Pupillage Vacancy Information
About Authorised Education and Training Organisation
Littleton Chambers is a pre-eminent set in employment, commercial and sports law.
We take considerable care in choosing our pupils, who we hope will progress to become tenants in Chambers. We conduct two rounds of interviews and a short assessed mini-pupillage in the course of the application process. This enables us to make a thorough and well-informed assessment of our applicants: we hope it also helps prospective pupils to decide whether they would like to make Littleton their professional home.
We endeavour to take on pupils who not only have excellent academic skills, but who show flair for advocacy, have the ability to understand practical commercial issues, and importantly, have the interpersonal skills to provide the level of service expected of the modern-day Bar.
For more information about Pupillage at Littleton see https://littletonchambers.coom/pupillage or follow us on social media on X (formerly Twitter) https://twitter.com/LittletonPupils or via Instagram https://www.instagram.com/littlepupils.
Structure of Pupillage
Pupillage is very much 'on the job' training. You will spend three months with each of your supervisors, essentially shadowing their practice and working with them on cases as they develop. Littleton takes the training of its pupils seriously and each pupil supervisor is mindful of the importance of their responsibilities towards their pupil; you will only be given work that is helpful for your development as a barrister, and your supervisor will give you feedback on your work. Your supervisor will also support you in learning about matters of ethics, business development and practice management.
In addition to learning from your supervisor, you will benefit from a carefully designed internal programme of assessment and training. Pupils undertake written and advocacy assessments throughout the year and receive timely feedback on their performance to enable them to identify any areas for improvement. Pupils also benefit from unassessed cross-examination training from junior barristers in Chambers.
Pupils at Littleton do not typically take on a great deal of their own work prior to the tenancy decision; opportunities to take on your own cases will be monitored by your supervisors and he clerks, but prior to your tenancy decision we want to enable you to keep your focus on work for your supervisor, assessed work for other members of chambers and your internal written and advocacy assessments.
The tenancy decision is made on the basis of the merits of the individual pupil, taking into account reports from supervisors and assessment results (it is not a competitive process between pupils). Our ideal outcome is that all pupils reach the required standard and are offered tenancy.
If a pupil secures tenancy, they will then work with their supervisor to ensure that they have seen all necessary types of work prior to the end of their pupillage, and will begin to take on more of their own work, with the continued guidance and support of their final seat supervisor.
Junior tenants often have the opportunity to work on led cases with more senior members of chambers, but will also gain significant experience 'on their feet', taking on their own cases as sole counsel from the earliest days of tenancy.
Financial and Other Support Available
Littleton Chambers believes that fair renumeration is important. Our pupils receive a £75,000 pupillage award and they keep all second six earnings. It is possible to draw down a maximum of £15,000 on the pupillage award during the year prior to the commencement of pupillage.
In order to ease the transition into practice Littleton also provides new tenants with a one year rent-free period at the commencement of tenancy, following a further period of discounted rent.
During your pupillage, and beyond, you will have the support of a junior mentor in chambers.
Equality Diversity and Inclusion
We operate an Equal Opportunities Policy which is designed to support diversity in our pupillage recruitment process.
Should applicants require any reasonable adjustments be made throughout our recruitment process, they should email the Administration Director, Felicity Schneider, on fschneider@littletonchambers.co.uk
We are proud to be a founding partner of "Bridging the Bar", a charity committed to the promotion of equal opportunities and diversity at the Bar, at all professional levels. As part of our commitment to this initiative we are participating in the Bridging the Bar mini pupillage scheme, through which candidates will be able to apply for a dedicated mini pupillage experience outside the usual recruitment process.
Littleton is also extremely proud to have been part of the founding committee of "10,000 Black Interns", a program designed to promote opportunities for black law students to access the profession.
The Littleton "Inspire Sports Law" initiative is designed to support athletes transitioning away from high performance sport into a career in the law, and/or those from less represented socio-economic backgrounds who wish to embark on legal careers at the Bar. This initiative includes opportunities for work experience at Littleton Chambers which includes attending hearings and considering cases of interest dealt with by our Sports Law Group, networking at this groups events, mentoring in terms of university studies, Law or Bar School topic choices, scholarship applications and interview preparation and ongoing education by way of updates and comments via the Littleton Sports Group mailing list.
AI policy
Littleton are currently in the process of developing an AI Policy and use of AI protocols, which will equally apply to those undertaking pupillage. Details of such to be provided by our IT Manager on commencement of your pupillage.
How to Apply
Aspiring barristers are invited to apply to Chambers using the Pupillage Gateway and in accordance with their application timetable using the Pupillage Gateway application system to search for for Littleton Pupillage Vacancy and selecting "Apply for this Pupillage".
Candidates will be asked to answer to the following questions from Chambers:
1. Why do you believe you will make a good barrister? (200 word limit)
2. Why do you want to join Littleton Chambers? (300 word limit)
3. Please provide a breakdown of your exam results in your undergraduate degree. To the extent that you consider any later degree or qualifications to be relevant, please provide appropriate breakdown (750 word limit).
