CONTACT US
Drystone Chambers
35 Bedford Row
London
WC1R 4JH
DX: 332 London/Chancery Lane
My journey to becoming a barrister was not a straightforward one. I came to this country from St Vincent & the Grenadines at the age of six. Some years later, when I attended college, I discussed with my then lecturer that I wished to become a barrister. I vividly remember her advice being that I should not pursue such a career path, not because of my academic attainments, but because I was a black female and I would not be successful at the independent bar. That was in 2001.
This advice had a profound impact on me. I went to university and studied BA (Hons) Criminology and Law. I was the first member of my family to go to university. I then successfully applied for a position at Surrey Police as an intelligence analyst. I enjoyed this position and was involved in the investigation of some serious offences, such as murder, analysing the final movements of the deceased person to provide the investigating officers with any potential areas of investigations/gaps in the timeline etc. I then moved on to work for the London Borough of Camden, initially based in High Holborn Police Station, as a partnership analyst. In this role I analysed crime and antisocial behaviour data to provide the Council and the Metropolitan Police with patterns and trends occurring and where their limited resources could usefully be targeted.
Following a restructure in my team, I successfully applied for the newly-created role of Legal Link Worker (a paralegal). My passion for practising law was reignited, some 10 years after the advice from my lecturer to steer clear of it. Whilst working at Camden Council, I undertook the GDL at the University of Hertfordshire on a full time basis while maintaining full time employment. To this day I am not sure how I survived that year, but I somehow managed to achieve a distinction!
Whilst continuing my job at Camden Council, I then took on the BPTC (as it was called then), studying part time at the University of Law every other weekend. In my final year, my youngest brother sadly passed away from cancer, just before the centralised exams. I was devastated. When I emailed the course leader with the news, he encouraged me to attend the mocks for the oral examination (about two weeks after my brother’s death). I did and will be forever grateful to him for that advice, as it helped me immensely with the final exams. I still managed to complete the BPTC in 2015, taking the summer centralised exams instead of the April ones. I was called to the bar in November 2015. This gave me such an amazing feeling of achievement and pride.
Next came five years spent applying for pupillage. Rejection after rejection. But I always sought feedback and tried to improve my CV/application for each new round of recruitment. I gained more advocacy skills while working at HMRC. I undertook mini-pupillages and work experiences. I took part in interview practice. Whatever I could find to assist me, I tried. I discovered some very helpful and friendly people on my journey to becoming a barrister and will be forever grateful to them. I finally secured a pupillage with the CPS and commenced it the week before the country went into lockdown. Just my luck! But the CPS did everything they could to support my cohort in extracting the best from their pupillage. I successfully completed my pupillage in 2021. I am now a tenant at Drystone Chambers and can already see my practice flourishing.
It may sound strange, but I am grateful for the negative advice of my lecturer back in 2001. Whilst it may have initially deterred me, the path I travelled provided a wealth of invaluable experience and enabled me to develop a suite of tried-and-tested foundational, transferrable skills. My journey to the bar has taught me all about perseverance.
Perseverance! That is my key message to women, indeed women and men alike. Obstacles and disappointment may and will arise, but be prepared to learn from each rejection and keep marching forward!
Kenniesha Stephens was called to the bar in 2015. She commenced third-six pupillage at Drystone Chambers in May 2022. On the 1st August 2022 Kenniesha became a Member of Drystone Chambers.
In October 2024, Kenniesha was ranked by Legal500 2025 as ‘Leading Junior’.