Pupillage Vacancy Information
Who we are
7BR is a multi-disciplinary, multi-award winning set with an outstanding reputation for advocacy and for the high quality work we attract across a range of complementary practice areas. Our key practice areas are: clinical negligence; personal injury; product liability; serious crime and complex fraud; employment and discrimination; child and family; inquests; Court of Protection; public law and inquiries.
We are a friendly, welcoming chambers and our members come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Whilst we are all self-employed individuals, we support one another as colleagues. To this end, 7BR won the Chambers UK Bar award for ‘Diversity and Inclusion – Outstanding Set of the Year’ in 2023. We also won the Legal Cheek Award for ‘Best Chambers for Colleague Supportiveness’ in 2022.
We are proud of our distinguished alumni who include Lord Chief Justices, Lord and Lady Justices of Appeal and High Court Judges. Our members routinely appear in high profile, precedent-setting and important litigation, such as cases in the Supreme Court and as Counsel to ongoing and high profile inquiries, such as the IICSA and Thirlwall Inquiries (considering events at the hospital in which Lucy Letby worked).
Many of us, our practice teams and chambers as a whole are highly ranked in the directories, including Simeon Maskrey KC who recently became both the Legal 500’s Clinical Negligence Silk of the Year 2024 and Chambers UK's Personal Injury Silk of the Year 2024.
We own the buildings from which we practice and in 2020 completed extensive renovations (we were ‘highly commended’ for Best Chambers for Facilities by Legal Cheek in 2024). The building provides an optimal working environment with the latest technology.
We have strong roots on circuit and so while much of our work is in London and the surrounding area, some of our members’ work is in the Midlands; this is particularly the case for those with a criminal or family law practice.
Candidates are invited to browse the ‘pupillage’ section of our website. We host a virtual open evening each year; details of this year’s event, taking place on 3 December, will be posted on our pupillage page.
Pupillage at 7BR
We pride ourselves on the investment we place in our pupils. The structure of pupillage at 7BR ensures that all pupils receive training in civil, criminal and family law, with a unique arrangement that allows pupils to choose a practice area for their last four-month ‘seat’ and tailor their pupillage to their interests. Our pupillage programme is designed to develop and challenge, equipping candidates with the skills and experience needed to enjoy a successful and stimulating career. Having invested heavily in each pupil, we do what we can to help them succeed. We were shortlisted for Best Chambers for Training by Legal Cheek in 2022 and 2023.
Pupils are always welcome at chambers events and any member – whether supervisor or not – is happy to support and advise them in their work. Whilst chambers is based in London, pupils will be required to travel, and to manage a demanding schedule across all our practice areas.
Our retention rate is excellent and we have offered tenancy to 23 of our last 25 pupils.
Pupils are not in competition with each other; we have plenty of work and, if you are good enough, we will offer you a tenancy. This also means pupils often develop close and supportive friendships over the course of the year.
What are we looking for?
This year, we will recruit up to three pupils, to commence pupillage in October 2026.
We welcome candidates who are committed to the Bar but who are still working out the areas in which they will specialise, and candidates who already know where they wish to end up.
Whilst our members usually specialise as they become more senior, all of our very junior tenants are expected to undertake a mixed practice, giving them broad advocacy experience at the start of their career. It is our belief that experience across all practice areas in the early years provides firm foundations for success in any specialism, and means we are well placed to undertake work in some of the most interesting cases at the intersections between various fields of law.
We are looking for highly motivated, hardworking applicants who have the potential to be exceptional advocates. In your application, you will also need to demonstrate that you have the necessary intellectual and analytical skills to be able to understand and advise on complex legal issues across a variety of practice areas. You will also need to show first-rate communication skills, both oral and written.
Financial and other support available
The pupillage award is broken down as follows:
- £10,000 is paid during the year before the commencement of pupillage.
- £40,000 is paid in instalments during the first six months of pupillage.
- Billed earnings, free of chambers’ rent or contributions, are guaranteed at a minimum of £10,000.
The total value of the package available at 7BR is therefore at least £60,000
Equality, diversity and inclusion
7BR has a proven track record in promoting equality, diversity and inclusion: we won the Chambers UK Bar 2023 award for ‘Diversity and Inclusion – Outstanding Set of the Year’ and were shortlisted for the same award again in 2024.
We welcome applications from candidates with a qualifying degree in any discipline and give no special preference to those with a law degree. We are happy to consider those coming to the Bar as a second career (and indeed many of our members fall into this category). We encourage and welcome applications from groups under-represented in the legal sector and we will always make reasonable adjustments for candidates with disabilities or additional needs.
We have a fully accessible building with dignified wheelchair access to all areas.
If you have any questions about equality, diversity or inclusion at 7BR please contact Gareth Weetman at gweetman@7br.co.uk.
How to apply
For more information about pupillage at 7BR, please visit our website, www.7br.co.uk, and in particular the pages regarding pupillage. We are also hosting a virtual pupillage evening on 3 December 2024; further details are on the chambers website.
We will recruit through the Pupillage Gateway. Applications will open on 2 January and close on 6 February 2025. Candidates will be shortlisted for interviews, with first-round interviews taking place in March 2025 and second-round interviews in April 2025.
Questions to be answered in addition to the Pupillage Gateway standard questions:
- Why do you believe you will make a good barrister? Max 250 words
- Which areas of legal practice are you interested in and how does this inform your decision to apply to 7BR? Max 250 words
- Apart from academic studies, which two experiences have most influenced you and why? Max 250 words
- Any special features not already mentioned. Include here any mitigating features in respect of your exam results (please refer to (g) on the ‘selection process’ page on the 7BR website). Max 100 words
- Legal problem question (see attached document). Max 350 words
