Pupillage Vacancy Information
About Pallant Chambers
As one of the South’s leading sets we are consistently ranked as a leading Chambers in the Legal 500. This is testament to the quality of our work and the service we provide both for solicitors and lay clients.
We only recruit pupils who we believe will be offered tenancy and pride ourselves on retaining and developing our talent. Pupils work closely with their pupil supervisors and other members of Chambers, particularly those who are themselves new to their practice, and play a full part in Chambers’ life.
We offer pupils and junior tenants the opportunity to undertake high quality, challenging and interesting work from an early stage, and to build a practice with a large amount of High Court work, including in London, Bristol and Birmingham, whilst living in the areas of Sussex and Hampshire.
Structure of Pupillage
Your first six months will be spent shadowing your pupil supervisor(s) and other members of Chambers. You will be expected to accompany them to court and other appointments, to draft pleadings and opinions and undertake practice advocacy exercises. Feedback is given on all of your written and advocacy work, and there will be various reviews throughout the six months.
In the second six months, you can expect a busy court practice and to undertake paperwork in your own right. You will continue to be supported by your pupil supervisor(s) and other members of Chambers.
Your pupillage is a two-way process and we will work with you so that you can get the maximum benefit from your training, including adapting your pupillage to give you exposure to the particular areas of law in which you want to specialise. You will be a part of Chambers’ life and will attend social functions and be able to develop relationships with the clerks and professional clients. We care very much for our pupils and will regularly seek to be assured that whilst working hard you have a healthy work life balance.
Financial and Other Support Available
Our current pupillage award is £25,000, comprising a £12,500 award in the first six, and £12,500 guaranteed earnings in the second six. In practice our pupils almost always earn much more than this as a result of the cases that they undertake do in their second six. Chambers also covers pupils’ travel expenses whilst they are with their supervisor as it is required to by the BSB, so this award and a pupil’s earnings go that much further.
Without the expense of living in London and the added amenities of the South Coast, which include the rolling hills and woodlands of the South Downs, the beaches at the Witterings, and the vibrant city nightlife of Brighton and Southampton, this award and the addition of a pupil’s 2nd six earnings allow for an unrivalled quality of life for our pupils.
We are also happy and would be pleased to support our pupils if they wish to apply for additional grants or funding from other sources, such as the Inns of Court, during pupillage.
Equality Diversity and Inclusion
Pallant Chambers is committed to Equality Diversity and Inclusion. At the shortlist stage, applications are anonymised and all those involved in recruitment are expected to have studied the Bar Council's Fair Recruitment Guide.
If you have any accessibility requirements related to your application, please contact Alister Williams at awilliams@pallantchambers.co.uk.
How to Apply
Aspiring barristers are invited to apply to chambers between 2 January 2025 and 6 February 2025 using the Pupillage Gateway application system to search for the relevant Pupillage Vacancy and selecting ‘Apply for this pupillage’.
Candidates will be asked to respond to the following questions from Chambers:
1. Why do you believe that you will make a good barrister? In your answer, please identify any relevant experiences or skills that you believe may help you in your career (Word limit: 200).
2. Why do you want to join our chambers? In your answer, please give reasons for your choice of chambers, explain how your values might align with Pallant Chambers' values, and explain why you are interested in our areas of practice (Word limit: 200).
3.If there is anything else you would like us to know about you, please tell us here (Word limit: 200)
4.Please set out one area of law which you believe should be changed, why it should be changed, and in what way it should be changed. If you have applied previously, please select a different area of law (Word limit: 750).
5. Are you applying for a civil law or family law pupillage? (Word limit: 200)
