Pupillage Vacancy Information
About AETO and Structure of Pupillage:
About Keating Chambers
Keating Chambers is a leading commercial set. It is one of the top two construction chambers in the UK and worldwide. In their first years of practice, tenants can expect earnings equivalent to those in other top sets of commercial chambers.
We specialise in construction, technology and related professional negligence disputes. These disputes often relate to high-value and high-profile projects in the UK and overseas and typically involve complex issues in the law of contract, tort and restitution. Some of our members are also involved in EU, planning and environmental law. All members of Chambers are frequently involved in reported cases.
Chambers’ area of practice is dynamic and challenging. Most of our cases are contractual disputes, but principles of tort, restitution, mistake and misrepresentation frequently arise. The cases are intellectually challenging and the complexity of disputes requires thorough analytical skills. Cases involving members of Keating Chambers are regularly featured in The Lawyer’s “Top 20 Cases of the Year”, including in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024. We also won The Lawyer’s “Chambers of the Year” in 2020 and Legal Cheek’s Chambers of the Year in 2024. We frequently win Construction Set of the Year at UK Bar Awards, and our barristers consistently win Construction Silk of the Year and Construction Junior of the Year, including awards in 2022, 2023, and 2024. We are consistently top ranked by the directories both as a set and for individual members in construction, energy, international arbitration, professional negligence, procurement and planning.
Our Expertise
Our members are involved in disputes of all shapes and sizes: from residential building works to multi-million-pound projects for the construction of airports, dams, power stations, ships, oil rigs and bridges. Members of Chambers have been instructed on projects such as the Olympic venues, Wembley Stadium, the Pinnacle, the Shard, the Gherkin, the Millennium Bridge, the London Eye and the Channel Tunnel. Much of Chambers’ work now also includes rapidly developing areas such as information technology, telecommunications and energy (including oil & gas, renewables and nuclear).
Members of Chambers act as advocates in litigation (principally in the Technology and Construction Court and the Commercial Court) and arbitration throughout the UK. A number of our members specialise in international arbitration. This involves projects and hearings elsewhere; sometimes in Europe but often in the Gulf and Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Caribbean. We have international members based in Australia, Hong Kong and India. There are many opportunities to work abroad. Members of Chambers have been instructed on projects such as the Dubai metro, airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and the Philippines, the Tsing Ma suspension bridge in Hong Kong, the Shinkansen high speed train network and cases involving mines, ships, rigs, oil wells and various types of plant (biofuel, gas turbine, nuclear etc.) across all four continents.
Members of Keating Chambers also have plenty of opportunities to engage in the academic aspects of our work and regularly publish books, articles and journals. Keating on Construction Contracts, the leading textbook in the field, is written and researched by current members of Chambers. We also publish several other leading textbooks: Keating on NEC, Keating on Offshore Construction and Marine Engineering and Keating on JCT Contracts. We also contribute to Chitty on Contracts and Halsbury’s Laws of England. Members of Chambers also give regular lectures and seminars and are regarded as thought leaders in our sectors.
The Application Process and Selection for Pupillage
Keating Chambers invites applications for pupillage starting in September 2026. All applications are to be made through the Pupillage Gateway from 11.01am on 2 January 2025. All applications will be assessed on their merits in accordance with our selection criteria. Our website provides detailed information on this criteria and mark schemes for each element of the process: https://www.keatingchambers.com/join-us/pupillage-recruitment#guidance_on_pupillage.
We emphasise that no specialist or technical knowledge of construction or engineering is required or assumed: no questions are asked about this at any stage of our recruitment process and it forms no part of selection for pupillage. However, if you would like to know a little bit more about construction law, this Introduction to Construction webinar might be of interest:
We are a friendly and welcoming set. We want to ensure that we attract the best applicants, offer the best applicants a pupillage and retain them as tenants. We want our chambers to reflect the diversity of the people we serve. The best barristers do not all come from the same mould. They may be of any ethnicity, from any culture or race, of any gender or none, any social background and possess a multitude of diverse characteristics. To that end, we have recently updated our selection criteria, our process and what we are looking for from candidates at each stage. The website also includes extensive additional information about life in Chambers and members of Chambers. We hope you will like what you see. Please see our website: https://www.keatingchambers.com/join-us/pupillage-recruitment.
If you need us to make a reasonable adjustment for a disability at any stage, we will be happy to do so. Candidates will be given a named contact for this purpose.
Structure of Pupillage
Pupils are allocated four supervisors in the course of their 12 month pupillage. This ensures that each pupil sees a variety of work of differing levels of complexity within Chambers and broadens their exposure to different working styles.
Keating Chambers is committed to providing all of its pupils with comprehensive training in the core skills required for practice in our field. We have been shortlisted as “Best Chambers for Training” by Legal Cheek following their 2021 pupil survey, and won Legal Cheek's "Chambers of the Year" in 2024. Pupils are encouraged to prepare drafts of pleadings, advices, letters and other documents that their supervisor or other members are instructed to prepare, as well as preparing skeleton arguments for hearings. They also attend conferences with clients, and hearings in court, arbitrations, adjudications and mediations. In the first three months, the pupil will work almost exclusively for their pupil supervisor. Thereafter, the pupil will do work both for their supervisors and for other members of Chambers.
