Today is Kiki Hausdorff, who will be commencing her Second Six on the 1st April building her practice as a junior barrister in business and property work, accepting instructions in commercial litigation, inheritance act disputes, insolvency and property litigation.
Kiki’s Practice Directors are Catherine Merry & Jordan Zaza, to instruct Kiki please call 0207 420 7598 or email bp@no5.com.
Kiki read Jurisprudence at Somerville College, Oxford and was awarded Middle Temple’s Astbury Scholarship and BPP University’s Advocacy Award while undertaking the Bar Course in London. She was Called in 2021 and arrives at No5 Chambers having already gained extensive drafting and advocacy experience as a Law Reporter at the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting and as Parliamentary Counsel at the City of London Corporation.
In her role as a Law Reporter, Kiki drafted headnotes and summaries of argument for the leading authority for case law in England and Wales, the Law Reports, the Weekly Law Reports and the Business Law Reports. Having joined the ICLR in the High Court, she was quickly promoted to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division). She assimilated judgments swiftly, often in unfamiliar areas of law, and distilled the judge’s legal reasoning accurately and concisely. To assess whether judgments were reportable, she identified the ratio decidendi and any new points of law or modification of existing legal principles. Kiki managed a fast-paced workstream to strict deadlines and regularly drafted case summaries in short order for the ICLR’s Weekly Law Reports (Daily) product.
Kiki was regularly instructed by the Corporation’s in-house solicitors in housing and commercial property possession claims in the County Court. In the Magistrates’ Court, she prosecuted street trading offences and planning breaches. Appearing in busy possession lists developed her ability to think quickly on her feet and deliver concise submissions, and her prosecution experience refined her witness-handling and persuasive advocacy skills.
Kiki is an avid theatre-goer and achieved Distinction in Grade 8 Speech and Drama. She enjoys writing and performing sketches and songs for Revels, Middle Temple’s annual Christmas cabaret show, and representing Middle Temple in the inter-Inn Shakespeare Cup (affectionately known as the “Shake-Off”).
Some observations from Kiki on her First Six:
What surprised you most about life in chambers during your First Six?
I have been delighted to see how close-knit and collegiate No5 is despite its large size, breadth of practice areas and multiple locations. I was also surprised at how early and often I was included in business development events as a first six pupil. It has been great to have so many opportunities to connect with solicitors who already have strong working relationships with No5. I’m very grateful to the clerks for their commitment in supporting me right from day one of pupillage.
Was there a particular case that really stood out to you?
I particularly enjoyed drafting an advice on a claim by a well-known logistics company for damages against a security provider in relation to goods stolen from its warehouse. The question of liability turned partly on whether the security company had been contractually obliged, at a different site, to monitor CCTV of the warehouse in issue. I find questions of construction especially interesting given my background in legislative drafting. It was rewarding to closely analyse the language of the contract and consider its context in order to determine what constituted a “relevant site” for the purposes of the contract, and thereby assess the prospects of successfully defending the claim.
How did your previous roles in law reporting and legislative drafting shape the way you approached pupillage?
Drafting private legislation and amendments to Public Bills for the City of London Corporation has certainly informed my approach to legislative and contractual construction questions that have arisen in first six. Drafting headnotes as a Law Reporter for the ICLR required me to swiftly identify the ratio decidendi and any new points of law in a judgment, often in unfamiliar areas of law. This has shaped my approach to legal research and better equipped me to explore unfamiliar points of commercial chancery law in pupillage. The wide variety of skeleton arguments that I reviewed while drafting summaries of argument for the Law Reports helped me to understand what works best in terms of both content and presentation and has shaped the way that I have drafted my own skeleton arguments in pupillage.
What advocacy or drafting skills have you found yourself developing the most?
In my first six I’ve had an opportunity to practise all forms of written work. My supervisor, Samir Amin, has ensured that I have gained experience in drafting pleadings, advices, skeleton arguments, draft orders, position statements and case summaries. I’m especially encouraged to be starting second six with examples of each of these under my belt. I’ve certainly noticed my drafting developing over the last six months as it’s been fine-tuned by feedback from No5 members, who have been extremely generous with their time.
What are you most looking forward to as you start taking on your own instructions during Second Six?
I am most looking forward to being in court. Advocacy is the main reason I decided to come to the Bar and No5’s practicing second six is one of the reasons I applied to Chambers. I expect to be in court on most days during second six, a frequency that is quite rare in commercial-chancery pupillage. I am fortunate that No5 has such a strong emphasis on advocacy training for pupils and look forward to building on my previous advocacy experience representing the City of London Corporation in the County Court in housing and commercial property possession claims.
