the early years while she developed the contacts that are crucial to obtaining work. As a barrister, she relies completely on referrals from solicitors.
This reality is plain to Louise Rowell (24), a recent law graduate from Waterford, who travels unpaid with Maura around the country in the hope of garnering enough connections with solicitors so that when she goes out on her own she will get work. It is a form of apprenticeship called “devilling” and every young barrister must go through it.
Maura’s first call of duty on arrival in the courthouse shortly after 9.30am was to meet the client and the advising solicitor to make sure everything was in order for the day.
The hour-long private meeting was followed by a quick change of attire into robes and a wig as the lawyers present made their way to the courtroom before the judge who lists the cases to be heard that day. It marked the beginning of the first great wait of the day, a recurring and unexpected theme for those not familiar with courtroom proceedings.
First everybody waited for the judge to enter. Next they waited for their case to be listed. Finally, and lengthiest of all, they waited for all the cases before them on that list to be heard before their case got its turn.
In between further consultations, Maura remained in the courtroom throughout, on the chance that hearings prior to hers were shorter than expected. In the end, it was after lunch when her case began.
Maura was arguing on behalf of the widow of a deceased Cavan farmer who had signed part of the family land over to a friend and neighbour prior to his death. Maura’s client felt the terms of the lease were unfair and was seeking for the contract to be declared void as her late husband was mentally unstable at the time, a condition confirmed by his local doctor. She was claiming her neighbour, who now used the land, had taken advantage of her husband.
One witness came, then two, then three. By 5.10pm, Maura was through with her witnesses and by 7.35pm final submissions had been heard after the other side’s barrister was through with his. For the lawyers it was a gruelling five hours. The easiest part appeared to be when interrogating the witness on the stand as at all other times a copious amount of notes were being frenetically scribbled down.
It was already nearly 12 hours after Maura had set out from her office in Dublin during which time she had been in a car or the courthouse for all of it but an hour-long break for lunch. Last order of business was to fix a date when they would hear the judge’s ruling. A further journey to Carrick-on-Shannon was agreed that promised another day of travel and waiting.
After the disruptions encountered on the homeward journey, Maura declared she would at least have the correct size spare tyre in the boot for that trip.