Emma Makepeace
  • Emma Makepeace has such an in-depth knowledge of criminal law to know how a case is going to progress.

    Chambers UK 2023

  • Emma Makepeace is an absolute star. She totally understands the solicitor-Counsel relationship and as the market changes, has adapted well.

    Legal 500 2023

  • Emma Makepeace [is a] very very good clerk.

  • Legal 500 2023

  • The clerks are very strong, especially Emma Makepeace.

    Legal 500 2023

  • Emma Makepeace is an incredible, tenacious and exceptional force in chambers.

    Legal 500 2021 

  • Alfie Lee and Emma Makepeace head up the clerks’ room with great efficiency and skill and are always approachable, understanding and accommodating to the needs of their lay and professional clients.

    Legal 500 2021 

  • Emma Makepeace and Alfie Lee are a class clerking act. The clerks room is friendly, efficient and knowledgeable. They are a real credit to chambers and I consider the clerks team to be on a par with the best clerks in London.

    Legal 500 2021 

  • Outstanding. What makes the clerks’ room work so well at 25BR is the division of labour between Guy Williams, Emma Makepeace and Alfie Lee – they are all excellent, and have attributes which complement each other very successfully.

    Legal 500 2021 

  • All of the clerks go out of their way to ensure that instructing chambers is smooth and goes without issue. The ‘out of hours service’ provided is also exceptional.

    Legal 500 2021 

  • The clerking at the set is in the capable hands of the “affable and proactive” Guy Williams and Emma Makepeace.

    Legal 500 

  • They offer a combination of good clerking and good counsel.

    Chambers UK

  • The clerks’ are professional and reliable.

    Chambers UK

  • Receives praise for her outgoing nature, enthusiastic approach and impressive knowledge of her barristers.

    Chambers UK

  • The quality of clerking is held by some to be “second to none” amongst criminal sets.

    Chambers UK

  • The clerks offer an excellent service and when issues do arise the contact is timely and realistic with a solution to the problem already on hand. Very impressive clerking team.

    Legal 500 2021

  • The clerks are completely on the ball. They simply understand what a solicitor wants from a set of chambers. They guarantee exceptional service in terms of the Counsel that they are able to offer, and the service that they, as a Chambers, should offer over and above that.

    Legal 500 2021

  • The clerks room are the backbone of chambers. They are without doubt second-to-none. They never let you down, are always your back-up. I would be lost without them.

    Legal 500 2021

Emma Makepeace

Deputy Director of Clerking

July 2006 - Present: 25 Bedford Row, Deputy Director of Clerking
May 2005 - July 2006: Bridewell Chambers, Senior Clerk
July 2001 - May 2005: Bridewell Chambers, 1st Junior Clerk
September 2000 - July 2001: Ely Place Chambers, 1st Junior Clerk
June 1991 - September 2000: The Chambers of Ronald Thwaites QC, 2nd Junior Clerk

Emma Makepeace is an incredible, tenacious and exceptional force in chambers.

Legal 500 2021

Emma’s principal responsibilities include business and practice development, chambers development, marketing, diary management and fee negotiation. Emma’s role involves developing and maintaining strong customer relationships on behalf of members to their professional clients and providing invaluable support to our Director of Clerking, Guy Williams, in the management and administration of chambers as a whole.

Emma served on the Institute of Barristers’ Clerks’ Management Committee from 1997 – 2012 and is the former Chairperson of the Chambers & Social Committee and Editor of their bi-annual bulletin.  She is a qualified member of the Institute Barristers' Clerks and was awarded the John Carter Memorial Trophy in 1997, “Clerk of the Year”, upon completion of the BTec Advanced Award in Chambers Administration.  

Emma is the one of the founding Committee members of the Female Fraud Forum. The association is aimed at solicitors, barristers and accountants who work in financial regulation and the criminal and civil fraud sector. Its purpose is to foster, encourage and advance women of all levels through shared ideas, knowledge and experiences providing a much needed support network for those in the profession or returning to the profession.

Emma is a member of Women in Criminal Law. In November 2021, she joined the WICL Wellbeing sub-committee.

Emma has been nominated as Clerk of the Year at the Legal 500 Bar Awards 2023.

Recent Testimonials

  • "Emma Makepeace is an absolute star. She totally understands the solicitor-Counsel relationship and as the market changes, has adapted well." Legal 500 2023
  • "Guy Williams ensures that the clerks room runs like clockwork, but he is also backed up by the very capable Emma Makepeace and also Alfie Lee." Legal 500 2023
  • "Guy Williams and Emma Makepeace are very very good clerks." Legal 500 2023
  • "The clerks are very strong, especially Emma Makepeace." Legal 500 2023
  • “Emma Makepeace is an incredible, tenacious and exceptional force in chambers.” Legal 500 2021
  • "Outstanding. What makes the clerks’ room work so well at 25BR is the division of labour between Guy Williams, Emma Makepeace and Alfie Lee – they are all excellent, and have attributes which complement each other very successfully.” Legal 500 2021
  • "Guy Williams is the director of clerking and Emma Makepeace is the deputy director. "The clerks are very friendly and efficient." They provide "an excellent service and invariably suggest suitable counsel for the level and complexity of the case." Chambers UK 2021
  • "Guy Williams, Emma Makepeace and Alfie Lee are a class clerking act. The clerks room is friendly, efficient and knowledgeable. They are a real credit to chambers and I consider the clerks team to be on a par with the best clerks in London." Legal 500 2021
  • "Deputy Director of Clerking Emma Makepeace is ‘a standout clerk’ who is ‘personable, honest, gets to know the solicitor and, therefore, has a unique ability to match the solicitor with the appropriate barrister for a particular case’." Legal 500 2020
  • "Guy Williams, director of clerking, and Emma Makepeace, the deputy director of clerking, are commended for running a 'slick operation'." Chambers UK 2020
  • "Guy Williams, the senior clerk, and Emma Makepeace, the deputy senior clerk, are both very popular with those that instruct the set." Chambers UK
  • "Guy Williams, the senior clerk, and Emma Makepeace, the deputy senior clerk, offer some of the best clerking London has to offer." Chambers UK
  • "Senior Clerk Guy Williams, is ‘the leading ambassador’ for championing client service, and deputy senior clerk Emma Makepeace is rated ‘very highly’ for her ‘commercial’ approach." Legal 500