Please Note: The application deadline for this job has now passed.
Pupillage Vacancy Information
About Authorised Education and Training Organisation and Structure of Pupillage
Richmond Chambers is a multi-award winning partnership of specialist immigration barristers. Based in the heart of Covent Garden, we’re a barrister-only immigration law practice, combining the expertise and quality of the Bar, with the service delivery and benefits package of a boutique law firm.
Authorised by the SRA as the UK’s first barrister-led ABS in July 2013, we are now in our 10th year of practice. Each pupillage is an employed pupillage, full time and for twelve months. During the twelve months, each pupil will be allocated to one or more pupil supervisors, but our pupils also have regular opportunities to work for other members of Chambers.
Pupils see a wide range of private client immigration law work including applications, appeals and judicial reviews involving partner and family migration, short stay migration, long term and short term work routes, business visas, the global business mobility route, global talent visas, investment migration, student visas, the EU Settlement Scheme, settlement, nationality and asylum and human rights law. Our focus on direct access work means that pupils can expect daily client contact.
The pupillage year is structured into two six month periods. The first six months (non-practising period) is spent collaborating on a wide range of applications and appeals across all areas of personal and business immigration law, often involving complex and novel points of law. In the second six months (practising period), learning through experience continues, but the reputation of Richmond Chambers is such that our pupils can also expect to be briefed by both solicitors and members of the public in their own right.
We are committed to providing our pupils with high quality, relevant training. Our barristers provide regular feedback to our pupils in relation to all work undertaken under their supervision and we hold monthly in-house advocacy training. We also go beyond the Bar Council’s training requirements and provide the additional training that we deem necessary for a successful direct access practice.
We believe that pupillage should be about learning and gaining experience. Richmond Chambers’ pupils are not required to undertake any competitive advocacy exercises or complete any formal assessments. Nor do we require our pupils to compete against each other. We evaluate each person individually based on merit.
Pupils see a wide range of private client immigration law work including applications, appeals and judicial reviews involving partner and family migration, short stay migration, long term and short term work routes, business visas, the global business mobility route, global talent visas, investment migration, student visas, the EU Settlement Scheme, settlement, nationality and asylum and human rights law. Our focus on direct access work means that pupils can expect daily client contact.
The pupillage year is structured into two six month periods. The first six months (non-practising period) is spent collaborating on a wide range of applications and appeals across all areas of personal and business immigration law, often involving complex and novel points of law. In the second six months (practising period), learning through experience continues, but the reputation of Richmond Chambers is such that our pupils can also expect to be briefed by both solicitors and members of the public in their own right.
We are committed to providing our pupils with high quality, relevant training. Our barristers provide regular feedback to our pupils in relation to all work undertaken under their supervision and we hold monthly in-house advocacy training. We also go beyond the Bar Council’s training requirements and provide the additional training that we deem necessary for a successful direct access practice.
We believe that pupillage should be about learning and gaining experience. Richmond Chambers’ pupils are not required to undertake any competitive advocacy exercises or complete any formal assessments. Nor do we require our pupils to compete against each other. We evaluate each person individually based on merit.
We are committed to recruiting new members from our pupils, after evaluation against our standards of excellence. Our recruitment and training processes are such that in the last 3 years all pupils have been offered and accepted membership of chambers at the end of their pupillage. We continue to support our new members in the early years of practice.
For more information about us and what we do, please visit our website www.richmondchambers.com.
For more information about us and what we do, please visit our website www.richmondchambers.com.
Financial and Other Support Available
You will receive a salary, and all of the benefits of employment, including paid annual leave, access to a pension scheme and more. Full details of our comprehensive benefits package are available on the Careers section of our website.
Equality Diversity and Inclusion
We are committed to promoting and fostering equality, diversity and wellbeing in all aspects of our work and employment.
Further details are available on our website here
How to Apply
Further details are available on our website here
How to Apply
Applications should be made using our online Pupillage Application Form, a link to which will be available on the Careers section of our website at www.richmondchambers.com.
The form must be completed electronically and submitted using the ‘submit’ button at the end of the form, by Wednesday, 7th February 2024 (23:59). The link and application form will be accessible when the application window opens on Wednesday, 3rd January 2024. If you have any correspondence from the BSB regarding dispensations from pupillage, please send this via email to our HR Manager, Nancy Holland nancy.holland@richmondchambers.com.
The form must be completed electronically and submitted using the ‘submit’ button at the end of the form, by Wednesday, 7th February 2024 (23:59). The link and application form will be accessible when the application window opens on Wednesday, 3rd January 2024. If you have any correspondence from the BSB regarding dispensations from pupillage, please send this via email to our HR Manager, Nancy Holland nancy.holland@richmondchambers.com.
We will not accept hardcopy applications or consider any other material provided. Applicants are advised to read the guidance note and our selection criteria carefully.
Once the online application form has been submitted, applicants will receive an email confirming successful submission. A copy of the application form will be attached to the email as a PDF. After the closing date, and once all applications have been reviewed, we will write to each applicant to inform them whether or not their application has progressed through to the next stage. Due to the high number of applications that we receive, we will be unable to provide feedback on unsuccessful applications.
Applicants who reach the interview and assessment stage will have an opportunity to receive feedback from a member of our pupillage recruitment panel.
