pupillage

Lord Neuberger, the Master of the Rolls, has called for mediation and alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) to be made a part of every lawyer’s education.

The Bar Standards Board (“BSB”) has published a major report reviewing pupillage training for the Bar, following its meeting on 17 May.
The report is the second in a three step review of all stages of education for practice at the Bar, led by Derek Wood CBE QC. 
There are 95 conclusions and recommendations, covering all aspects of pupillage, which is still seen as the best and fairest way of preparation for the profession. 

A pupil gives her impression of the pupillage interview process and the insight it provides into life in chambers 

Pupillage: without a doubt the most daunting and challenging hurdle to be overcome on the long and rocky road between university and finally becoming someone’s “learned friend.” For anyone with ambitions to become a barrister the Pupillage Portal Scheme (formerly the Online Pupillage Application System (“OLPAS”)) is fraught with anxiety: either you get it right or you run the pupillage gauntlet again in 12 months time. And it was not until I started pupillage that I thought about it in any other way. Not once had I thought of the hours that it must have taken barristers at the other end to read, mark and order. It was only when I was asked, for this article, to think about the impression different chambers created to me as the interviewee—did I start to think about the whole process a little differently. 

As the pupillage interviewing season commences, a leading criminal set describes how it runs the recruitment process 

Like most chambers, our junior tenants are almost always recruited from our own pupils. Over the last 15 years, we have taken on one or more of our pupils each year. The importance to us of pupillage selection is obvious and the responsibility falls on our Pupillage Committee. 

Tim Kevan takes a break from the Bar to go surfing and write a novel 

One of the joys of being a barrister is that you are self-employed and therefore get a lot more freedom over your own destiny than many might otherwise have in an employed position. Well, that’s in theory at least and I accept that it might sometimes appear illusory when there’s a backlog of papers sitting on your shelf and court days stacked to the horizon. For my part, I practised as a barrister for over ten years at the common law Bar at 1 Temple Gardens (now Temple Garden Chambers) in London and I had been able to use this flexibility to take breaks by the coast to catch the odd wave when the surfing conditions were right. It also meant that I’d had the chance to indulge another hobby—writing—as well as starting a couple of businesses. But as each of these things started to take more time, I eventually decided to make the jump and take a full-time break from the Bar for a while. 

When the relevant parts of the Legal Services Act 2007 came into force on the 1 January 2010, it became a criminal offence to undertake a reserved legal activity, such as exercising a right of audience, without having in force a valid practising certificate. Therefore second six pupils will require a practising certificate to be legally entitled to exercise a right of audience. The Bar Standards Board will issue a practising certificate to those who have done the following: 

Oliver Doherty, who attended the 2009 annual Salzburg Summer School on international criminal law, commends the course to students and junior practitioners alike.  

At the end of the Bar Vocational Course, (soon to become the Bar Professional Training Course) many aspiring barristers, whether or not they have secured pupillages, seek opportunities for volunteering and broadening their horizons, including short university courses which focus on particular areas of practice. 

It was agreed by the Bar Standards Board's Education & Training Committee that reports of BSB monitoring visits to Bar Vocational Course providers should be published on the BSB website from the Academic Year 2009-10. Reports from some of the providers are now on our site and all reports will be published when finalised. You can view the reports at: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/Educationandtraining/aboutthebvc/ReportsProvider/ 

When the relevant parts of the Legal Services Act 2007 came into force on the 1 January 2010, it became a criminal offence to undertake a reserved legal activity, such as exercising a right of audience, without having in force a valid practising certificate. 

Therefore second six pupils will require a practising certificate to be legally entitled to exercise a right of audience. 

Education and training for the Bar is a complex process which, first and foremost, needs to be approached in an holistic way. The different stages - academic, vocational and pupillage, not to mention further continued professional development (CPD) for new and experienced practitioners - need to be considered as part of an overall ‘run-through’ process. They should not be considered ‘in silos’. For this reason, the Bar Standards Board is most fortunate that Derek Wood QC, having chaired both the Review of the BVC and the Review of Pupillage, is now leading a major review of CPD. 

CPD requirements were first introduced to New Practitioners at the Bar in October 1997 and this is now mandatory for all practising barristers. Since 2006, the Bar Standards Board has a duty to ensure that the standards and quality of the courses is consistent, that CPD is fit for purpose, and that CPD is undertaken by practitioners in line with requirements.