What is a CPS Pupillage and How Do I Get One? If youre seduced by the idea of parading about in a wig, bands and a gown, grow up. Do the prep. So if you have prepared, you will be able to give good answers, and the panel will be willing you on the whole time. You will always do your best when you are relaxed and enjoying the challenge with which you are faced. It is also about being able to balance intellectual competence with common sense and pragmatism. This quiz is designed to give you a helpful steer as to which practice area you might be suited to. The response was incredible. And at the criminal Bar, whatever brickbats we throw at the system and the punitive lifestyle the Bar engenders, life is never, ever dull. Oh, and under no circumstances ask, Did I get the job?! The Bar is not the be-all and end-all. Make sure you show how you plan to overcome any difficulties because this demonstrates your commitment to learning and shows the panel that you are teachable. This is another deliberate question asked by pupillage interview panels to gauge what you think makes a good barrister. And think about the type of client you are advising just a solicitor or an experienced company director, or an ordinary person who will need legal terms explaining. So make sure you understand what is expected of you so that you perform to that expectation. Have you identified the key points in the problem? You really need to be familiar with why you want to be there and why they should want you and this is all about preparation. I also shared snippets of my successful Clifford Chance application to show how differently I had phrased my answers. I feel strongly that the profession needs to change the way it operates and recruits because of the young talent it ultimately passes by, and I feel that making personalised feedback mandatory for candidates who have secured an interview, would be one very small way of changing it for the better. I was so bad because I thought I had the answers in my head, but I had not practised getting them out. However, the fact that you are a decorated Morris dancer, or were thrashed by Daphne and co on Eggheads, or once interviewed Mike Tyson for your student newspaper with the opener (and closer), For our readers who may not have heard of you, what do you do? these will remain with the panel afterwards. I think just take a deep breath and try your best. You will be asked why you want to be a barrister. littlelegsldn. Its important to prepare questions for the chambers with which you are interviewing. I interviewed at Zaid Ibrahim & Co (Kuala Lumpur) in Feb 2023. Practically everyone answering this question mentions intellectual challenge, advocacy and the advantages of being self-employed. I interviewed at Shearn Delamore (Kuala Lumpur) in Mar 2018. The people the panel remember from the interview were the ones who gave clear, compelling, insightful answers to our questions, not the people with wacky hobbies. They are usually unpleasant experiences (I hated them!) Applications for pupillage with Mountford Chambers commencing in 2024. O - Open minded Some people might feel like they have no idea what type of law they want to get into, so they might opt for a general common law type pupillage (which is much more normal outside of London). Everyone has bad days. Use this guide to discover some of the pupillage interview questions you could face, and how to respond. Draw up a list of likely topics and think about your arguments in advance. The best barristers take criticism in their stride and seek to improve in those areas where they have faced criticism. They ought to be making reasonable adjustments for you. It is really important to not just dive into the problem. 10 Examples Of Interview Feedback You Can Use. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. The short answer is that it isnt possible to keep your nerves wholly in check and nor do you need to. Tip 5: You will be nervous (if you are human), but try to relax and be normal, without being matey or inappropriately informal. You will hear competing theories over whether you do in fact need to have a prepared response to the final, dreaded, Do you have anything youd like to ask us? My advice is to have at least three questions in your back pocket (just in case the panel unhelpfully answer one or two of them in the course of the interview). Follow SBs advice. Some chambers interview panels ask some really awkward questions. Tip 6: If you aren't successful, don't be daunted because even amongst those who are called to interviews, the ratios of interviewees to places is huge. Your interview is a chance for you to demonstrate advocacy under pressure. For example, at our chambers, we set different problem questions every year. So elaborate, do not fabricate. Occasionally, some chambers will offer pupillages to start in that year. This question is an opportunity to demonstrate that you are a team player. See the videoPupillage Interviews Uncovered II. Tip 3: Do not try to impress the people you are interviewing. Try to react positively and dont be afraid to stick to your point. However, despite this, I found out that I had been unsuccessful at 3pm on 7 May by email, having stared obsessively at my phone all day, waiting to learn of the decision. When you spend countless hours writing and reviewing applications, preparing for interviews, and then waiting anxiously to hear back from chambers, I feel that providing feedback to candidates that are unsuccessful at interview (particularly a second-round interview), should be a minimum requirement. The third is remembering that although interviews always feel like the panel are trying to trip you up or trick you, theyre not. Here you can showcase your advocacy skills and other skills that you have which a good barrister would use. If you narrow down your options too much, you might be missing opportunities for yourself. This, Im afraid, is the reality. (Life at the Bar is much the same.) This cookie is set by Youtube. The best barristers demonstrate a high-level of competency. However, dont ask questions you should know the answer to; chambers will often provide a great deal of information about pupillage on their website. Look at Legal500, Chambers and Partners and read into some of the cases the Barristers have been in. You will read how your contemporaries spent a year as an intern on an international human rights case, or have written starry and brilliant articles, theses or even books on esoteric and impressively complex aspects of your chosen legal field. Pupillage Interview | The Lawyer Portal Perceptions change in practice. