Help, what work experience or mini pupillages have you done?

Work experience with a barrister- Obviously I havent done any before, I know nothing and am rather ignorant about these processes...can someone briefly outline what shape early work experience will take??

What work experience has everyone done?

Reply 1

karlbyron

I've done three mini-pupillages and have two more organised. All you usually do is follow a barrister around and watch him talk to clients, speak in court. You read his papers and when the time is right ask them questions.

Reply 2

LuverlyLawyer

1

Um I think I did 13 mini-pupillages but it may have been 10... anyway - quite a few! Mostly because I enjoyed them so much and now I bump into loads of people I know around the inns which is always nice!I also had tonnes of people who I could send my OLPAS form to have it checked over :wink:

I also volunteered for AvMA (Action Against Medical Accidents) for a year (two hours a week on their helpline) - I received lots of medical negligence training through that and was asked about it a lot at interview.

I also did a vacation placement at a solicitors' firm and spent a week in the legal dept of a local borough council.

Whilst at BPP I worked on the Street Law Project (going into schools and doing workshops about relevant areas of law - ie knife crime, drugs etc etc).

I think that's it! Will probably remember something else later! I think the more the better - you can always tailor your CV to a particular set/firm and only put the relevant ones down.

Reply 3

Nana_Julia

9

saoirse

Work experience with a barrister- Obviously I havent done any before, I know nothing and am rather ignorant about these processes...can someone briefly outline what shape early work experience will take??

What work experience has everyone done?

6 days of mini-pupillage. I really don't think chambers think "WOW! Someone who has done 712 mini-pupillages!!" and my lack of legal work experience doesn't seem to have been held against me...

Reply 4

karlbyron

Nana_Julia

6 days of mini-pupillage. I really don't think chambers think "WOW! Someone who has done 712 mini-pupillages!!" and my lack of legal work experience doesn't seem to have been held against me...

What do you put your success down to Nana_Julia? Is it doing non legal things but things that show you're outgoing like you talked about in a previous post?

Reply 5

stephanina

7

I read on a Chambers' website, regarding potential pupillages, that having more than three mini-pupillages is a bit useless and a waste of time, and looks silly. I plan on doing maybe one or two at very different places to get an idea of what I want to do (as that is the point of a mini-pupillage), a vacation scheme with a solicitor and then spending the rest of my time doing other relevant activities (uni societies, mooting, etc). But then again I'm no expert!

Reply 6

Legal_Jim

I've been advised that you should aim for 3 mini-pupillages. Various people have told me that any more shows that you weren't incredibly selective when applying (this is quite important I'm led to believe).

In terms of my own legal experience, it isn't extensive as yet, but I've been working in a commercial environment for several years now, the last few self-employed. However I've arranged some experience as follows:

Visit to the European Court of Human Rights over the summer to find out more about the impact of the HRA.

Mini-pupillage arranged over the summer

Marshalling a judge arranged over the summer (very excited about this)

University Legal Advice Clinic

Reply 7

MTG

5 Mini-pupillages
Paralegalling - two commercial firms
Work as a Law Reporter
Pro Bono work at Law Centre
Representing people at Leasehold Valuation Tribunal
Five published articles

But still no pupillage though......

Reply 8

Nana_Julia

9

MTG

5 Mini-pupillages
Paralegalling - two commercial firms
Work as a Law Reporter
Pro Bono work at Law Centre
Representing people at Leasehold Valuation Tribunal
Five published articles

But still no pupillage though......

Hang in there - is this your first round of apps? Have you been getting interviews? That looks like a pretty good CV of legal experience!

Reply 9

FMQ

5

stephanina

I read on a Chambers' website, regarding potential pupillages, that having more than three mini-pupillages is a bit useless and a waste of time, and looks silly. I plan on doing maybe one or two at very different places to get an idea of what I want to do (as that is the point of a mini-pupillage), a vacation scheme with a solicitor and then spending the rest of my time doing other relevant activities (uni societies, mooting, etc). But then again I'm no expert!

Do they do English law degrees at Stirling or are you going to do the GDL, and if so how come you chose to study law there and then become a barrister?

