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We are looking for talented and ambitious candidates with the potential to succeed at the Commercial Bar. Successful candidates will have strong analytical and intellectual abilities, determination and resilience, and clear potential as advocates. 7KBW is committed to equality and diversity and encourages applications from any candidate meeting this description, regardless of background.
The Pupillage experience
7KBW places particular emphasis during pupillage on training pupils to become effective commercial barristers. To this end, the work of a pupil is diverse. A significant component will be helping in the preparation of trials and applications and attending Court and arbitrations with your pupil supervisor. You will have the opportunity to see the preparation, in which you will have played a part, put into practice, as well as to observe live advocacy. Your work as a pupil will also include drafting statements of case, researching the law, writing opinions and attending conferences, where advice is given and cases are discussed with solicitors, clients and expert witnesses. These are all skills a barrister at 7KBW can expect to use throughout his or her practice, so Chambers takes care to ensure that pupils have the opportunity to develop them during pupillage, with regular feedback on and discussions of their own work and exposure to the work of established members of Chambers.
A pupil can expect to sit with 4 different pupil supervisors in the course of the year, providing the opportunity to see a range of work and approaches. Each pupil supervisor is there to help you to learn and to produce your best work whilst in Chambers, through ongoing supervision and feedback. It is also important that pupils do work for members of Chambers other than their supervisors, so that an informed decision can be made about tenancy. However, your pupil supervisor acts as a gateway, to ensure that demands on you are kept within reasonable bounds and you are not asked to do work without sufficient time to do it properly. We also have active pastoral support for pupils, which remains entirely separate from the assessment process. Chambers wants pupils to succeed and pupillage is approached with that goal.
You will be judged only on ability and your potential as a commercial barrister. We do not set quotas for new tenants each year and there is no competition among pupils for a predetermined number of tenancies. Our aim is for as many of our pupils as possible to succeed and to join Chambers as junior tenants.
