Tenancy decisions are made after nine months’ pupillage, around the end of June. These decisions are based principally on the considered views of the pupil’s own supervisors. There is no quota: we offer tenancy to all pupils who achieve the required standard of excellence. Our hope is that all our pupils will achieve the standard we are looking for and be offered tenancy.

We hold a pre-eminent international position as a commercial disputes set with the majority of our work involving international clients. We have a reputation for excellence, or are market leaders, in our areas of focus: energy, international arbitration, shipping, banking and finance, commodities and international trade, fraud, insolvency, insurance and reinsurance, and aviation.

The work of the Commercial Bar is intellectually demanding. We therefore look for candidates with a strong academic background. Successful applicants will often have (or be predicted) a first class degree, and generally must have/be predicted at least a high 2:1 to apply, though we will consider candidates with lower degree classifications in exceptional circumstances.

Many of our applicants read law for their first degree, and an increasing number also have postgraduate law degrees. These are by no means pre-requisites and we welcome applications from candidates who have studied any serious academic subject at university. Many members did not read law as their first degree and our application process is designed to identify critical thinking abilities rather than detailed knowledge of law.

Our work requires excellent analytical ability, strong written and oral communication skills, and the capacity to perform under pressure. Our pupillage selection process is carefully designed to assess these qualities.

When assessing applicants, we adopt a contextualised system in order to help ensure a diverse pool of candidates.

Successful candidates must also demonstrate that they have the commitment, energy and resilience to succeed in the competitive world of the Commercial Bar. We assess this through their academic record, extra-curricular activities, mooting, and performance in interview.

Our aim is to offer all our pupils tenancy at the end of their pupillage.

The pupillage year is therefore designed to teach our pupils how to develop the skills, knowledge and sound judgment they will need to become successful commercial barristers.

At the start of pupillage, each pupil is assigned a pupil supervisor or pair of supervisors who will be responsible for training and supervising their work for the first three months. During the first few weeks, we offer pupils a series of introductory lectures on important areas of law and practice.

Pupils change supervisors after three, six and nine months. We endeavour to assign pupils to pupil supervisors with differing practices, so that they can experience the widest possible range of work.

Pupils spend much of their time drafting opinions, statements of case, skeleton arguments and other documents for their pupil supervisors. In addition, they accompany their pupil supervisors to hearings and conferences, and assist them with legal research or other tasks.

As part of their training, pupils are required to perform a series of assessed advocacy exercises and several assessed written exercises. Pupils receive formal feedback at the end of their time with each pupil supervisor. Pupil supervisors also offer regular, ongoing feedback on individual pieces of work and on the pupil’s general progress, thereby allowing pupils to understand quickly what they are doing well and where they need to improve.

Pupils are encouraged to comment on the feedback that they receive and on all other aspects of their training. Where a pupil needs to improve in a particular area, his/ her pupil supervisor will give him/ her additional practice and organise specific training exercises in that area.

Quadrant Chambers uses the Pupillage Gateway to manage its applications. Thereafter our process involves a series of interviews. Please see our website for further details.

Mini-pupillages are available in March/April, July, September and December of each year. Places are limited. Please see our website for details.

Quadrant Chambers is fully committed to equality and diversity and aim to select candidates for pupillage and tenancy solely on merit. We do not discriminate against members, pupils or staff on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. In accordance with BSB recommendations, we monitor all stages of our recruitment procedure to try and ensure that unfair discrimination is not taking place. We are an active supporter of PRIME which works to improve access to the legal profession through work experience.

Award from £90,000, part of which may be advanced during the BPTC year. Pupils also have the opportunity to do fee-earning work during their second six.