2021 The student’s guide to the leading law firms and sets in the UK e-Edition chambers-student.com Connect with us on cbaK Travers Smith is everything you could want from a law firm. First-rate training and market-leading work alongside some of the City’s finest lawyers. Prestigious clients. The opportunity to progress. And all in a supportive, non-hierarchical and inclusive environment. www.traverssmith.com 10 Snow Hill, London EC1A 2AL +44 (0) 20 7295 3000 The Bar A career at the Bar: a preliminary warning p.631 Pupillage and tenancy p.633 Getting Bar ready p.635 Pupillage applications and interviews p.637 Mini-pupillages p.640 The Inns of Court p.643 The Inns of Court p.645 The civil courts of England and Wales p.646 The Chancery Bar p.647 The Commercial Bar p.649 The Common Law Bar p.650 The Criminal Bar p.651 The Employment Bar p.652 The Family Bar p.654 Public law at the Bar p.656 chambersstudent.co.uk A career at the Bar: a preliminary warning A career at the Bar: a preliminary warning The prestige, the power, the nail-biting courtroom drama, the intellectual tussle, the silly wigs: it’s easy to see how joining this profession is quite so competitive. Landing a pupillage (the Bar’s version of a training con- that in the wake of Covid-19, pupillage numbers are likely tract) is, as one pupil we spoke to put it, “a strenuous and to fall to even lower numbers. difficult process – one that’s not to be underestimated.” In- deed, getting your application noticed in the first place is In an effort to address the imbalance of BPTC graduates a notoriously tough undertaking, given the high volume of to pupillages, the Bar Standards Board raised admission applicants. And if you make it to the interview stage you’ll standards in 2013 by introducing an official aptitude test find that impressing recruiters with your ability to defend for BPTC applicants. This is now compulsory for everyone difficult positions on the spot is no cakewalk either. who wants to do the BPTC and tests logic, deduction and interpretation skills. The necessary pass mark has been “[Landing a pupillage is] a strenuous and raised for 2017 to ensure standards are kept high. The difficult process – one that’s not to be test appears to be helping to reduce the number of no- underestimated.” hopers enrolling on and completing the BPTC, but even if you breeze through the test, the challenges ahead of you Before you dive in head-first, we suggest you take the are far greater. points below on board. We’re certainly not making a case against the Bar here; think of this article as more of a And if you do manage to score a coveted pupillage, it’s ‘proceed with caution’ sign. After all, a good barrister al- worth bearing in mind that tenancies (permanent posi- ways makes sure they’re well versed on both sides of an tions as a fully fledged barrister) are also in shockingly argument. short supply: according to the latest BSB stats there were 502 new ones registered in 2018/19, but this was It’s also worth reminding you that the Bar Standards an outlier year and 300–400 has been the norm over the Board recently announced a new regulatory framework past decade. for wannabe barristers. Different providers now run courses with different names, but the latest stats are These numbers may look dire but one positive to remem- based around the old BPTC. ber is that many individuals taking the Bar Course (some- times over 50%) are overseas students with no intention of practising as barristers in the UK. A student with the The odds drive and conviction that they have what it takes to make The biggest single challenge facing aspiring barristers it at the Bar need not be put off by the statistics above. is the Bar’s oversubscription. Statistics released by the Bar Standards Board show that in 2018/19 there were There’s a common preconception that only 3,031 applicants for the Bar Professional Training Course Oxbridge grads have a shot at the Bar. (BPTC). Of those, 1,753 individuals were enrolled, and as of January 2020 around 70% had passed. Factor in that Your academics there are typically less than 500 pupillages on offer Repeat after us: academic credentials matter at the every year, and that many grads from previous years will Bar. This means high scores from a reputable uni. You still be hunting for jobs, and you’ll realise just how big the may be a mastermind of an advocate, but if you haven’t oversupply of candidates is. At the last count, only around achieved (or, if you’re still studying, aren’t on