pupil reports at dere street barristers

Kerry Holt

After years of being daunted by pupillage horror stories I was absolutely dreading my first day at Chambers. It turns out though my fears were entirely unfounded and pupillage at Chambers was a thoroughly satisfying and enjoyable experience.

From my very first day I was welcomed into the social life of both Chambers and the local bar and the relaxed and supportive atmosphere of the set put me instantly at ease. I rotated around the different areas of law in my first six, spending time with as many members as I could and observing a broad range of work. In my second six I was in court almost every day and instructed on a diverse spectrum of cases – fortunately with the mentoring I had received and with the support of people in Chambers I hit the ground running, and I haven’t stopped yet.

The most surprising thing about the whole experience was the realisation that nobody was ever too busy to take me under their wing or explain things or talk through cases with me. There was never a feeling of “us and them” between the most senior and the most junior tenants – everyone was kind and helpful and so enormously generous with their time. That generosity is not just lavished on pupils though, the exchange of knowledge, ideas and experience really is foremost in Chambers’ policy and having that kind of daily support system is absolutely invaluable.

Pupillage was predictably demanding and very tiring, but the variety and quality of the work that I was involved in and the exceptional training I received has stood me in extremely good stead as I go on to build my own practise here. When it comes to my pupillage experience at Chambers, I would not change a thing.

Phillip Morgan

As I had spent the year between the end of the BVC and the start of pupillage away from the area, I started my pupillage without having had much chance to meet members of Chambers. However, right from the start, I realised that life in Chambers, although it involved a lot of hard work, also provided a great network of support for pupils. I found that members without exception were friendly and willing to give advice and guidance whenever asked. This, together with the frequent social events to which I was always invited, helped me feel at ease.

For the first 3-4 months of pupillage I was largely with my pupil supervisor, gaining experience not just of his specialist areas of work – general civil and employment – but also of life at the Bar and in Chambers. At the start I spent three or four days a week in court and the rest of the time in Chambers, where was always some paperwork that I could do and subsequently discuss with my supervisor. This helped me to improve my opinion writing and drafting skills.

Towards the end of this time I spent those days when my supervisor was in Chambers with other barristers so that I could get used to the different areas and levels of work.

After Christmas, I spent a month each with the family and criminal teams, gaining an in-depth awareness of the work carried out by each. In all areas, it was set up so that I was able to see the full range of work in each area, including both complex cases being undertaken by senior Counsel and also more junior work. This process also meant that I could appreciate and learn from the very different styles of different members of Chambers and could consider how I could best approach my own cases.

During the last few weeks of my first six, I spent my days with the most junior members of Chambers seeing the sort of work that I would shortly be doing myself. This familiarity with the work gave me a lot of confidence at the start of my second six.

Throughout my second six, I was given work from all disciplines, including work in the Magistrates’ Courts, Crown Court, County Courts and Employment Tribunals. Cases ranged from brief uncontested applications to multi-day hearings. Each week I had one day kept clear so that I could spend the day in Chambers, talk to my supervisor and other members about the work I was doing and any issues arising from it, and make sure that my pupillage was progressing as it should and that I was on course to be able to apply for tenancy at the end of it. My pupil supervisor always made sure that he was aware of what I was doing each week and how I felt that I had performed in my cases.

By the end of pupillage, I had developed my abilities and my experience to the point where I was confident, upon being accepted as a tenant, that I would be able to deal with the challenges of a life at the Bar.