The art of getting a mini-pupillage

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This article has been produced in collaboration with BPP University Law School.

What’s a mini-pupillage?

A mini-pupillage is a work experience opportunity that provides aspiring barristers with insight into life at the Bar. As the name suggests, it attempts to give a taste of what to expect from a year-long pupillage over the course of a few days. In some cases, the experience will last just one day. Mini-pupillages are all but mandatory for entry to the Bar, especially if you do things the standard way and apply for pupillage as a student or recent graduate.

The application process for these placements, as with all opportunities associated with the Bar, is fiercely competitive. Therefore, it can be difficult to find mini-pupillages. I remember the struggles I faced to land my first placement. I’ve now managed to amass a grand total of 10 mini-pupillages. So, with any luck, I’ll try to impart the knowledge and lessons I’ve learned to help you to write successful applications and bring those dreaded rejection emails to a minimum.

Making your first year count

Most chambers limit eligibility for mini-pupillage applications to second-year undergraduate students and beyond. If you’re reading this article, you’re most likely a law student; however, if you’re a non-law student, you may still be eligible to apply. You can check by visiting the website of the chambers you’re interested in applying to and reading the mini-pupillage eligibility requirements.

Although you’ll likely be unable to apply for a mini-pupillage until you’re in your second year, you can begin to prepare as a first-year student.

Attend the Bar Council Pupillage Fair and National Pupillage Fair

These events are accessible to all law students, not just graduates and Bar course students, and tickets are free. Pupillage fairs give students a chance to meet barristers, pupils and chambers’ staff. Use this opportunity to find out more information about the chambers you intend to apply to and make detailed notes. The information you learn will help you to draft an application based on more than what’s found on a chambers’ website (which is designed primarily for instructing solicitors). You’ll have demonstrated that you have a genuine interest in the work and culture of a chambers. Your application can now read as the work of a dedicated applicant who took the time to do their homework. You can then frame the mini-pupillage as your way of getting firsthand exposure to that chambers and the Bar.

Join your university law society

You should also get involved with your university’s law society, Bar and mooting society, and debating society. These societies will give you the chance to practise oral advocacy and develop your ability to think on your feet. Their events will boost your commercial awareness and knowledge of the profession. If you have the option of assuming a position in your society, I’d strongly advise that you take it. The responsibilities you take on will help you to write a more impressive mini-pupillage application, and provide examples for you to use in the ‘roles and responsibilities’ section included in pupillage applications.

Work hard to get good grades

Above all else, get the very best grades you can. Ignore the ‘first year doesn’t count’ cliché. Your grades are the greatest asset to your mini-pupillage application. If you do extremely well, you may finish in one of the top rankings in your cohort and/or receive an award for your performance. Achievements like this are gold dust for both mini-pupillage and pupillage applications.

Just like that, a year before you become eligible to apply for mini-pupillages, you’ll have already positioned yourself for early success by following the above advice.

Choosing chambers

Knowing which chambers to apply to can be difficult. My advice is to look for ones that interest you and specialise in your preferred practice areas. However, don’t limit your applications to these sets. Make room for applications to chambers that don’t exactly specialise in your favourite areas of law because what you enjoy in theory at university might not be what you enjoy in practice. Mini-pupillages should be used to gain exposure to the Bar, as well as to expose yourself to a broad church of practices.

I’m an aspiring commercial barrister. That said, my mini-pupillages provided me with insights into common law, family, chancery, tax and employment law. These experiences helped me to find mini-pupillages in commercial chambers later and were valuable in their own right. It’s not uncommon to hear of barristers who specialise in one area, despite originally aspiring to work in a completely different practice area.

Your first mini-pupillage may not be at your dream chambers and that’s ok. Securing a mini-pupillage is always a fantastic achievement; you’re guaranteed to learn something new each time. If you don’t secure a mini-pupillage that relates to your favourite area of practice, it’ll either help you to get one in the future or introduce you to an area you didn’t know you were interested in.

It goes without saying that if you’re offered a mini-pupillage, say yes.

How to apply

The mini-pupillage application process varies between chambers. Some sets want a CV and cover letter. Others will ask that you complete an application form. Find out what chambers are looking for in the application process by visiting their websites. Take your time to read the entire mini-pupillage page so you’re aware of everything that that chambers wants to see in your application (eg, a chambers may ask for a name-blind CV).