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Some chambers do things the old-fashioned way. The purpose of the cookie is to enable LinkedIn functionalities on the page. Articulate and perfect them. . Tip 5: You only need one good day. I advise you not to close yourself off from experiencing different areas of law, even those you think you might not like. This is also not taking into account the fact that the vast majority of applicants will have spent many hours applying for, and then working in jobs which they feel will make their pupillage applications stronger, i.e. Youve got this far you deserve this! How To Prepare For A Pupillage Interview | Insights | BPP It can reveal a lot about your character and the characteristics you potentially view as making someone a good barrister. Do not come up to a Set which you think specialises in Banking Law but actually does more Clinical Negligence. A lot of chambers give meaningful feedback which is specific to you. Tip 1: Thoroughly research the Set you have applied to. Now you need to prepare. They show that you are human, intriguing and the kind of person that the interviewer actively wants to find out more about. ), focuses on tips from juniors and more established practitioners. Registered in England and Wales with Company Number 08037587. Stuart Withers on Twitter: "Some pupillage interview feedback. 1 So, if your form includes some interesting statements that you learned a lot about advocacy from watching submissions in a hearing during a mini-pupillage, expect to be asked more about that. This is to see how you cope under pressure. Interview. Have you been able to use what you learned yourself, whether in a moot or discussion with a university committee or something else? First rounds tend to be shorter in duration: you may be asked something based on your pupillage application (so make sure you know it inside out) and/or given a proposition to debate. Be honest, but ensure that you give clear explanations why you have considered other careers and why you ultimately chose to pursue a career as a barrister. In case you have not read the About section of my website, I initially embarked on a career at the Bar. An interactive law experience. You'll need to be able to back up what you say about yourself with evidence from your work . Your substantive legal knowledge is not being tested (legal materials are usually provided) hence you cannot prepare for the exercise in a formal sense. Let us now get into what we actually came here to read: top tips for pupillage interviews from EIGHT silks! Chambers will be looking for evidence of these qualities throughout the interview both in what you say and the way you say it. The cookie is used by cdn services like CloudFlare to identify individual clients behind a shared IP address and apply security settings on a per-client basis. Failing that, tickling the ego of your interviewers with a non-grovelly acknowledgment that the chambers is a leading set (all sets like to consider themselves leading) in the particular area of practice is a reasonably safe line. Mock interviews | Pupillage and how to get it Ask for feedback from unsuccessful interviews, and use anything . If, for example, you see something on the chambers website about an individual barrister, or a blog or news section that particularly appealed to you, these are the sorts of things you should think about talking about. Look at their website, but not just their website. PDF PUPILLAGE: HOW TO APPLY - The Kalisher Trust Interested in a future career as a lawyer? Kieran Alker is a first class law graduate. One of the things I struggled with in 2017 as an aspiring barrister (especially as an individual that moved to the UK only for my studies) was finding information in terms of what to expect in the application process, how to prepare and the realities of the journey. Theyre trying their best to enable you to shine its in their interests for everyone to be on best form, right? So remember, it is not important what the first answer you give is, but how you respond to questions after in the course of the interview. An idiot's guide to navigating pupillage interviews These exercises are meant to simulate what might happen in court or at a tribunal. This is your opportunity to ask questions about how they cover the specific areas of law youre interested in as part of your pupillage, and to ask about the culture and the wider opportunities available to you. Top tips for pupillage interviews from a current pupil Where one argument is going nowhere, pivot to a better one. Current affairs can have a huge bearing on UK law. The well-advised will also have squeezed some pro bono legal advisory work into their non-existent free time. Saying something like"I want to come to you because you are a great Set and you do landlord and tenant work", just is not enough. Result Lastly, tell the interview panel about the results of your actions and what those results say about you as a candidate. Mine certainly did, as I was sure I did not want to do crime, but it turns out I love advocacy and my criminal pupillage meant for daily fun and excitement. What do you do, why and what approach do you take? That way, you will have a better and deeper understanding of why and how the skills that the set says it is looking for (in their selection criteria) are applicable, and how you can prepare answers which meet those requirements. This is usually shown through your academic achievements and publications. . Some questions you could be asked include: This question