(John Howard Payne, 1823)
As I am wont to tell people, I live, as I always have done, in one of the poorest towns in one of the poorest boroughs in one of the most deprived regions of the UK. If I wanted to put another spin on it, I could instead say that I live in a commodious house with large gardens, fronting onto an ancient (and fortunately registered) village green, within a semi-rural Conservation Area, less than four miles from the city centre.
Anywhere near London, neither of these versions could be true. They would both be ruled out on economic grounds. I live near Newcastle upon Tyne, in Wallsend within the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside (a make-believe, still-muddled creation of the Local Government Act 1974). I am very happy to do so. It’s not grim up north, and it’s home. I am nevertheless also a member of the London Bar. I thus think a lot about the north-south divide, a geographical and cultural feature whose exact location I have been unable to divine, albeit I definitely cross it every time I travel between Newcastle and London, which I have done hundreds of times. I have got as far as concluding that London must be a much shorter distance from Newcastle than Newcastle is from London, because people from Newcastle make the journey south so much more willingly than most people from London make the journey north.
Having been Called to the Bar by Middle Temple in 1978, for many years I practised from chambers in Newcastle upon Tyne, initially as a member of an entirely local set and then as one of the founder members of the Newcastle branch of a Lincoln’s Inn Chancery set. My practice narrowed from crime and general common law to commercial Chancery work, with an emphasis on property law. I also quite fortuitously drifted, via the Attorney General’s regional panel, into environmental law, which began to dominate my work. ‘Environmental law’ is a pragmatic, contextual classification, potentially embracing everything from crime to corporate governance. My version of it was largely regulatory, but with a strong element of property-based issues, reflecting my previous experience. Most of it concerned water, and particularly the activities of sewerage undertakers.
This shift in emphasis represented a move away from both traditional North Eastern
Circuit practice and the core work of my then chambers. It was generally viewed by local colleagues with benevolent bemusement, tinged with sympathy. (Given recent developments within the water industry, they’re somewhat less bemused now).
About 15 years ago I became engrossed in a particularly large and arcane case concerning UK implementation of an EU ‘producer responsibility’ measure, described in The Lawyer magazine as ‘arguably the most complex piece of anti-trust litigation currently active in the English High Court’. It will not surprise readers to learn that this was proceeding in London, indeed (I return to this below) some would say that was the only right and proper place for it to be (though it may surprise them then to learn that I was instructed by a solicitor on my local high street). I was a permanent member of a fluctuating team of c.10 barristers, including some real big hitters from top-notch London sets. For nearly three years I worked pretty much exclusively on that case, until it settled. Those who have had a similar experience will know the profound professional silence which can then descend. In the right place, it might quickly be replaced by new work. I was not in that right place. But I had, I suppose, come to know people in the right places, having spent a lot of recent time with them. With very mixed feelings, I felt driven to explore hitherto unthinkable possibilities.
So it was that after an almost complete absence from the Inn of nearly 40 years, I found myself strolling down Middle Temple Lane to join my present chambers in 2016. In doing so, I found not one but two ‘right places’. I walked into Six Pump Court Chambers (led superbly then, as now, by Master Stephen Hockman) to hear two people talking about trade effluent consents and knew instantly that I had found a truly welcoming home for my skill set and experience. More profoundly and unexpectedly, I was taken aback by the strong sense of return that I felt vis-a-visthe Inn. I suddenly vividly remembered my time as a student under the firm direction of the then education officer Jean Austin (to whom Christa Richmond is a worthy successor) and realised how positive and happy my experience of Middle Temple had been. It is easy once outside London to forget all about Middle Temple (a state of affairs to which I also return below). I certainly had.
I have since enjoyed, very fully, many of the experiences and opportunities that the Inn has to offer. I am regularly in London and stay whenever possible in the Lodgings in Middle Temple Lane. There are not many 21st Century working environments in which you can lodge overnight in a Grade II* 17th Century building, walk round the corner to work in another, then nip over the road for lunch or dinner in a magnificent 16th Century Hall. I have been increasingly drawn into the life of the Inn, particularly outreach to students both inside and outside London. I was honoured (and very surprised) to be nominated for and elected to the Bench of the Inn in 2024.
I know that my London friends and colleagues will understand me properly and forgive me when I say that my delight at the positive turn my career has taken in the last ten years has been accompanied by some sense of regret that it only happened when I looked to London. Many would say that is inevitable. With a practice so narrow as mine, maybe so, but I still feel that much of the work that finds its way to London perfectly well could, and should, remain in other regions to which it more obviously belongs, to the general benefit of the legal system and national life. I can say with knowledge and confidence that there are members of the regional Bar and the regional judiciary who are perfectly competent to address almost every area of work at the highest possible level. I never found my specialist work on Circuit lacking in intellectual content or challenge. I miss daily life on the Quayside (Newcastle’s answer to the Inns of Court), where I spent over 25 years of my career.
The greatest recent champion of regional justice is undoubtedly Sir Geoffrey Vos, who has tirelessly and successfully promoted the work of the Business and Property Courts outside London, including in Newcastle. I was deeply involved in the precursor initiative of the institution of the regional Mercantile Courts, and I have been pleased to see that the momentum has continued, though less and less have I been part of it. However – how can I put this – there are still some, at Bench and Bar, who believe
that this is all appeasing nonsense. They think that everyone, everywhere would be well-advised to use ‘plc’ – Proper London Counsel – at all times. This belief can sometimes manifest itself quite openly and disrespectfully. It will not surprise the reader that I do not agree with it. The resulting ‘town mouse, country mouse’ dichotomy can occasionally make me feel not entirely ‘at home’ in either of the two cities where I spend my time.
I do however feel very much ‘at home’ in Domus. When in London, it is physically all around me. Some days go by without me ever leaving the Inn, or ever needing to. Things are always going on. Beyond shelter, a beautiful built environment and magnificent gardens large enough to offer decent exercise (and the company of dogs), it provides wonderful education, society, learning and entertainment, much of it free of charge. As our Deputy Treasurer Master Bernard Richmond has stated, Middle Temple is not just a set of buildings but a concept. Students, Hall members and Benchers outside London are capable of grasping that concept and deserve to enjoy its benefits. Yet the opportunities to do so are infrequent, to the extent that it is easy, as I did, to lose sight altogether of one’s connection with the Inn. That is to the detriment of both the Inn and its away-from-home members. I am very keen to promote and to support more Middle Temple social and educational events outside London, particularly of course in Newcastle, which has two universities, one of which, Northumbria, teaches specifically for the Bar. It is most important that Middle Temple should send out a strong signal of welcome to its distant student members, with the assistance of local practitioner members. I hope that Middle Templars throughout the country will feel likewise and support regional initiatives by the Inn. Without that support, such initiatives will wither on the vine.
To end on a positive note, I really enjoy the best of both worlds. Earning one’s living in the London economy but spending it in the Newcastle economy has the obvious advantages identified in my first paragraph (even despite the travel costs) and is an excellent strategy which I would commend to others in a similar position to mine. My split existence is very fulfilling and my association with Middle Temple is a hugely positive element of the London side of it. The Inn truly is a ‘home from home’ and the concept of Domus is wholly apt. It should be treasured and fostered by its members throughout England and Wales.
Master Charles Morgan practises in water and water industry law from Six Pump Court Chambers in Middle Temple. He works principally from his home on Tyneside with a geographically widespread practice, including frequent visits to London, providing much opportunity for reflection on aspects of regional justice.
