The topic of secondments has long been a subject of debate among those at the self-employed Bar. In my experience, investing quality time in a placement with a well-established and specialist in-house legal team can yield significant benefits, especially for those looking to develop a more specialist practice in a niche area of the law. When done properly, undertaking a placement or going on secondment is an invaluable investment in one’s future development and career progression.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) offers secondments for solicitors and placements for self-employed barristers. When I made the decision to apply for a six-month placement with the ICO, I’d been in practice for just over three years and had developed a strong interest in information law, having advised on several data protection and privacy matters through Advocate, the Bar’s pro bono charity. Work had started coming in for me through chambers, and I was regularly being instructed to represent both claimants and defendants in compensation claims, as well as to advise on more complex points of law relating to requests for erasure and rectification, in addition to serious data breaches. I naturally developed an appetite for more complex work, so I knew that the next step was to create opportunities for myself which would enable me to learn from other specialists in the field. I decided to apply for the ICO placement after seeing it advertised on LinkedIn and was delighted when the offer came through.

I was placed with the Commissioner’s Legal Services Team and my role was akin to that of in-house counsel. I was fortunate enough to experience a wide range of work across the litigation and enforcement teams. I assisted on a variety of tasks, from advising on potential judicial review challenges, to drafting the Commissioner’s responses in proceedings in the Information Tribunal, drafting enforcement notices, and representing the Commissioner in court proceedings. I was able to tap into the collective knowledge and experience of my colleagues and engage in stimulating debate on the hottest topics in the world of data protection.

Looking back on my time at the ICO, I can say with certainty that I have vastly expanded my knowledge in data protection law. Prior to commencing my placement, I’d had limited practical experience in enforcement work, but I am now able to draw from my experience at the ICO when advising clients. The knowledge and experience I gained from my time on placement feeds perfectly into my practice, as I am able to provide specialist legal advice with confidence.

The barrister profession can be quite lonely, and some of us don’t have the opportunity to work in a team very often, at least not in the way that solicitors do. In practice, I rarely receive feedback from clients or judges and this is something that I have found quite challenging as a junior barrister in chambers. While at the ICO, I received regular feedback on my work from colleagues, as the set-up in organisations such as the ICO enables and encourages this. This was surprisingly refreshing and extremely beneficial for my development as counsel, as access to support and feedback from experienced colleagues is crucial to the development of all junior barristers.

Finally, being surrounded by experts in the field was a humbling experience for me. I think quite a few of us at the Bar would benefit from being humbled once in a while – I highly recommend it! I returned to full-time practice in early 2025, and I am excited to see what the future holds for me. While undertaking a placement or going on secondment might not be for everyone, in my case it was definitely the right decision and I could not recommend it enough.