To find out more about what life is like as a pupil in Keating Chambers, see Thomas Lazur's and Sarah Williams profile of their year in pupillage below:
Profile : Thomas Lazur
Year of Graduation 2001 University of Bristol
Degree Subject: History
Current Position and Area of Practice: Tenant Practising Construction, Engineering, Energy and Technology.
(Pupillage 2005/2006)
If you are looking for a career at the commercial bar and you are not completely turned off by the idea of learning how complex structures are designed, engineered and built, you should apply to Keating Chambers.
I did not set out with the intention to specialise at the construction and technology bar. I had no background in the construction industry. I was not an engineer. I could not even say that I had specialist legal knowledge in the area, as I was still completing the GDL when I applied in the OLPAS summer season. That said, I was interested in the law of contract and tort and I could see that building projects involving architects, contractors, engineers and employers had the potential to raise some interesting legal and factual issues.
It was only when I started pupillage, in October 2005 that I started to understand how interesting, and at times complicated, the work could be. In my first three months I shadowed my pupil supervisor at mediations, conferences and court appearances while spending the rest of my time practising my drafting skills (writing formal claims, defences and advices). The work varied from highly technical disputes requiring an understanding of detailed expert evidence to highly emotive arguments between neighbours over a party wall.
In parallel to our work with our pupil supervisors we would be given regular advocacy exercises. These usually took the form of an application or trial of a discrete issue that would be heard by a senior member of chambers. While we all understood that these exercises were used to assess us, they were also great opportunities to get advice from a barrister who regularly acted as an arbitrator, adjudicator or judge.
As pupillage continued, my pupil supervisors started to give me more of their own work with which to gain experience. By the end of the first six months, all of the pupils in my year were confident enough to start taking work from members of chambers other than our pupil supervisors. As the tenancy decision is ultimately based on a vote by all members of chambers, I was encouraged to do as much work for as many people as possible before the decision, which was made in July.
After six months we also started getting our own instructions. Our very friendly team of clerks worked hard to get us small claims trials, about two to three a week, so that we could get advocacy experience. In recent years we have developed good relationships with a few key clients that give us a steady stream of small value work appropriate for pupils and the most junior tenants.
Pupillage was a stressful experience as it would have been at any chambers. Most of that stress was, however, self imposed. If you are anything like I was during pupillage, you will constantly second guess yourself, over-analyse every conversation you have, and agonise about the competition. In circumstances where I was my own worst enemy, I was grateful for the support given to me by all of the members of chambers I worked with. All barristers have had to go through pupillage and understand how stressful it can be. While everyone in chambers works very hard to tight deadlines, I always found that people would be willing to pause what they were doing to answer my questions, no matter how stupid they in fact turned out to be.
The tenancy decision was made at the end of our third seat. The final three months with my fourth and final pupil supervisor were therefore left open for completing the pupillage checklist, finding a third six with the assistance of chambers if necessary, or preparing for life as a tenant. In my year, three of us were offered tenancy and the fourth quickly found a third six at a top set of chambers.
I have now been a tenant for over 4 years. In a typical day I will generally have two or three phone calls with solicitors and clients to discuss the strategy for different, ongoing cases. I may also have a formal conference where a client comes to chambers to discuss the issues in a case and hear my advice. The rest of the day is spent on paperwork, researching the law, reading into the facts of a case and thereafter preparing my advice, skeleton argument or a formal pleading. At the moment I tend to be in court about once a fortnight, but the emphasis of my practice changes often from being paper based to representing my clients in trials, applications, arbitration and adjudication proceedings. About half of my work is being led on larger cases.
In the past few years my bigger cases have involved power stations, oil rigs, shopping centres and a stadium. My smaller cases have covered party wall disputes, air conditioning units and domestic building disputes.
We all work hard at chambers and are well rewarded for it. In busy periods I sometimes have to work late into the evenings and through the weekend. However, there are times when the work is less frantic and, occasionally, you can even take a long weekend or day off.
I think I am incredibly lucky to have a job that I love. I am confident that, had I gone to a more traditional commercial or Chancery set, I would have found the work much less personal and interesting.
[written 2011]
Profile : Sarah Williams
Year of Graduation 2004 Cambridge University
Degree Subject: Natural Sciences
Current Position and Area of Practice: Tenant Practising Construction, Engineering, Energy and Technology
(Pupillage 2008/2009)
To quote the learned scriptwriters of The Simpsons “Nothing you say can upset us, we're the MTV generation. We feel neither highs nor lows.” For anyone growing up in the 90s and 00s, there might be a certain amount of identity with that statement. What better way to test it, then, than through an assessment process derived from a generation long gone?
Yes, you have done your bar exams, received your pupillage offer and relaxed safe in the knowledge that you have the next few years sorted. You go off travelling to South America and all seems well. However, the time comes when you walk through the front door of chambers and are escorted to your supervisor’s room. Some feel nervous, others challenged, but none yet disappointed – at least, that’s what we hear from those that survived. Compared to other types of assessment that you’ll be familiar with, the pupillage process benefits from firm foundations in reality. From the beginning, you are immersed in the established practice of a barrister who will also usually be someone looking forward to your help with the workload.
The nature of the supervision programme means that the person to whom you are allocated may be only a handful of years ahead of you – giving an insight into the sorts of work you might be doing yourself within the decade. Or alternatively, you could be sitting with a senior junior whose practice may be dominated by one or two large scale, high value cases. Some individuals have developed niche practices within chambers, exposing you to the specifics of procurement law, international arbitration, party walls or insolvency. Whomever you sit with, the diversity of characters and practices in chambers lends itself to a colourful year for Keating pupils.
If you like what you see here, it may be that you want to stick around beyond pupillage. To do so, it won’t come as a surprise to learn that there are a number of assessments to get through. The long term informal assessment is carried out by your supervisors – through work given to you and discussions about your chosen approach. You will also be given work by other members of chambers who wish to form their own view of you. Keating also requires you to do three formal advocacy assessments against fellow pupils plus a written assessment that will be considered alongside the work from your peers. The results from all of these will be considered carefully with your application for tenancy.
However, it is not all assessment. In your second six, your diary begins to fill up and your relationship with the clerks develops. Your own work comes in the form of paperwork or court hearing and must be managed alongside work for members of chambers. However, this is the moment when you get to send out a piece of work with your name on it or perhaps to dabble in a bit of cross examination in a small claim or fast track trial. The second six is probably the most important part of pupillage because it is only here that you get a taste of the responsibility you are asking for as a tenant. It is also arguably the most fun because you finally have the liberty to do the job you have been training for.
One nice surprise I remember from the pupillage at Keating was the sense of welcome that we received – there are great efforts made by the barristers to make you feel part of the group whether at formal events or just in an excursion to the pub. You will be invited to the Christmas party (which is held in January, naturally) and can attend the various relevant law lectures for free. There is also the crown jewel event of the Keating Garden Party previously held in venues such as the Royal Opera House and the Orangery at Kensington Palace.
All in all, I would describe the Keating pupillage as a year of great highs and paranoia-infused lows – whether sitting in a gloom of failure at your laptop over a mediocre piece of feedback, or doing a little celebratory dance in the corridor after a good court hearing (yes, I will admit to that). It turns out, then, that pupillage is anything but MTV.
[written 2011]