Structure of the year
0-4 months
Pupillage is divided into three parts, each undertaken with a different supervisor (or two if they job-share the role).
In the first three months, you will be based almost exclusively with your supervisor(s), giving you an opportunity to settle in and have an in-depth experience of day-to-day practice. Your supervisor will help you to learn not only about the work they do, but how they approach their work. They will help you to start developing your own skills as an advocate and strategist. Much of the work you do in your first seat will not be assessed.
4-9 Months
From month four onwards, you will continue to sit with your supervisors, but will begin to do more assessed work, including pieces set by different members of Chambers. This allows you to experience the full range of legal expertise in Chambers, and to learn from many different individuals who can teach you different skills. At the same time, this process allows members across Chambers to assess your work so we can build up a fair and complete picture of your ability before making tenancy decisions. During this period, you will deepen your understanding of the most effective techniques for you to deploy as an advocate and strategist, given your own unique skillset.
9-12 Months
After pupils receive their tenancy decision, you will be encouraged to take a well-earned summer holiday. You will also complete your pupillage training and (particularly in September) begin preparation for practice. This may involve taking some cases from clients in September, with oversight and support from your supervisor. Any pupils who do not obtain tenancy are given every assistance to find other opportunities elsewhere.
All year
Our pupils do not practise on their own before the tenancy decision in July, but all of the work you do during pupillage will be on real, often ‘live’, cases. You will draft opinions, skeleton arguments, pleadings and notes. We believe in allowing our pupils to contribute to the most exciting and challenging cases Chambers has to offer, including work for the Supreme Court and the ICJ.
Pupils develop their oral advocacy skills throughout the year, by performance as well as observing barristers in Court. You will undertake an oral advocacy session after every piece of assessed written work. You also engage in a formal oral advocacy exercises each term, receiving detailed feedback from senior members of Chambers. All year, the precision and confidence of your oral advocacy should develop in tandem with your written advocacy.
As well as doing assessed work, you will have the opportunity to shadow your supervisors and other members of Chambers at hearings and client conferences. These are essential for you to develop excellence in client care and oral advocacy.