is asked to assess your advocacy skills and your ability to present a reasoned, logical, compelling and well-structured argument. I was lucky enough that a flippant topic Id picked up on was of enormous interest to a wonderfully fun and quirky member of chambers on the panel, who quickly turned the conversation round to 1980s power ballads. Mock interviews. Watch Rebecca, Shanthi, Max and Colm, all recent ULaw BPTC students with pupillage, under. Im a commercial chancery barrister who has done first round pupillage interviews in the past, and while I agree with much of this, I have a different perspective on a few points. Even though I am now actually a Trainee Solicitor at Clifford Chance, I am a huge believer in making the legal profession accessible for all (be it for aspiring barristers or aspiring solicitors). Deep breaths, slow and considered responses and substituting a brief pause for umm or err or, heaven forfend, like, are mandatory habits. To prepare for your interview, you are strongly advised to do the following: It is common for sets of chambers to give you a legal problem to present or a topic to discuss at interview. Legal Twitter (start with @davidallengreen and @BarristerSecret and go on from there) is constantly discussing law-related current affairs and might help you form a view and see what the counter-arguments are. For me, this is the only second-round interview I have secured to date and therefore, the feedback I was expecting to receive would have been by far the most useful and as such was the most highly anticipated. Bewigged and Bewilderedby Adam Kramer QC includes a lot of extremely helpful information, including as to what the various practice areas involve. That is unavoidable. I call it the Constable Quotient. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Its very likely that youll be asked some questions about information you have included in your application. You can then avoid making common mistakes. One of the instructions in our guidance notes is "This is not a role play. That will just make you self-conscious. The format of the exercise will differ from chamber to chamber, but will likely require you to demonstrate: Advocacy and presentation skills. This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. Value yourself a. It is also acceptable to ask for a minute to compose yourself as a rushed answer looks worse than asking for time to think about your answer. That, I was later told, was the clincher. Chambers will expect you to provide details and develop points; they will be put off by vague and unclear answers. But because that is the case, expecting people to be in the same country, let alone close vicinity, that far in . This cookie is used to store the language preferences of a user to serve up content in that stored language the next time user visit the website. At the end of the interview, you may be asked if you have any questions. Just remember, for every failure, the next day there may be a success for you to grab on to. Pupillage at Mountford Chambers - Mountford Chambers - London You will have rejections for pupillage. We will suss you out if you are giving out an example you cannot justify. Aspiring barrister uses GDPR regs to secure pupillage interview feedback Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Gobble up Times Law, Legal Cheek, Legal Twitter, and blogs by proper lawyers and academics for hot takes on vexed issues of law and politics. Even though it will probably feel very unequal, the interview should be as much an opportunity for you to think about whether you want to be surrounded by the people interviewing you and the ethos of the chambers. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Have confidence in yourself! Action Next, describe the specific actions that you took as a team and the contribution you made individually. We a legal jobs marketplace exclusively for paralegals, law support staff and law firms only. As with all tests or exams, you should be provided with a pack that contains everything about what you are expected to do. I think the best way to prepare for this kind of question is just to read the broadsheet papers and decide what your view is and why. You will be expected to know it off by heart and you must be prepared to answer questions about anything you have included. In terms of nerves that turn into panic, I think there are three solutions. Do not worry about how you come across. This is a question that genuinely seeks to discover how a chambers can best help you develop if there is an aspect of pupillage you could find difficult. You do not have to hit all the buttons, but having some will be good. Law-related interview questions are asked to get an understanding of your view on current laws and the challenges facing the legal profession. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. Chambers websites, and the individual barristers pages on those websites, are good, but online directories will give you an idea which areas those chambers really have their reputation in. This way, you can give feedback that is specific, relevant, and concise. For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our. How to deal with pupillage rejections - The Guardian Find an area of law or a case within the last year which is problematic and . Read about the steps involved in becoming a barrister here. 6 Must Prepare for Pupillage Interview Questions Looking at the profiles of other junior tenants on the chambers website can be a sobering experience. Two stages for the interview process: 1) Written test - Choose one question from three legal questions and answer it in essay format - Answer must be sent via email within 30 minutes of receiving it 2) Virtual interview - Two interviewers who are partners at the firm . Tagged: pupillage, pupillageapplications, pupillagegateway, pupillageinterview, bptc, btc, aspiringbarristers, aspiringbarrister, silk, junior, establishedpractitioners, theBar. Motivation: a high level of drive, determination and commitment towards the Bar, the chambers and the circuit (if outside