We place a great deal of emphasis on the quality of our advocacy. We organise a series of assessed exercises in which our pupils compete against each other in mock court hearings based on real cases to ensure that our pupils are fully prepared for practice as specialist advocates. In the second six months, we also get our pupils into court as much as possible.
Where possible, we arrange an exchange week with a firm of solicitors so that pupils can see how a typical construction department operates. We also encourage our pupils to take part in the TCC marshalling scheme.
Some of our junior tenants have provided written accounts of their experience of pupillage, which can be found at https://www.keatingchambers.com/join-us/pupillage-experience#life_as_a_pupil.
The following Pupillage Video also provides insights on a year in Pupillage, along with tips for the interview and application processes:
Financial and Other Support Available:
Financial/Funding
We offer up to three 12-month pupillages with an award for 2026 of up to £85,000.00. Up to £25,000.00 of this may be drawn down in advance for BPC/BVS/BTC fees or the Bar Course (incurred or to be incurred) or other expenses at the pupil’s request. Information about funding support can be found at: https://www.keatingchambers.com/join-us/pupillage-experience#funding.
In their first years of practice, tenants can expect earnings equivalent to those in other top sets of commercial chambers. We also offer financial support to new tenants by way of subsidised room rent in their first year of tenancy and a travel subsidy for attendance at domestic and international marketing trips.
Other Support
It is a strong ethic of Keating Chambers and its members to offer a wide network of support from pupillage through to tenancy and thereafter. All pupils have a nominated junior member of Chambers to act as their “mentor” who can offer moral and practical support to them during pupillage. Pupils can talk confidentially to their mentor about any problems they may have. A mentoring scheme also continues in the first years of tenancy. This is in addition to regular structured feedback from pupil supervisors and a pupillage review at the end of the first six months.
Our pupil supervisors are very aware of the importance of putting careful thought and discussion into how work can be improved and put great emphasis on their role in the training and development of their pupil. Individual welfare is also of utmost importance, and we expect pupils to take holiday during the year of pupillage.
We have been awarded a Certificate of Recognition from the Bar Council for our wellbeing programme.
Pupillage Video 2024
Watch our pupillage video to discover the benefits of choosing a career at the Commercial Construction Bar. Gain first-hand insights from barristers and our Chief Operating Officer at Keating Chambers as they discuss their experiences, the challenges and rewards of the profession, and the supportive environment at our chambers. The video also provides a glimpse into the day-to-day life at Keating Chambers, including work culture, mentorship opportunities, and the thriving community you’ll be a part of.
"Demystifying the Bar" Podcast
Members of Keating Chambers' Pupillage Committee myth-bust some of the common misconceptions about life at the Commercial Bar in this podcast. They touch on various topics including finance and wider support. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1555532/11707718-demystifying-the-bar.mp3?download=true
Equality Diversity and Inclusion:
We are fully committed to diversity and inclusion in both recruitment and the provision of services and all applications (be it for staff, tenants, pupils or minipupils) are considered on merit alone. All our selection procedures are operated without discrimination. We are a friendly and welcoming set. We want to ensure that we attract the best candidates, offer the best candidates a pupillage and retain them as tenants. We want our chambers to reflect the diversity of the people we serve and seek to serve, and we recognise that the best barristers do not all come from the same mould. At 2024 Chambers & Partners Awards, Keating Chambers were nominated for the Outstanding Set for Diversity & Inclusion award. We participate in many initiatives and events, and employ a number of policies, to help improve diversity and inclusion at Keating and more widely at the Bar. Further information on these can be found at: https://www.keatingchambers.com/about/diversity-and-inclusion.
It is important to us that barristers, staff, pupils, clients and other visitors with disabilities feel welcome at Keating Chambers. Information on our building accessibility and requests for reasonable adjustments can be found on our website at: https://www.keatingchambers.com/contact-us#accessibility.
Our acting Accessibility Officer is Richard Murch, who can be contacted at rmurch@keatingchambers.com
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’.
Please ensure you read our guidance on the application process and the detailed mark scheme we provide on our website: https://www.keatingchambers.com/join-us/pupillage-recruitment#guidance_on_pupillage.
You may also find our "Tips and Tricks" podcast useful ahead of applications and interviews: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1555532/7144645-tips-and-tricks-for-pupillage-applications-and-interviews.mp3?download=true
In addition to the standardised Bar Council questionnaire, candidates will be asked to respond to the following questions from Chambers:
BC1: Please provide evidence of your ability to work in a team. In doing so, please evidence how you have met the definition of the criterion.
Word limit: 300
BC2: Please provide evidence of your use of written advocacy. In doing so, please evidence how you have met the definition in parts 1 and 2 of the criterion.
Word limit: 300
BC3; Please provide evidence of your use of oral advocacy. In doing so, please evidence how you have met the definition of the criterion.:
Word limit: 300
Any Other Relevant Information
First round interviews will be held in February/March 2025.
Second round interviews will be held in March/April 2025.
Note: offers made on 16 May 2025 9.30 am.
