Pupillage Vacancy Information
39 Essex Chambers is a leading set based in London, Manchester, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. We have 158 members – around a third of whom are KCs. We are one of the country’s largest civil sets with members who are experts in a wide range of specialist sectors and practice areas.
We act for:
- individuals
- public and private companies
- government departments and agencies
- utilities
- NGOs
- insurance companies
- professional indemnity insurers
- local authorities
- trade unions
- educational bodies
- health authorities and trusts
Our barristers are used to working in large teams or as sole advocates. We pride ourselves on our team working and have a large number of experienced silks who are able to encourage and nurture our more recently qualified barristers.
We have a global reach with excellent relationships with leading law firms across the world. We also accept instructions through direct professional access from recognised organisations and overseas lawyers. Our barristers undertake pro bono work and act for a number of public interest organisations.
Our Approach
In all of our work we aim to:
- provide an excellent, efficient service to all our clients
- give sound practical advice and explain legal issues in clear terms
- be approachable and work as a team with our clients and their other professional advisers.
Structure of Pupillage
We offer up to three funded, 12-month pupillages per year. In 2025, we will be accepting applications for pupillage commencing in September 2026.
Our pupillage award is currently set at £70,000. From this overall sum £5,000 will be by way of guaranteed earnings in the second six months. The award is payable in equal instalments across the 12-month pupillage and arrangements can be made for a “draw down” of up to £15,000 in advance (payable in monthly instalments and with pro rata reductions during the pupillage year). Earnings for barristers’ own work in the second six months are additional to this award if they exceed the £5,000 minimum – but the emphasis during pupillage remains on training and it is anticipated that the bulk of pupils’ work will remain for their supervisors rather than themselves.
The assessment of pupils is objective, with constructive feedback provided throughout the year. Pupils are not in competition with one another: our aim is for pupillage to be a year of learning and our ambition is to recruit all pupils as tenants if they meet the relevant criteria. As a result, we have a high retention rate of pupils to tenants. We make our final tenancy decision based on the strengths of each individual pupil as assessed against the core competences.
What does pupillage at 39 Essex Chambers involve?
Our pupils rotate in turn through each of the four seats – Commercial & Construction, Civil Liability, Environment & Planning, and Public law. Each seat involves a mixture of court and paperwork, and enables our pupils to develop strong relationships with their supervisors and gain expertise in the areas of practice in which we specialise. Our range of practice is broad and we encourage our pupils to develop similarly broad practices over their first few years. Our tenancy decision is taken around the end of June, when each pupil has spent approximately 10 weeks in each seat. This enables Chambers to assess our pupils, and gives our pupils a chance to experience the full breadth of Chambers’ expertise.
In addition, we have a wider training programme covering advocacy and other issues likely to arise in junior practice such as small claims, costs, credit hire, early practice, wellbeing, how to work with clerks, practice management and development, managing finances and accountancy.
Once the tenancy decision is taken, pupils usually remain with whomever their pupil supervisor is at the time, although alternative arrangements can be made at that stage, if desired.
Pupil supervisors
One of our greatest strengths is the range of areas in which we practise.
Over the course of the year, 39 Essex pupils take a deep dive into four diverse areas of law, gaining experience of both public and private law spheres.
We have a number of supervisors, each with their own particular practice. Pupils generally have two supervisors for each seat and spend their working days with one or the other, shadowing them in court and in conference, and working on papers in tandem with them. While their work is always managed by their lead supervisors, there are often opportunities to see interesting work with other members of the relevant team or attend higher court hearings / matters of interest.
Second six months
Unlike many of our direct competitors, we place real value on the development of our pupils’ advocacy skills. While our junior tenants do have opportunities to act in big cases and work as part of larger teams, we also pride ourselves on the fact that all of our tenants are capable advocates in their own right. Pupils can therefore expect to be in court on small claims cases or interim applications in larger matters in the second six months of their pupillage. The precise amount of work pupils receive varies from year to year, but the expectation is that they will be in court once or twice a week during the second six months of pupillage. We operate a system to ensure fair distribution of work among the pupils and this is monitored by the Pupillage Committee. Pupils keep all earnings from such work beyond the initial £5,000 and do not pay any contribution to chambers on those earnings.
Structured training
The Bar Council / Bar Standards Board have requirements for the completion of the academic and vocational components of training for the Bar. These are set out in the Curriculum and Assessment Strategy of the BSB. At present there is a requirement to take an Ethics exam, complete an Inn led advocacy course and there will be a Negotiation Skills training component in due course. Pupils may also complete a Forensic Accountancy course and a Preparing for Practice course run by their Inn. We provide a comprehensive internal training system and evaluation process that comfortably exceeds the minimum requirements of the BSB.
Due to our emphasis on early years advocacy, we run our own in-house advocacy training programme, providing structured exercises where pupils can practise and learn from senior members of Chambers. We address witness handling and real exercises in the sorts of cases you can expect in your second six and early years.
Our pupils have also met with significant success in the annual Alternative Dispute Resolution Competition run by the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators, held in January each year. While voluntary, those who have participated (with support from Chambers) have found it a valuable and rewarding experience.
Pupillage is organised throughout so as to equip you with the skills you will need in practice, and is delivered having regard to the AETO Curriculum and Assessment Strategy with the expectation that all our pupils have the training to meet the competences in the Professional Statement.