London). They want you to give the right answer and to respond well to their questions. What separates you from the herd in the eyes of the interviewers is often wholly arbitrary and unexpected. All it takes to break a losing streak is just one lucky win. Again, an interview staple. Typically, sets will have first and second round interviews. Having relevant questions for pupillage interview panels demonstrates that you have a genuine interest in their chambers. If youre interviewing for a criminal pupillage, be prepared to answer, What are the biggest challenges facing the criminal Bar? Be opinionated without being obnoxious; political without being partisan. Just do your best. Tip 2: It can be a daunting experience to be presented in front of a panel of barristers asking questions.So it can be helpful to set yourself at ease. Intellect: the ability to grasp complex information and identify key issues quickly and effectively. Its boring but it works. Part of the Dukes Education family Together we're extraordinary. Be prepared, particularly during the second round, for a panel of four or five interviewers, perhaps even more. You will need to demonstrate that you can answer without using jargon to ensure that you are fully understood. The cookie is set by the email marketing service MailChimp. PDF Kalisher Trust Preparation for pupillage interviews Tuesday 23 February Instead, you will be expected to present a logical, well-presented and well-structured argument to address a hotly debated topic relating to law. Have you applied for pupillage but feeling unsure about what the interview process will be like?In this video, you will receive advice from members of Coram . This is important because time you go into court, one of you is going to fail because you wont win the case (just take a pause and let the ripple of that realisation drip through). Debate-related pupillage interview questions are more difficult to prepare for, but you won't be expected to solve a specific problem in two minutes. This question is asked to assess how well you keep up with current high profile cases and how your personal and professional experiences may influence a particular viewpoint. My carefully crafted applications have been sent out into the ether, landing in the laps of barristers up and down the country to be sifted through and sorted into piles of 'yes', 'no' and 'never in a million years'. Tip 1: If you get through the pupillage application stage and you are now preparing for a pupillage interview, well done. Chambers also look for evidence of certain personal values such as integrity and self-assurance. The best way to demonstrate these abilities is to use the S-T-A-R method: Situation Its important to give a structured answer, first outlining the situation you faced as a team. If you have a passion for something in the law, then demonstrate that. But you only need one good interview, so dont beat yourself up too much about the ones that go badly. Some examples include: The first question an interview panel is likely to ask you is why do you want to be a barrister? BTC graduate and aspiring barrister Kieran Alker recounts his frustrating experience and suggests a way to improve the process. Be prepared succinctly to summarise the main point, explain what was interesting, what your view was and what the arguments against were. Tip 3: When it comes to the actual interview, different chambers have different modes of interview. This cookie is set by LinkedIn and used for routing. 30 pupillage interview questions (plus example answers) But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Hopefully there arent many chambers asking this sort of thing anymore. Its important to clearly explain why you have chosen a specific law to change and draw on oral and written advocacy skills to argue your reason for changing that law. These questions arent asked to catch you out, but rather to assess how you would respond on the spot. Id only add that for most applicants its intimidating being interviewed by barristers. When it comes to feedback, it's always good to have a few examples of interview feedback ready to go. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. If you are a student with a Disability Support Agreement do not be afraid to request extra time for advocacy preparation or exercises. Make sure youve read and watched those for your sets. If you fabricate, we will find you out. The disdain from the panel was palpable. . According to The Inner Temple, this is a genuine question asked by some chambers interview panels. We dont expect you to know anything about that, but commercial practice more generally). It is worth saying because remember chambers are looking to help you. I think the answer is to bear in mind that what the panel is interested in is not what you think but how you think. If you have reached the interview stage, you are already well on your way to securing a pupillage. Quite a lot of what is being tested in these interviews is how agile are you in your thinking, how responsive you are to new thoughts and ideas, how adaptable you are to changing circumstances and how unflappable you are in circumstances where a new idea is being introduced. Unlike previous years however, I did manage to secure a second-round interview at a chambers I liked, and I thought that both interviews went well. Thu 30 May 2013 04.00 EDT. To describe a time you had to act on your own initiative, draw on your experiences to clearly demonstrate the problem or challenge you faced, how you overcame it and the result of your actions. Points are awarded for accuracy, not speed. In fact, the very best advice it has to offer in these situations is to be found on the cover. It sounds obvious, but nerves in interview upend the most poised performers in your advocacy classes. This does not mean to say you will not be brilliant in another application or another career if you decide to move, but failure is just something you are going to have to get used to mortifying, humiliating and painful as it is, because it will be part of your working life.