Reply 10

username124534

10

At what point can you apply for mini pupillages? Is sixth form too early?

Reply 11

Jennie84

5

jadedwords

At what point can you apply for mini pupillages? Is sixth form too early?

You can certainly try, but you may find that many chambers only offer them to university students. I did one during my first year of A levels, but only because the barrister I shadowed was a family friend.

I have found that many provincial sets are more willing to give MP's than London ones. Go for it.

Reply 12

Lush Law

15

5 mini-pupillages
1 week at the NHS Litigation Authority
3 days at Liberty
1 vacation scheme at a law firm
2 week internship in the legal department of a local government council (dull as hell)
3 weeks of court marshalling
Extensive pro-bono work at university over 2 years

Reply 13

Simon Myerson QC

5

I think 3 is probably not enough. Your first one is often a bit of a blur. Unless you are planning on being very specialist I would like to see a broader spread - 5 is about right.
FRU/Liberty/pro-bono is very good.
Marshalling is good.
Work experience with solicitors is good but better if either they will send you work because they brief Chambers or if you worked on one big case.

We only offer MPs to those at university. There are issues about under 18s in robing rooms.

Reply 14

Legal_Jim

That's interesting to hear Simon. Is other experience taken into account when Chambers decide upon which pupils they select? For example, I work full-time at present (though I plan on doing the BVC full-time in 2009) and have gained certain skills that some university leavers may not possess upon graduation. Specifically I'm thinking about networking / building strong business relationships with clients / suppliers etc. At present I'm using all of my holidays to build up my legal experience, but I'm not sure that I will be able to do 5 mini-pupillages before I apply for pupillage.

Reply 15

FMQ

5

Legal_Jim

That's interesting to hear Simon. Is other experience taken into account when Chambers decide upon which pupils they select? For example, I work full-time at present (though I plan on doing the BVC full-time in 2009) and have gained certain skills that some university leavers may not possess upon graduation. Specifically I'm thinking about networking / building strong business relationships with clients / suppliers etc. At present I'm using all of my holidays to build up my legal experience, but I'm not sure that I will be able to do 5 mini-pupillages before I apply for pupillage.

Not from my, or the 8 people in my tutorial group with similar backgrounds getting no where with apps experience!! I am sure my app just hasn't been considered by the right set yet :smile:

(And i've done the "obligatory" 5 minis too)

Reply 16

Legal_Jim

That's somewhat disheartening to hear, but I imagine if you were to get an interview and could positively argue how your skills are transferable it might give you an edge. I wish you well in your hunt though FMQ.

Reply 17

Nana_Julia

9

Legal_Jim

That's interesting to hear Simon. Is other experience taken into account when Chambers decide upon which pupils they select? For example, I work full-time at present (though I plan on doing the BVC full-time in 2009) and have gained certain skills that some university leavers may not possess upon graduation. Specifically I'm thinking about networking / building strong business relationships with clients / suppliers etc. At present I'm using all of my holidays to build up my legal experience, but I'm not sure that I will be able to do 5 mini-pupillages before I apply for pupillage.

Yes, everything is taken into account, other experience is certainly viewed positively, how positively will depend on what you can bring to the table as a result.

Reply 18

FMQ

5

Legal_Jim

That's somewhat disheartening to hear, but I imagine if you were to get an interview and could positively argue how your skills are transferable it might give you an edge. I wish you well in your hunt though FMQ.

Thanks Jim, you too. I'm sure what's for me won't go past me and all that, even if its not the bar, and I will keep trying to add new strings to my bow.

I think I went into this naively thinking that a lot of my professional and personal skills and interests were quite interesting, but have come to realise that more people than don't have similar skills, esp on the part time BVC. When all is said and done, with the bottleneck to pupillages in the last few years, realistically there are enough Russel Group 1sts and Oxbridge 2.1s to fill the majority of spots and, really, this trumps everything; be it legal experience, running your own business or de-worming orphans in Uganda! I will keep trying but it's not the end of the world if it doesn't happen. At least I haven’t got into huge amounts of debt or "given up" a successful career like loads of my friends or anything, so I'm in a better position than lots of people.

Help, what work experience or mini pupillages have you done?

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