Aspiring barrister - Year 12 Student

Hi everyone, I’m a year 12 at a state school trying to find legal work experience, preferably shadowing a barrister, but honestly at this point I’ll take anything related to law! I’ve emailed some places but not had much luck and I’m not able to apply to many chambers/firms work experience programmes as I don’t meet PRIME criteria such as being on free school meals or being a young carer. Does anyone have an advice or suggestions of places in London/Surrey I could apply to or contact? I know many people say that you must know someone personally on the inside of law firms, but unfortunately my parents don’t have any connections in the legal world.

Reply 1

Cessle

Have you given any thought to attending court? That's where many barristers make their daily corn and of course advocacy is one of the bedrocks of life at the Bar. The general public are free to attend and watch the proceedings whether they be civil or criminal matters. I appreciate that this isn't work experience but it will give you an insight into the working day of many barristers. Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about your lack of contacts at the moment. You have oodles of time to start building those in the future.

Reply 2

Crazy Jamie

You will find it difficult to secure mini pupillages until you are an undergraduate (i.e. at university). Most sets do not offer mini pupillages to school students irrespective of their background or connections. As has been said, you can still attend court as a member of the public, with your local crown court possibly being the best option in terms of finding cases that you might find interesting. But it might also be worth emailing your local county courts directly to see if you can shadow a judge, which is called marshalling. Most courts don't have a particular procedure in place for that and it will require a judge to decide to let you sit in with them, but it is another option for legal work experience.