Up to two pupillages of £60,000 each

Applications close on 31 January 2012 for pupillage commencing Sept/Oct 2013 and deferred pupillage commencing Sept/Oct 2014

Applications

Chambers offers up to two 12 month pupillages each year, each carrying an award of £60,000.

We consider candidates with both law and non-law degrees. Our two most recent tenants did not read law at university. It is not a pre-requisite to have studied company or insolvency law, although those candidates who have had the opportunity to do so are generally expected to have done so.

Amongst our members of Chambers we have individuals who have transferred from other professions, including former academics and solicitors.

It is not necessary to have undertaken a mini-pupillage in Chambers, although we encourage those with an interest in pupillage at these Chambers to apply to do so. Successful pupillage candidates who have not done a mini-pupillage may be invited to do a short, non-assessed mini-pupillage in Chambers in order to help them decide whether to take up a pupillage offer.

Our application process consists of two interviews, the first involving the discussion of a case and the second a hypothetical legal problem. We usually interview 10 to 14 people in the first round of interviews with about 5 to 7 going on to the second round. The cases and problems are chosen with a view to being fair to all applicants, regardless of their experience of law. The interviews seek to test, amongst other things, analytical skill and reasoning.

Chambers is not a member of Pupillage Portal.

The deadline for applications for pupillage commencing in Sept/Oct 2013 and deferred pupillage commencing in Sept/Oct 2014 is 31 January 2012. An application form can be downloaded here:

Pupillage Application Form

Pupillage Application Form

or by writing to Diane Cousins, Erskine Chambers, 33 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 3EN.

Applicants will be contacted by 7 February 2012 to arrange interviews which will begin in the third week of February 2012.

Pupillage

Our pupillage award is £60,000 for the 12 month period. We are willing to consider advancing a proportion of this amount to assist with living costs during the Bar vocational course, and have done so on several occasions in the past.

Pupils usually sit with three or four supervisors in a 12 month period. In the early period they work almost exclusively with their pupil supervisor. Thereafter, pupils are encouraged to work with other members of Chambers ranging from the most senior to the most junior. Their workload is carefully managed by the supervisors. Tenancy decisions are based on quality, not quantity, of work.

We take care to ensure that our pupils are exposed to the full range of work in Chambers. This includes commercial litigation on both a large and small scale, particularly (but not exclusively) in the field of company and insolvency law. Pupils are often involved in cases involving the law of other Commonwealth jurisdictions. Pupils will assist with advisory work, both on the small scale that they might expect to see in their early years as a tenant, and the challenging City advisory work in which Chambers enjoys a significant reputation.

The fact that Chambers takes relatively few pupils makes pupillage a more personal experience. Pupils are treated as potential prospective members of Chambers and are expected to get to know everyone, including the silks and the clerks. They are encouraged to attend Chambers’ tea, which is held daily.

Tenancy decisions

We aim to reach a decision about tenancy approximately 9-10 months into pupillage. If, by about the 6 month mark, it becomes apparent that a pupil will not be taken on, the pupil is given the opportunity to seek a second six-pupillage elsewhere, or to complete pupillage at Chambers on a reduced award. We always hope, however, that any person offered a pupillage will become a tenant and our retention rate in recent years has been high.

Pupillage in Chambers is designed to provide both a general training for the commercial and chancery Bar, and an introduction to Chambers’ specialist areas. If a pupil is not taken on, we help to provide assistance in pursuing other routes.

Tenancy

Pupils who are taken on as tenants usually spend 3 to 6 months in the corporate department of a leading City firm before beginning their tenancy. Given Chambers’ role in City work, it is important that our new tenants have some practical insight into the practice of corporate law in the City, and the commercial context in which their advice is likely to be sought in the future.

Following this initial process, our junior tenants divide their time roughly equally between their own work and being led by a more senior member of Chambers. The former consists mainly of small-scale litigation work, including contentious insolvency business, commercial and minority shareholder disputes and Companies Court applications, along with advisory work for smaller firms. This is important for building expertise, confidence and relationships with solicitors. Led work provides an opportunity to gain experience in the more valuable litigation and City advisory work which are the staples for more senior members of Chambers.

Our clerks emphasise the need to build a practice for junior tenants, and it is very rare for a junior tenant to spend months at a time doing only led work, or as second or third junior in very heavy litigation. Efforts are made to introduce new tenants to instructing solicitors, including by participation in the seminars and talks which we often give to law firms.

Junior tenants are assisted by a complete “holiday” from Chambers expenses until one year after the end of pupillage, and a variable subsidy in respect of their room rent for up to two more years. In our experience junior members of Chambers have been able, relatively quickly, to establish a level of earnings which equals or exceeds that of their contemporaries in City law firms or other commercial or specialist sets.

Chambers offers a first-class working environment – we are housed in a modern building and all members have their own rooms. All the clerks (including the Senior Clerk) actively clerk all members of Chambers. We regard Chambers as a friendly and tolerant set. The nature of our work allows flexibility in terms of holidays, working hours and working from home.