While on the website, observe a chambers' house style. Do they prefer the hyphenated spelling (‘mini-pupillage’) or non-hyphenated spelling (‘mini pupillage’)? Do they welcome applications for ‘mini-pupillage’ or for ‘a mini-pupillage’? Whatever the house style, follow it (a language guide is provided at the end of the article). You’re competing against an endless pool of brilliant applicants. Your applications are being read by barristers who read through documents with a fine-tooth comb for a living. Therefore, anything that resembles a spelling, punctuation and/or grammatical (SPAG) error, or indicates that you’ve not taken care, decreases the likelihood of your application succeeding.

While you’re on the website, make a note of the application deadline. Life as a law student is busy, and deadlines can creep up on you very quickly, especially when you haven’t committed the date to memory. It’s also worth checking whether there are any special requirements attached to that chambers’ application process. Some chambers may ask law students and conversion course students to apply during different application rounds.

It should be noted that some chambers require applicants to complete a mini-pupillage in chambers to be eligible to apply for pupillage. Search on the website to see whether this is true of the chambers you’re applying to. Assessed mini-pupillages are also offered by some chambers. Again, it’s important to be aware of this. These aspects can and will affect your chances of success when applying to those sets for pupillage later down the line.

Use short sentences as often as possible. Keeping a sentence under two lines is a good rule of thumb. You should be mindful that a word limit is a guide, not a target. There’s nothing wrong with hitting the word limit or being a few words under it. However, if you believe you answered the question in full and still have words to burn, don’t hesitate to move on. Concision is a good thing.

To maximise your chances of finding your first or next mini-pupillage, have your application checked at an early stage by your university’s careers department or a law professor. These resources are a major advantage to you, so you shouldn’t let them go to waste. A second pair of eyes is always a reliable way of spotting typos. The feedback you’ll receive will expand your understanding of application questions, refine your answers and enlighten you to the valuable experience you may already possess, which you may have considered irrelevant.

The service provided by your university shouldn’t be taken as a substitute for proofreading your application. You should still read over your application to confirm that you’ve avoided typos and SPAG errors (eg, if you use Oxford commas, make sure they’re applied consistently), font choice and size are consistent, your answers are within the word limit and so on.

Printing your application and reading it aloud will help you to detect errors and sentences that don’t read well. If you draft your application early, you can step away from it for a few days or weeks and come back to it with relatively fresh eyes. You’ll now be in a much better position to notice weaknesses in your application and polish it to chef’s kiss standard before submission.

The Pupillage and How to Get It website has a very helpful page providing advice on how to write a successful application. It is definitely worth checking out.

Apply early

Once you’re eligible, don’t dilly-dally – start applying. Your first application(s) will not be your best. This is one of the many reasons why you should apply as early as possible. The rejections are inevitable. You should experience them early so that you can learn to get over the disappointment and get a real sense of just how competitive it is. As with every Bar-related opportunity, you can submit a very impressive application and still be unsuccessful. However, the more applications you send, the better your writing ability will become. With practice, you’ll learn what the common questions are and how to properly answer them. They’ll also hold up a mirror to you and identify the skills and experiences you’re lacking, so you can go out, get them and come back stronger.

It’s important to submit a high volume of applications to accelerate your progress and, perhaps most importantly, increase your chances of actually getting a mini-pupillage (they’re really competitive, remember?).

Work smarter

In case I forgot to mention this earlier in the article, mini-pupillages don’t come easy. Now, what if I told you that it was possible to get a mini-pupillage without applying?

There are several schemes at the Bar that offer a guaranteed mini-pupillage. For those who meet the eligibility criteria, the Bridging the Bar Academy, Inner Temple’s PASS and BDA Bar offer a guaranteed mini-pupillage along with a host of other exciting opportunities.

The mini-pupillage experience

As a law student, it can be easy to get lost in the sea of applications. Which begs the question: how do you prepare for a mini-pupillage and what does a mini-pupillage actually look like?

Preparing for mini-pupillage

To prepare for a mini-pupillage, revisit your email correspondence with the chambers before the first day of your placement. Ensure you’re certain of the time your placement starts and how you’ll get to the chambers or court that you’ve been asked to attend. Aim to arrive early.

Dress code

As for dress code, wear formal attire. For the Bar, this means business wear – you can never go wrong with a dark suit. Dress in the same way you would for a professional environment. Also, remember that you’ll be spending the day with people who may be your potential pupil supervisors, colleagues and pupillage application assessors, so dress appropriately.

What happens during a mini-pupillage?

