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S POT L IGHT ON - No 5 BAR R I S T E R S ’ CHAMB E R S No5 Barristers’
Tony McDaid is the longest serving member of Chambers’ administration team having joined No5 in 1980. Qualifying as a member of the Institute of Barristers Clerks in 1988, Tony was promoted to the post of Practice Director in 1994 and as a board director he's actively involved in the strategic development of the business.
Chambers
Tony, in your opinion what sets No5 apart from other chambers in the UK? I think our diversity, not just in the wide and varied areas of law in which we practise but also the demographic of both our staff and the 240 plus barristers including thirty-six Queen’s Counsel who make up our organisation. No5 is a melting pot of highly talented individuals from all walks of life, and reflective of those who instruct us, and society at large.
What does your role as CEO and Director of clerking of No5 entail? Happily, my role has many facets, which means no one day is the same. I head up the Clerking and Admin teams and I am responsible for building them and their direction. I also sit on the board and the executive committee, where I am directly involved with the strategic development of the business, recruitment of barristers and staff, marketing, business development and any other everyday issue that presents itself in a £50 million turnover business. A barristers chambers has its own quirks some of which are historical, for example, the Barristers are all self-employed, so they are really 240 businesses under one umbrella! Herding cats is an often-used phrase!
No5 has worked on some very high profile cases, game changing cases even – can you share some of these with us? Our work is varied and crosses several core practice areas, including Commercial, Business & Property, Planning, Clinical Negligence, Crime, Regulatory Crime, Family, Personal Injury, Employment and Public Law.
A serving member of the IBC; sits on the Ethics Committee of the Bar Council; Chair of the International Committee at the Birmingham Law Society and is an Executive Member of the West Midlands Irish Business Group.
We are involved in many cases that receive national and international attention e.g. the Hillsborough Inquests, the Stafford Hospital cases, major planning cases, and on both sides in the recent Brexit case that received worldwide attention. Of course, we are equally sought after for cases which could be termed everyday cases such as road traffic accidents and Court of Protection matters. Client confidentiality is paramount. We are not often to be seen on TV discussing the cases we are involved in, because we put client satisfaction, including their wishes in terms of post hearing publicity, above all else.
No5 may work hard on behalf of clients, but they also play hard – for the benefit of charity! Tell us a little about the charitable causes you support? We have supported many charities over the years and enthusiastically so. The difficulty is always deciding on which charity given there are so many who need support. We always try to choose a charity that is relevant to our business and our business network which enables us to raise as much as we can for that cause.
Previously, we arranged white collar boxing events in support of Marie Curie, following the untimely death of our former Head of Chambers Ralph Lewis QC who was tragically taken from us aged only 54. His family, and indeed Ralph in his last days, were full of praise for the support from Marie Curie. Given Ralph’s fondness for boxing, we saw the event as a fitting way to remember him.
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Chief Executive & Director of Clerking Tony McDaid
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