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• 7 King’s Bench Walk

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  7 King’s Bench Walk is an address with a pedigree which goes back all the way to the eighteenth century. Known for outstanding legal legends such as Lord Chancellor Truro (formerly Sergeant Wilde), Sir Harry Bodkin Poland and Lord Chancellor Halsbury.
  
  The chamber as we know it today was created out of a merger between two commercial sets – 3 Pump Court and 7KBW in 1967. The glorious pedigree has continued into the modern times as well with former members of chambers including Lord Goff, Lord Hobhouse, Lord Mance, Mr Justice Tomlinson and Mr Justice Flix.

  The set at 7 Kings Bench Walk is an excellent player in the shipping and insurance & reinsurance business, having been at the forefront of nearly every big issue that has come about in the past on these matters. Today there is growing focus and expertise in areas of professional negligence, international law and arbitration and the more staid commercial areas of banking, finance and other general commercial matters.
  
  It is a matter of prestige and requires a huge amount of talent to get through the door at 7KBW. New talent will find itself caught up in a rigorous mix of work and learning, the principal aim being to keep the assembly line turning out legal stalwarts.
  
  Great emphasis is laid on the methodology and quality of work, getting the basics right and learning early on of the various personalities and practice styles which populate the Bar. While it is all about learning and functioning well, pupils can look forward to lots of support and guidance and care is taken to see that there are no early burnouts.
  
  Chambers has evolved considerably over time and adapted well to modern times. As such, you can find a friendly and supportive ambience at work, with little insistence on formality and constant bowing before your superiors.

  7 Kings Bench Walk mainly focuses on general commercial law practice. All aspects of commercial law are covered by various tenants at the chamber, with some amount of specialisation being undertaken by barristers in certain areas of their preference.
  
  The fields which form the core of the practice are banking & financial services, agency & arbitration, commodities & futures, conflicts of laws, energy, entertainment & sports, EC law, injunctive reliefs, insurance & reinsurance, international trade, professional negligence, sale of goods, shipping and transport.

  Chambers require candidates to have a first class or at least a high 2:1 degree. Other selection criteria as set down by the chamber’s pupillage policy include intelligence, verbal and written advocacy skills, sound judgement, proficiency in absorbing information and good analytical skills.
  
  You must also be meticulousness, hard-working and enthusiastic, with high self-motivation and an interest and commitment to a career at the Bar in general and 7 Kings Bench Walk in particular.

  The chamber offers up to four full pupillages each year, running for twelve months. During this time, pupils will be assigned to various supervisors; the first will be for three months and subsequently one every two months for the rest of the year.
  
  Pupils will undertake work in assisting their respective supervisors on draft statements and opinions, creating skeleton arguments, researching for relevant law and information, attending court proceedings and meetings with clients and solicitors.
  
  The chamber abides by the Bar’s General Commercial Pupillage and endeavours to ensure all requirements are completed within the year. Pupils will complete at least one advocacy exercise in front of members of chambers and written pieces of work for named pupil assessors during the last three months of the first six and the first three months of the second six.
  
  Pupils who are successful in securing a tenancy will spend the remaining term working on their own cases or assisting other barristers on theirs. Pupils not securing a pupillage can either finish the remaining term at chambers or look elsewhere for tenancy prospects.
  
  7 King’s Bench Walk make a concerted effort to assist in such placements. Mini-pupillages last for a period of three days and are not a prerequisite for applying for a full pupillage. During this period, mini-pupils spend time with different members of chambers, attending court, arbitration hearings and read through cases and conduct research in chambers. Mini-pupillages are no assessed.

  The chamber currently provides an annual grant of £ 42,000, of which up to £ 10,000 can be drawn down during the Bar Vocational Course. The remaining amount is paid in equal instalments at the beginning of each month of the pupillage year.
  
  Pupils can also earn significant amounts doing paid work during the second six, but chambers make no guarantee of the amount which is possible to earn.

  Application forms should be submitted during the summer season of recruitment through OLPAS. Forms are available at http://www.pupillages.com along with the closing dates for submission and recruitment timetable for that year. Once all application forms are reviewed, selected candidates will be invited to attend an assessment.
  
  The assessment will include a short advocacy exercise, in most cases an application for permission to appeal to the House of Lords. Advanced notice will be provided for candidates to prepare for this exercise. The remaining part of the assessment will include an appraisal of the candidate individually against the criteria fixed by chambers.
  
  The chamber conducts mini-pupillages in three sessions during the year. The sessions are held between 1 June and 30 September; 1 October and 31 January and between 1 February and 31 May. Completed applications which consist of a covering letter and a full CV should be sent via email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), by 31 March, 31 July and 30 November respectively for each of the sessions mentioned above.

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