Pupillage

 

7 Bell Yard prides itself on providing excellent pupillages which prepare talented junior practitioners to succeed at the Bar. We place great emphasis on developing the potential of each pupil, enabling them to enjoy a varied and interesting pupillage, with the aim of producing first-class advocates. Although Chambers is a general common law set, all of Chambers' current pupillages concentrate on Crime with criminal pupil supervisors and the pupils are encouraged to watch other members dealing with alternative practice areas.

The professional achievements of our members enable pupils to work with leading practitioners in a wide range of Chambers' specialist areas.

The quality of work in chambers, coupled with our determination that each pupil's career should flourish, means that pupillage at 7 Bell Yard Chambers is a challenging and rewarding experience. Pupils are welcomed into Chambers' social and professional life, and we pride ourselves on being a friendly set. As well as maintaining regular contact with pupils throughout the duration of their pupillage, the pupillage committee arranges regular Chambers drinks parties to introduce new pupils to members of chambers in order to ensure that they feel part of the team.

In-house training

We are particularly proud of our in-house advocacy training run by the pupilage committee. The monthly exercises reflect the full range of advocacy skills from bail applications, pleas in mitigation, examination-in-chief and cross-examination to speeches and legal arguments. Pupils gain experience at drafting and presenting skeleton arguments, witness handling, and tactical advocacy. The month before pupils enter their second six months, each pupil is instructed to conduct a mock Magistrates' Court full trial. This is an invaluable opportunity for advice and feedback before pupils start on their feet. We also ask for the pupil to have a meeting with Kevin Tarrant, our Senior Clerk two weeks before starting on their feet to enable him to explain exactly what is expected of them.

In addition, just before the second six months of pupillage, junior tenants host a training session on Magistrates' Court procedure, etiquette and useful tips to help with the first few weeks of practice.

Structure of pupillage

We usually offer up to two 12-month pupillages per year. 
 

Pupils have one pupil supervisor for the full 12 months with 2 junior tenants acting as mentors. The aim is to allocate a pupil mentor for each six months with very different practices, again enabling our pupils to get involved in as broad a range of work as possible.

In the second six months, pupils can expect to be in court every day. Work will include anything from first appearances in the Magistrates' Court to summary trials, building up to appearances in the Crown Court as well as applications in the County Court. 
 

Funding

We view the funding of pupillage as an investment in Chambers' future. We offer each 12 month pupil £11,400 comprising:

• a grant of £5,400 for the first 6 months
• a further £6,000 of guaranteed earnings in the second six months, although we expect our pupils to earn significantly more than that.  

The grant is paid in 6 equal monthly instalments. Chambers notes that the Bar Council obliges pupils to attend courses, sometimes at great cost. It is Chambers' policy to pay for all pupils to attend the Forensic Accountancy, Advice to Counsel and the Human Rights Act courses. Chambers may pay for other relevant courses on application.

Tenancy

Our commitment to pupillage is such that we aim to recruit tenants from our own pupils. A number of our pupils in the last 10 years have gone on to have successful careers in Chambers.

Application process

Chambers advertises each pupilage on www.pupillages.com.

Each application we receive is carefully considered against objective criteria which are applied fairly and equally. Marks are allocated for criteria including academic record, advocacy ability and relevant experience. Forms are marked by at least 2 members of Chambers, the spread of marks analysed, and a decision made as to which candidates to call for interview.

We plan two rounds of interviews. The first is a short 'get to know you' interview, with an opportunity for the candidate to engage in a debate with the panel on a subject of general interest. A small number of candidates are invited to a second, full, interview which comprises a detailed discussion on the application, a discussion on a topic of the applicants choice and a discussion on a topic of our choice (for which the candidate will have 15 minutes to prepare), questions and discussion. The interview panel is made up of up to 6 members of Chambers and the Senior Clerk. Interviews take place on evenings and weekends.