Pupillage Vacancy Information
About Authorised Education and Training Organisation and Structure of Pupillage
St Pauls Chambers are seeking outstanding candidates to undertake common law pupillages. We will be offering one pupillage to start in September 2025 and two pupillages to start in 2026, the start date to be discussed and agreed between Chambers and the candidates.
St Pauls Chambers is a Tier 1 Ranked Chambers for Crime, recognised by the Legal 500 as ‘an excellent and professional set with considerable depth of talent’ and ‘a very experienced criminal law chambers with significant talent at every level.’ We also have barristers renowned for their expertise in family, administrative, education, regulatory, and civil law.
St Pauls Chambers has a track record of offering tenancy upon successful completion of pupillage. Our focus is not only to recruit the best talent but support and retain it. By design, we focus on quality not quantity. This allows us to attract the best possible work whilst also being able to concentrate on supporting pupils rather than risking them being lost in the crowd. We pride ourselves on being inclusive and recruiting our members from different backgrounds, as is demonstrated by our new Outreach Programme which shows our commitment to social mobility at the Bar.
We offer a pathway to success. Our junior tenants earn significantly more than their peers and gain early exposure to important, interesting, and lucrative work across a range of disciplines. Any pupil will have the opportunity to shadow and learn from some of the leading barristers in their respective fields.
Chambers is friendly, supportive, and encouraging. We ensure junior members have an assigned mentor they can go to for advice and support. We also have a dedicated wellbeing committee who are available to listen and help when necessary.
We believe we can make a positive difference to current working practices and career development. A shared vision for the future is important but equally important is the need to meet the individual needs of each member, whether it is developing better quality work, specialising in a particular area of law, increasing earnings, applying for judicial appointment, or taking Silk. Therefore, regular practice review meetings are carried out to ensure our barristers have clear short- and long-term career goals, which can be furthered and developed by our clerking team.
Structure of Pupillage
In the first six months, pupils will be supervised by a member of Chambers who specialises in criminal and/or civil law. That member will ensure the pupil experiences the full breadth of work undertaken by Chambers and introduce them to those who instruct Chambers. The pupil will also spend time shadowing other barristers in chambers. The pupil supervisor, along with the other members of Chambers, will be there to offer advice, support and encouragement. Clearly defined goals will be set throughout the first six months.
During the second six months, pupils will accept their own instructions. Support will be constantly on hand. We have an ‘open door’ policy and every member of chambers is there to help. Feedback will be provided which will be constructive. Chambers will ensure the pupil has access to the good quality work to be expected of a tenant at St Pauls Chambers, and a steady stream of income. At the conclusion of pupillage, all members of Chambers will vote on whether to accept the pupil(s) for tenancy.
Financial and Other Support Available
The pupillage award for those recruited in 2025 will be £24,000. We understand there are many costs associated with starting a career at the Bar. Therefore, at St Pauls Chambers we will pay £3,000 in the month before commencing pupillage, £1,500 per month thereafter for the first six months. For the second six months there will be guaranteed earnings of £2,000 per month. Recent pupils have demonstrated earnings in the second six far exceed the £2,000 guaranteed earnings.
Travel expenses incurred in the first six months and access to relevant legal research tools and texts will be provided by Chambers. We will also pay for the compulsory Professional Ethics Exam study materials.
At St Pauls Chambers we have the Roger Scott Trust which was set up with the objective of relieving the ‘financial hardship of pupil barristers at St Pauls Chambers by providing scholarships supplementing pupillage award.’
Applications are considered by the trustees of the Trust. It is anticipated grants will be made to assist the pupil(s) with day-to-day living and one-off expenses such as laptops, tablets and court dress. The criteria applied by the trustees will be the individual’s need and the financial hardship of the pupil barrister.
Equality Diversity and Inclusion
The acting Equality and Diversity Officer at St Pauls Chambers is Tayo Dasaolu whose contact details are td@stpaulschambers.com.
- Chambers are committed to access to the bar programmes such as the 10,000 Black Interns programme.
- Since 2022, each summer, St Pauls Chambers has accommodated one of the interns on the North Eastern Circuit. We have also committed to hosting another intern in 2025.
- Chambers produced and published an anti-racism statement for members and the public. This is publicly available on the chambers’ website.
- Chambers have implemented regular bulletin/updates on Equality and Diversity issues to keep members of chambers and staff informed about diversity initiatives on the North Eastern Circuit and around the country. These updates also aim to share the most recent reports issued by the Bar Council with members of Chambers for their consideration and information. Recent updates include an invitation for members to donate old wigs and gowns which they no longer require, even if they needed repair. These will be donated to Circuit who will carry out any repairs, so that they can be offered to under-represented groups who are starting a career at the Bar.
- We have also enthusiastically taken part in the circuit clothes fair, donating business wear for students so they may have something smart to wear at interview.
- The Equality and Diversity Officer is a member of the North Eastern Circuit’s Diversity Committee. The Committee meets once a month to discuss ways of furthering diversity at the Bar.
How to Apply
St Pauls Chambers will be accepting applications by way of a Covering Letter and CV. Applications will be accepted between 2nd January 2025 to 6th February 2025.
Within the Covering Letter, please answer the questions set out below. Please answer each question in 500 words or fewer. Please put the word count in [square brackets] at the end of each question – that will not count as a word. Answers that exceed the 500-word limit will score 0.
Please provide examples for each proposition you make. Bare propositions unsupported by examples (such as, “I can pick new points up very quickly”), will not be considered.
Please do not feel that you must provide examples from legal experience. Firstly, we are interested in how you demonstrate your barristerial skills in your everyday life. In this way you can show us you understand what we are looking for. Secondly, how you assess and judge that experience.
Please try to express yourself clearly, as this is a professional requirement. Please note that spelling errors, and errors of grammar that make understanding difficult, will result in marks being deducted for an unprofessional approach. You may find it helpful to ensure both that your grammar check is set to “strict”, and that your default language is set to “English (United Kingdom).
Each question is worth a maximum of 25 marks.
Questions
- We know you wish to come to the Bar. Please tell us what it is about being a barrister that makes you have that ambition, identify the qualities you think are required, and show us that you possess them.
- What is it about St Pauls Chambers that has made you identify it as the place where you want to do your pupillage, and why are those things important to you
- What do you understand to be the advantages and disadvantages of the common-law pupillage we are offering, and why do you want to undertake a non-specialist pupillage?
- In five years’ time, where do you want to be; professionally, geographically and personally? Why?
Please send your applications to the following email address: stpaulschamberspupillage@gmail.com
We would also encourage you to complete our Equality and Diversity Monitoring Form. Please send the completed form in the same email as your Covering Letter and CV.
We would also encourage you to complete our Equality and Diversity Monitoring Form. Please send the completed form in the same email as your Covering Letter and CV.
Any Other Relevant Information
Please note, reasonable travel expenses will be paid for candidates attending the recruitment interviews
Attached documents