Feedback
During the course of your pupillage year you will receive regular feedback and assessment; generally, your supervisor will give you written and oral feedback after each piece of work. There is a more formal process at the mid-point and end point of each of the four seats when you will sit down with your supervisor and discuss and be given formal written feedback that ties into each of the framework competences you are required to meet in order successfully to complete pupillage. The feedback is structured in alignment with the competences and ensures that our pupils have a good idea of their progress, where they are doing well and any areas that require further work. We are also therefore able to provide additional training in areas of work that a pupil may be struggling with (whether it be in a new skill, such as drafting or negotiation, or grappling with a particular area of law). This process of checking in on a formal basis means that progress to completion of the competency standard is transparent during the year. These formal written feedback forms also provide one of the main planks of evidence when we come to discuss Chambers’ tenancy decision in due course.
Tenancy
The focus of pupillage is on learning. Pupils’ focus is on shadowing and learning from their supervisors: it follows that there is no expectation that they will do work – or photocopying! – for other members of Chambers, nor will other members generally have any input into whether or not they are offered tenancy. We do seek feedback from members for whom pupils work – all fed into our central assessment process – and lead supervisors act as gatekeepers to manage work output. Our pupils are also set carefully moderated work by a shadow pupillage panel and are given focused advocacy training and assessment: these assessments, along with the views of their supervisors, form the basis upon which any offers of tenancy are made.
We have a very strong tradition of providing effective assistance in finding probationary tenancies or tenancies for those few who are not successful in obtaining tenancy with us but who continue to wish to pursue a career at the Bar.
Life in Chambers
We pride ourselves on our reputation as one of the most approachable sets of chambers at the Bar, with a real focus on work-life balance. We want our pupils to share that experience: accordingly, we operate a strict 9am-6pm policy for pupils with – generally – no expectation that they will work overnight or over weekends.
For a snapshot of the experiences of one recent pupil, click here.
Our pupils work hard, but they are also fully integrated into the life of Chambers. We operate an open-door policy and foster a friendly and supportive atmosphere in Chambers. Our team of around 50 staff provide a broad range of expertise; they work mainly in Chambers and are available for guidance or support (as well as a game of table tennis or pool in our games room). As well as a Chambers-wide annual end of year party there is a junior tenants’ Christmas lunch and numerous formal and informal social events throughout the year. There are plenty of chances to get to know members of Chambers and our excellent staff throughout the year.
Chambers’ social life includes regular Chambers’ lunch, weekly drinks in the clerks’ room and occasional trips to the downstairs karaoke bar. We hold baking fundraisers and a variety of events from clothes swaps to half marathon running. As well as joining in with Chambers’ events, we encourage our barristers to maintain their outside interests and are proud of our runners, trail walkers, jazz musicians, novelists, bakers, band members and visual artists.
Equality Diversity and Inclusion
We are committed to broadening access and opportunities both at the Bar and within Chambers for barristers and staff. We have an equality and diversity working group that oversees our equality action plan and race action plan. We have five equality and diversity officers (barristers) and a diversity data officer (a senior staff member). Our current external outreach partnerships include Bridging the Bar, The Sutton Trust and 10,000 Black Interns. We have signed up to the Freebar Charter and are also are involved in the setting up of All Bar (a new initiative to support those with a disability). We are a Disability Confident Committed employer and we have a Certification of Recognition from the Bar Council for Wellbeing.
We are particularly proud of the number of female KCs we have and the diverse socio-economic background of our barristers. Our diversity data survey results from 2023 are available on our website, along with our Anti-Racist Statement.
One of our core values is inclusivity - we are friendly, welcoming and open in our communication. We celebrate difference and expect everyone to have a voice and to be heard.
We base all our employment decisions on merit, job requirements and business needs. We encourage and welcome applicants from people of the global majority, those with disabilities, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, women and candidates from groups which are under-represented in the legal sector. We will make reasonable adjustments to enable candidates living with a disability to demonstrate their suitability for the role.
We provide support both during pupillage and during tenancy. While a pupil, you will have an appointed buddy – someone junior to whom you can take any concerns or problems, formal or informal, who is not involved in assessing you. You will also be assigned a mentor to help you navigate the early years of tenancy. We also have appointed mentors to help our members navigate pregnancy and having children: we very much support our members in having families and do not place members under pressure to return to work but do try to support them when they are ready to return. We have a well-supported structure for raising any concerns or formal complaints. Your supervisor will generally be your first port of call, but combined with the number of supervisors you will have access to, along with our friendly and experienced staff team, you always have access to strong support structures. We subscribe to an external Employee Assistance Programme which offers a 24/7 confidential helpline, as well as counselling and other support covering a range of issues including stress, family issues, bereavement, financial problems and serious illness. It is confidential, free at source and open to our pupils.
How to Apply
Aspiring barristers are invited to apply to Chambers between Thursday, 2 January 2025 and Thursday, 6 February 2025 using the Pupillage Gateway application system to search for the relevant Pupillage Vacancy and selecting ‘Apply for this pupillage’.
In addition to the standardised Bar Council questionnaire, candidates will be asked to respond to the following questions from Chambers:
- Why do you believe you will make a good barrister? [1,200 characters]
- Why do you want to join our chambers? [1,200 characters]
- What areas of practice are you interested in, and why? [1,200 characters]
- Name a case which you view as wrongly decided, and explain why in no more than 200 words.
We encourage applicants for pupillage to undertake a mini-pupillage with us before completing the Pupillage Gateway application form. However, we will consider pupillage applications from, and do not discriminate against, those who have not done a mini-pupillage. Further information in regard to mini-pupillage can be found on our Mini-pupillage page.
On Thursday, 9 January 2025 at 4:00pm, we will be holding a Pupillage Application Webinar. A recording of this will be posted for those who are unable to attend.
