Pupillage Vacancy Information
Guildhall Chambers is one of the UK’s leading multidisciplinary sets, with a national reputation for formidable advice, advocacy and client service. We are described in the directories as “an amazing set” offering “first-class“ service where “the quality all round is phenomenal”.
Chambers comprises 87 barristers including 11 silks practising from Bristol. We also have premises in London on the Strand, directly opposite the Royal Courts of Justice. We are ranked by Legal 500 in 18 practice areas, with 89 individual rankings. Chambers UK Bar ranks us as a top-tier, leading set in 20 practice areas with 80 individual rankings, putting Guildhall Chambers in the top 20 UK sets nationally by number of practice area rankings.
We are proud to be ranked so highly in all our core practice areas and our strength is further reflected in our continued success with legal awards: chambers won ‘Set of the Year – Regional Bar’ at the 2015 Legal 500 Bar Awards and ‘Regional Set of the Year’ at the Chambers UK Bar Awards 2017, and has received several other nominations in various categories since. This year, chambers was shortlisted for three awards at the Legal 500 Bar Awards 2024.
Although we are a multidisciplinary set, our established civil members are organised in specialist teams. Guildhall’s civil teams are Clinical Negligence & Personal Injury, Commercial, Employment & Discrimination, Insolvency and Property & Estates. More information about each of these areas can be found on our website. We feel that this specialist team approach best meets the needs of our clients and leads to better service provision. Pupillage is, therefore, undertaken within the structure of a specialist team or teams.
Chambers is offering one pupillage in the Employment & Discrimination team, to start in October 2026. The team has a reputation for excellence and attracts high quality national work. It is made up of a mix of barristers ranging from junior members who have completed their pupillages in the last five years to very experienced juniors. The team covers the full range of Employment & Discrimination work in the Employment Tribunal and County and High Courts, as well as regulatory tribunals. Members of the team are also regularly involved in significant appellate matters, in the EAT and Court of Appeal.
In their first six months, a pupil can expect to see and work on a wide variety of cases within the practice areas covered by this busy team, ranging from wages disputes to complex discrimination claims, business protection/injunction matters and appeals. They will undertake paperwork and shadow members of chambers at court hearings and in conferences. In the second six, pupils will undertake their own cases at the junior end of the team’s workload. Although a pupil will normally be assigned to a single pupil supervisor, the team takes a strong collective approach to pupil development, to ensure that pupils are able to gain experience of working alongside as many members of the team as possible.
Chambers is committed to ensuring that our pupils receive the highest quality training and guidance. Our aim is not only to ensure that our pupils excel in the necessary competencies within the Professional Statement, but that they also develop as individuals who are rounded and confident advocates, with the skills and insight they will require for a successful career at the Bar.
Pupils’ progress is monitored closely by their supervisor(s) and feedback is given regularly. Pupils will spend time with, and do work for, as many members of the team(s) as possible to gain maximum experience of different types and styles of work and levels of seniority. Members will provide constructive feedback to the pupil on every piece of work undertaken.
A career at the Bar is incredibly rewarding; however, it is also challenging. That is why each pupil has, as well as a supervisor, a mentor who is another member of the team to whom he or she can turn in confidence if necessary. It is of great importance to Chambers that each pupil feels properly supported during what can be an exciting and daunting year. Our objective is to help each and every pupil fulfil their potential.
Applicants are expected to demonstrate intellectual ability; excellent communication/ advocacy skills; an ability to work under pressure; flexibility of thinking; sound judgement and good interpersonal skills, as well as the determination and temperament required to build their own practice. It is also desirable for candidates to be able to demonstrate an interest in and commitment to specialist practice within the Employment & Discrimination team.
Our selection process aims to be rigorous and fair, and to comply with the Bar Standards Board Bar Qualification Manual and the Fair Recruitment Guide. We select pupils on ability and potential alone, without regard to age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
Financial level of support: £25,000 grant and £30,000 guaranteed earnings. £7,500 can be drawn down in the vocational training year.
Questions – Employment & Discrimination:
- Why are you interested in practising in Employment & Discrimination law?
- What are your reasons for applying to Guildhall Chambers?
- Why do you believe you will make an exceptional barrister? In your answer, please identify the relevant experience and skills that you believe will help you in your career.
- Please give an example of a time when you have used advocacy skills in a non-legal and difficult situation to achieve a better outcome.
- Please identify an important case or development in the law in the last year (relevant to Employment & Discrimination law) and explain why you find it interesting?
All questions have a maximum character count of 1250