course for) 43% of BPTC graduates who had enrolled between 2014 top grades, it’s unlikely you’ll be invited to show off your and 2018 had started pupillage. The BSB has also warned skills of persuasion. To be clear, all our research over the years shows that a First or a high 2:1 at undergrad is what you need to get a look-in here. The hard facts There’s a common preconception that only Oxbridge • BPTC enrolments 2018/19: 1,753 grads have a shot at the Bar, and while this is certainly not • Pupillages 2018/19: 568 the case, these two elite establishments are undeniably • Pupillage applicants annually: c. 3,000 happy hunting grounds for chambers. The Bar Standards 631 The Bar A career at the Bar: a preliminary warning chambersstudent.co.uk Board tells us that of pupils who finished the BPTC be- awards in line with NQ salaries at big City firms, and pu- tween 2014 and 2017, 35.6% went to Oxbridge for their pils who gain tenancy at such sets can quickly outstrip undergrad and 38.9% went to another Russell Group uni- their solicitor peers in the income stakes. Some Commer- versity. This doesn’t mean you don’t have a shot if your cial Bar stars earn well over a million a year, and a baby degree comes from elsewhere (after all, one in four pu- junior at a big commercial set can make £120,000 in their pils do), but recognise that the lower your university is first year. in the rankings, the more you’ll need to make up for it by way of stellar grades, worthwhile extracurriculars and However, many barristers work outside this realm. Fees maybe a distinction on an LLM from a better uni. Those earned by those doing publicly funded civil, criminal or who had achieved an outstanding BPTC grade were un- family law have always been low and have taken a fur- surprisingly also more likely to have commenced pupil- ther hit as a result of legal aid cuts. Many sets practising lage. Comparatively, the LPC carries less weight. in these areas pay their pupils very little. From Septem- ber 2019, the minimum funding award for pupillage in- Anecdotally our research suggests that high-paying creased to £18,436 per annum in London and £15,728 for commercial and Chancery sets tend to recruit most from those outside of London. This is good news for pupils at Oxbridge and unis like Durham and the redbricks, while the lowest-paying sets which have previously only paid family, common law and crime sets usually have pupils the bare minimum of £1,000 per month. But pay can still and juniors from a wider range of unis. be paltry at the junior end of the Bar – and bear in mind that some of your pupillage award can consist of guaran- teed earnings. The cost Put simply, it doesn’t make much financial sense to em- On chambersstudent.co.uk... bark on a Bar course if you aren’t fairly confident about • How much do barristers earn your prospects of succeeding at the Bar. Tuition is pain- fully steep – nearly £20,000 at some providers – and wan- nabe pupils by and large end up shouldering this cost (and that of the GDL if necessary) themselves. In fact, Of course, a set’s stature contributes greatly to its ten- former Bar Council chair Chantal-Aimée Doerries has ants’ incomes, and within each area of practice at the Bar reported to The Guardian that students may spent up to – including the ones above – are both Premier League sets an eye-watering £127,000 in total to qualify. Scholarships that pay handsomely and lower division ones that do not. aside, it’s easy to see why the Bar has long had a problem In any case, the difference in earnings between the top with diversity. and the bottom is substantial. Some sets will advance funds for the Bar course to future pupils. Your working style A final thing to think over is whether your personal char- Some sets will advance funds for the Bar course to future acteristics and preferred style of working are suited to pupils, but it’s worth bearing in mind this money comes the Bar. A QC once pointed out to us that “the Bar is a out of your pupillage award; it’s not given on top of it, as is world full of weird and wonderful characters,” and indeed typically the case with solicitors’ firms sponsoring future there’s no one ‘type’ of person who fits the bill. Still, there trainees. (You also don’t get the stipend for living expens- are fundamental aspects of being a barrister which don’t es that usually accompanies a law firm’s sponsorship or suit everybody – a knack for oral communication, for funding for the GDL.) Whatever way you slice it, getting starters.