Vacancies

St John's Buildings - 12 Months - October 2023

Equality Diversity and Inclusion

We particularly welcome applications from black and minority ethnic candidates, transgender candidates and candidates with a disability who are under-represented in our membership.

Chambers is strongly committed to equality of opportunity and will apply objective criteria in all shortlisting and selection processes.  We aim to ensure there is no discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status, disability, race, nationality, ethnic origin, colour, religion or belief, class or age in recruitment and working life at Chambers.  We are committed to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate candidates with a disability.  Applicants may contact Diane Lees (diane.lees@stjohnsbuildings.co.uk or 0161 214 1500) to enquire about accessibility prior to making an application.

Chambers is committed to human rights work and social justice initiatives.

How to Apply

We are recruiting pupils in line with the Pupillage Gateway timetable for 2022/23 to commence pupillage in October 2023.

To apply, please complete the online application form using the Pupillage Gateway application system to search for the relevant Pupillage Vacancy and selecting ‘Apply for this pupillage’. The online application will be available between Wednesday, 4th January 2023 and Wednesday, 8th February 2023.  Chambers intends to hold first round interviews on 24^th March 2023 and second round interviews on 27^th and 28^th April 2023. 

In addition to the standardised Bar Council questionnaire, candidates will be asked to respond to the following questions from Chambers:

1.  What is it about being a barrister that most appeals to you and what reservations do you have about the profession? (max 600 characters)

2.  Persuade us to have confidence in your ability to thrive in this changing environment.  (max 600 characters)

3.  Which practice area(s) are you drawn to and why?  (max 600 characters)

About AETO and Structure of Pupillage

St John’s Buildings is one of the country’s largest and leading multi-discipline Chambers.  We operate from sites in four Northern Cities (Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Chester), across the Northern and North Eastern Circuits, and our members have the capability to work anywhere in the country.  Our principal practice groups are Crime & Regulatory, Personal Injury & Clinical Negligence, Family, Public & Administrative, Employment & Commercial, Court of Protection, Sport and Travel law.  Our full specialism breakdown is available on our website at www.stjohnsbuildings.co.uk.  

Each group has dedicated clerking and practice development support.  

An agile and commercially run set, St Johns Buildings has:

• innovative IT and tech enabled working to facilitate better and more cost-effective service delivery;
• access to the best work providing opportunities for our members to appear in some of the biggest cases nationally;
• excellent barristers working within a collegiate environment, excellence of advocacy and a commitment to the highest ethical standards;
• excellent clerking, administration and support services;
• values of Service Excellence, Approachability, Community and Agility which define how we behave collectively and individually, to clients and to colleagues;
• a comprehensive wellbeing support provision from our management team, our clerks and assistance programme.

We view Pupillage as the prime way of developing a range of high calibre tenants who will ensure the continued success of Chambers into the future.  Chambers makes a considerable investment in its pupils and most pupils become valued tenants.

Application details:

We interview both law and non-law graduates and look for:

• intellectual and analytical ability;
• written communication and advocacy;
• oral communication and advocacy;
• understanding of the law and legal practice;
• demonstration of attributes required to support a successful career at the Bar.

We expect applicants to have a 2:1 degree classification, however we will consider applicants who do not meet this criterion in extenuating circumstances and/or where exceptional qualities are present and where comparable knowledge and potential is demonstrated in the application and at interview.  This is provided that the qualifications and experience will meet the requirements of the Academic Component of Bar training.

Specifically, we are offering up to 12 pupillages across our four sites. 

Pupils will have the opportunity to focus on each of our areas of expertise.