A typical mini-pupillage lasts one to three days. Despite the short length, you’ll be amazed by how much there is to learn and see. You can expect to read papers or assist your supervisor with legal research during a standard mini-pupillage day. You may even attend court. This is to some degree dependent on the expertise of the chambers and/or your mini-pupillage supervisor(s). At a criminal set, you’re much more likely to attend court than at a commercial set.

A mini-pupillage should be a learning experience, so ask questions about the Bar and different practice areas at appropriate times. You’ll likely be given a chance to discuss the work your supervisor has given to you or a hearing you attended on the way back from court. This is a good time to get your questions in.

You may be invited to attend chambers’ tea, which can help you to get a feel of the social life and culture of a chambers. This presents a good opportunity to introduce yourself to, and learn about, other members of chambers outside of your supervisor. You’ll probably learn something new about practice just by listening to the conversations around you. Social events can create a relaxed atmosphere in what can be a nerve-wracking environment, deepen your knowledge of a chambers and allow you to engage with a chambers more informally, while still maintaining your professionalism.

Some chambers’ mini-pupillage programmes involve discussions with its clerks or, to use the more modern term, practice directors. The clerks have a wealth of experience relating to the chambers’ core areas of expertise, self-employed practice at the Bar and the kinds of work new tenants can expect to be given. If you’re not given the benefit of having a sit down with the clerks (or even if you are), use the opportunities you have to speak to your supervisor and other barristers to find out what that chambers' expertise truly is. What’s advertised on the website isn’t always an accurate reflection of the type of work a chambers regularly receives. If you intend on specialising in a certain area, find out whether that chambers is the right set for a barrister looking to establish, say, a family practice. You may receive the most informative answers from recent tenants and those still early in their practice.

During the mini-pupillage, make notes. When the day is over, write down everything (and I really do mean everything) that you saw and learned, no matter how irrelevant a certain point may seem. Note down the name of your supervisor and any barristers or clerks you spoke to. Write down the names of the cases you researched, read or observed in court. Record the specific start and end dates of your mini-pupillage. Write down everything. It’s best to do this while the experience is still fresh in your memory. I can’t stress this enough. You’ll return to those points when you’re applying for pupillage in the future. At that time, you’ll be able to recount important aspects of your mini-pupillage clearly.

The ‘Mini-Pupillages’ episode of The Pupillage Podcast offers advice on preparing for and conducting oneself during a mini-pupillage. Anyone considering applying for a mini-pupillage should find some time to give it a listen.

Funding

A mini-pupillage may require you to travel to a different city or town. For support with this, have a look to see whether any of the Inns of Court can provide assistance. Lincoln’s Inn runs a mini-pupillage grant scheme and Inner Temple covers expenses for travel relating to PASS mini-pupillages. Alternatively, some chambers offer to cover expenses or compensate mini-pupils with a small stipend.

Conclusion

Hopefully, you’re now an expert on all things mini-pupillage. With some persistence, resilience and diligence, you should be able to snag one. Take the tips and advice found in this article, apply them to your applications and kick your mini-pupillage career into high gear.

PS – the language guide is found below, as promised.

Language guide

A mini-pupillage application can easily fail due to a small grammatical error. When writing in the context of the Bar, unique rules apply. Your adherence to these rules can be the difference between success and an email expressing regret over the unfortunate decision to not continue with your application.

Example 1

“I am applying to 1 London Court because I believe it offers unique exposure to the Commercial Bar.”

Note that the terms ‘Commercial’ and ‘Bar’ both begin with a capital letter. Some chambers will opt for this style when referring to areas of the Bar (eg, Criminal Bar or Employment Bar) and the Bar itself. However, others will choose to keep all letters in lower case (eg, ‘the bar’). If you wish to use these terms, check the website to see which style that chambers has opted for. If the term or phrase isn’t mentioned on the website, pick one and be consistent.

Example 2

“1 London Court has a broad range of practice areas. It is also the only chambers in England which has offices in the United States, Canada and the UAE. The prospect of gaining experience in the areas of employment and chancery makes Chambers particularly attractive. I have engaged in interesting employment work during mini-pupillages in other chambers. However, I would like to gain insight into employment disputes from an international perspective.”

Note that the term ‘chambers’ is used three times. It’s first used in the singular to refer to one set of barristers’ chambers (hence the interchangeable term ‘set’ and use of ‘chambers’ instead of ‘chamber’). The second time, the term is capitalised as it’s being used to specifically refer to an identified chambers. The third time, it’s used in the plural to refer generically to various chambers.

Leo Edekere is studying the Barrister Training Course at BPP University Law School.