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Lower Status Chancery Chambers for Pupillage?

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(edited 3 weeks ago)

This isn't going to be the most direct answer to your question but I hope it helps:

Doing mini-pupillages at the sets that your partner suspects don't specialise in chancery work could be a good start. It will not only show him the realities of the work and what the split between chancery-non-chancery stuff is but also give him some exposure to the area more broadly - opposing counsel might be from a different set, another set to look into and do a mini at and go from there. I am on my second round of pupillage applications, with a completed BPC and my (limited granted slightly more extensive) experience within the legal field is that getting your foot in the door is the difficult part. There is a lot more mobility post-pupillage. I wouldn't rule out sets just because they're not 100% what he wants - as long as he has experience in the desired area of law, he should be able to move elsewhere post-pupillage if having a more mixed practice is truly as awful as he thinks it is.

Reply 2

AMac86

Crazy Jamie is the expert if he sees this, but from my perspective (as a reasonably experienced solicitor who had a number of friends make it to the bar)...

I think your partner needs to take a bit of a step back first - whilst I can understand how someone would make a clear decision between civil and criminal work for example, whilst they're still in their legal education I really don't think you can say you've found your calling in an area like chancery which is fairly broad in itself and has plenty of cross over with general commercial/private wealth disputes & advice (and that's before we get into specific commercial chancery...) Why has your partner fixed on traditional chancery as the only area they want to work in? Do they know what actually working at the chancery bar, compared to other areas, is like? I'd really recommend taking a more flexible approach at the start of any career with a broader pupillage, and think that's better in the long run.

I think there might need to be a bit of a wider reality check - the standard of applicant to those top/pure commercial/chancery sets is so exceptionally high that I don't think any candidate can be so picky as to only apply to this niche.

In terms of finding chambers to apply to, the Chambers guide and Legal 500 (searching for chancery and commercial) will throw up a starting list, otherwise plenty of googling and checking the websites of individual chambers.

Reply 3

Stiffy Byng

I am a Commercial Chancery barrister, having gradually migrated from the King's Bench over many years. I was for a long time a member of a Magic Circle chambers. Now I am a member of a less shiny chambers, through personal choice.

Sir Geoffrey Vos, as Chancellor, more or less abolished the Chancery Division - it has more or less merged with the Commercial Court in all but name. I exaggerate, but only a bit.

Traditional Chancery work is a fairly small field, and tends to involve less Court work than Modern Chancery. There are still small, not very well known sets in Lincoln's Inn where people advise on trusts, wills, partnerships, and so on. Such sets may have few or even no Silks (they don't really need Silks), and may offer few pupillages. They will still, however, demand very shiny academic qualifications.

I agree with those above who have suggested that the thing to do is obtain a tenancy somewhere. Think strategically. You can build your own practice. Don't rely too much on clerks, unless you are in a top level set. Manage your own career, and learn how much you should be paid - don't be afraid of fee negotiations.

Move chambers when ready - you will need to make a business case to the set you seek to join.

Try a sideways route: Maybe spend two to three years working in Jersey, where you can do trusts, trusts, trusts. Maybe qualify as a Jersey Advocate (two years residence, quite tricky exams). Or do a year or three as an associate in a barrister-led litigation team in the BVI (high value Company disputes and huge fraud cases). Then come back to London with a very sellable CV, experience above your years, and a great contacts book.

NB: Jersey is a pleasant place to live, and it's thirty five minutes flight time from Gatwick: you can leave the Royal Courts on a Friday and be on time for an opera and/or dinner in London. Jersey has some of the best trusts work on the planet. The BVI are a tropical backwater that are at least a day's tedious journey from London and half a day from New York. No high culture, terrible food, good scuba diving, OK sailing. The BVI have some of the best company/commercial litigation on the planet.

A team can go from the lower leagues to the Premier League. A driver can go from the back of the grid to a drive at Mercedes or Ferrari. I know two very shiny Silks who started out in really quite bad chambers and are now in two of the best sets.

Good luck to your partner.

(edited 3 weeks ago)