Pupillage: General Information

18 Red Lion Court: Excellent pupillages for excellent candidates

Recruitment for 2013 - Chambers will not be recruiting for pupillages starting October 2013 in 2012.

18 Red Lion Court prides itself on providing excellent pupillages which prepare talented junior practitioners to succeed at the Criminal Bar. We place great emphasis on developing the potential of each pupil, enabling them to enjoy a varied and interesting pupillage, with the aim of producing first-class advocates.

The professional achievements of our members enable pupils to work with leading practitioners in a wide range of criminal specialisms, both defending and prosecuting. Some members of chambers are also involved in international human rights work, and pupils are frequently asked to assist in the research for this work.

The quality of work in chambers, coupled with our determination that each pupil’s career should flourish, means that pupillage at 18 Red Lion Court is a challenging and rewarding experience. Pupils are welcomed into Chambers’ social and professional life, and we pride ourselves on being a friendly set. As well as maintaining regular contact with pupils throughout the duration of their pupillage, the pupillage committee arranges drinks parties to introduce new pupils to members of chambers in the spring after the selection process has concluded and also at the start of pupillage in the following October.

In-house training
We are particularly proud of our in-house advocacy training run by Queen’s Counsel throughout pupillage. The training exercises reflect the full range of advocacy skills from bail applications, pleas in mitigation, examination in chief and cross-examination to speeches and legal arguments. Pupils gain experience at drafting and presenting skeleton arguments, witness handling, and tactical advocacy. In March, just before most pupils enter their second six months, each pupil is instructed to conduct a mock trial or applications and pleas in mitigation, all replicating the situations they are likely to face in the Magistrates' Court. This is an invaluable opportunity for advice and feedback before pupils start on their feet.

In addition, just before the second six months of pupillage, junior tenants host a training session on Magistrates’ Court procedure, etiquette and useful tips to help with the first few weeks of practice.

Having run successful mock trials in the Central Criminal Court at the end of each 12 month pupillage in recent years, we hope to do so again in the future. The pupils work together running both the prosecution and defence cases, whilst members act as witnesses. We were very fortunate in 2011 to have presiding HHJ Beaumont QC, a former member of Chambers.

External training

18 Red Lion Court hosts regular professional development seminars for solicitors and the Bar on a wide range of legal topics. Members of Chambers conduct these seminars and pupils are encouraged to attend.

Members also conduct lectures regularly for the Criminal Bar Association, the Inns and other professional bodies.

Structure of Pupillage

In recent years we have offered four 12-month pupillages with three being based in London and one in our very successful annexe in Chelmsford which has longstanding connections with defence solicitors and prosecuting authorities in East Anglia. Wherever the pupillage is based, all pupils have the opportunity to experience work at the other site. This is to help our pupils see a variety of work and to build their professional connections.

Pupils generallyhave one pupil supervisor per six months. The aim is to allocate pupil supervisors for each six months with very different practices, again enabling our pupils to get involved in as broad a range of work as possible.

In the second six months, pupils can expect to be regularly in court, usually on a daily basis. Work will include anything from first appearances in the Magistrates’ Court to summary trials, building up to appearances and even trials in the Crown Court, when the pupil is ready.

Funding

We view the funding of pupillage as an investment in Chambers’ future. We offer each 12 month pupil £20,000 comprising:

a grant of £14,000
a further £6,000 of guaranteed earnings in the second six months, although we expect our pupils to earn significantly more than that. Average earnings for pupils in the last few years have been in excess of £13,500. The allocation of work is regularly monitored to ensure that each pupil has the opportunity to gain as much experience as possible.

The grant is paid in 12 equal monthly instalments. Chambers notes that the Bar Council obliges pupils to attend courses, sometimes at great cost. It is Chambers’ policy to pay for all pupils to attend the Forensic Accountancy, Advice to Counsel and the Human Rights Act courses. Chambers may pay for other relevant courses on application. Pupils (and tenants in their first few months of tenancy) do not pay either clerks’ fees or Chambers’ rent.

Tenancy

Our commitment to pupillage is such that we aim to recruit tenants from our own pupils. The number of tenancies offered to pupils varies from year to year: in the last three years, we have offered tenancies as follows:

six tenancies following 12-month pupillage
two tenancies following 3rd-six pupillage

The success of our pupillages leads invariably to our pupils securing tenancies with us or elsewhere.

Application process

18 Red Lion Court seeks the very best candidates for pupillage. We only interview candidates who have a first or an upper second class degree, save in exceptional circumstances.

Each application we receive is carefully considered against objective criteria which are applied fairly and equally. Marks are allocated for criteria including academic record, advocacy ability and relevant experience. Forms are marked by 2 members of Chambers, the spread of marks analysed, and a decision made as to which candidates to call for interview.

We plan two rounds of interviews. The first is a short ‘get to know you’ interview, with an opportunity for the candidate to engage in a debate with the panel on a subject of general interest. A small number of candidates are invited to a second, full, interview which comprises a formal advocacy exercise (for which the candidate will have 30 minutes to prepare), questions and discussion. The interview panel is made up of up to 6 members of Chambers. Interviews take place on evenings and weekends during May, June and July.

We are seeking candidates who have the potential to succeed at the Criminal Bar. In particular we look for:

very bright candidates with a proven academic record
candidates who are highly articulate with a strong analytical ability
demonstration of good written advocacy
the determination required to succeed at the Criminal Bar
empathy and sound judgement
interesting candidates who stand out from the crowd