Pupillage at 5 Stone Buildings

By Jordan Holland (Pupil 2009-10)

Life as a pupil in chambers can be incredibly varied. No two members of chambers have the same practice, and so the areas of law on which you work across the twelve months can be quite changeable. Similarly, your day-to-day experience as a pupil will depend upon the particular matter your supervisor is working on, and whether he or she is in court, attending a conference, or doing paperwork in chambers.

Chambers has a deliberate policy of trying to expose you to as many court hearings as possible, so that you can get a feel for different tribunals such as the Chancery Masters, the Chancery Division itself, the Court of Protection and the county courts. Early on in pupillage it is likely that you will concentrate on the types of work that your supervisor regularly engages in; as you progress chambers may encourage you to attend hearings with junior members in order that you become more familiar with the type of work you would do if you became a tenant.

If you are in court or attending a mediation or conference, you will be given the papers for the case by your supervisor and be expected to prepare as though you were carrying out the work yourself. This can involve considerable research and - given the complexity and prestige of many supervisors' practices - huge interest and enjoyment.

Aside from hearings, conferences and mediations, a significant proportion of pupillage is spent doing written work in chambers. This can involve, for example, carrying out bespoke research for your supervisor on live cases that are coming up for trial. Much of the time, however, is spent working on instructions that your supervisor has recently received. In all cases, you are asked to act as though you yourself were responding to the instructions and so you will be required to produce opinions, draft deeds and statements of case as appropriate. Often the work you do can raise difficult issues of law and practice, including ethical questions, which you will, on completing the work, then discuss with your supervisor. A high premium is placed, of course, on accuracy and strength of legal analysis.

The resources chambers places at your disposal for these purposes are high quality. Members of chambers have a wide range of legal texts and case reports which they are happy to place at your use, and chambers also maintains its own general library and access to electronic databases. If this is not sufficient, you are free to consult Lincoln's Inn Library or the libraries of the other inns. Junior tenants will also be happy to discuss particular legal problems with you if you wish.

5 Stone Buildings places a strong emphasis on integrating pupils into chambers life. A great feature of pupillage is the extent to which you are invited to attend events with other members of chambers, whether social or professional, including chambers tea (held every day), chambers seminars and external events with firms of solicitors.

The hours you work in pupillage can vary according to a number of factors: if there is any urgent work to do for an upcoming hearing, you may need to stay late. However, generally pupils are asked to arrive at 9 a.m. and leave between 6-7 p.m. The hours in practice are generally longer than in pupillage - which is deliberate. Chambers recognises that pupillage can be a stressful and overbearing experience given the pressures of assessment for tenancy. Overworking pupils at such a critical phase in their development would not lead to beneficial outcomes.

Pupillage for me was a hugely enjoyable year. Yes, it was challenging, and undoubtedly there is pressure to succeed, but in chambers there is a strong desire on the part of members to include and support pupils as much as possible. Given that this was combined with the huge interest that is involved in researching and writing about complex problems of Chancery law, the process of progressing from pupil to tenant was, for me, much easier than it might have been.