Pupillage | Crown Office

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  Crown Office Chambers (COC) is one f the largest common law sets practising at the UK Bar. The set is based out of two offices, relics of the time when the two were home for two insurance sets which merged in 2000 to create Crown Office.
  
  Time and familiarity has ensured that the integration of the two sets is now complete and the set as a whole is one smooth legal machine. With over eighty barristers at various levels, and about three to four pupils taken on each year, Crown Office has built up a strong reputation for quality work in its core practice areas.

  Crown Office is a strong proponent of the modern, flexible approach to business, with a structured business operating model. Equally well-organised and rigorous is the pupillage track. Pupils are assigned to one set of supervisors throughout the year with independent members conducting and scoring written and oral advocacy sessions.
  
  The decision for future tenancies is made up of the group of people who’ve had the maximum interaction and exposure to pupils’ capabilities. The offer of tenancy does not depend on voting by full members of chambers as is the common practice in other sets.
  
  Instead the selection is purely the decision of the supervisors and the judging panel of members. This ensures that pupil performance is reviewed in an open, transparent and fair manner.
  
  With regard to life in chambers for pupils and new tenants, hours at work are the standard 8 – 9 nine hours, working on weekends and holidays are the exception rather than the rule and pupils are encouraged to meet and interact with all members and other staff at chambers. The work-culture is friendly and convivial, with ample outlets for socializing and after-hours’ gatherings.

  The chamber provides legal services in litigation, adjudication, arbitration and mediation. The practice areas within the chambers’ purview are construction, insurance & reinsurance, commercial & chancery law, personal injury, product liability, clinical and professional negligence, health & safety and regulatory compliance.
  
  The chamber also specialises in personal injury, clinical negligence, product liability, insurance & reinsurance, health & safety and technology & construction are COC’s niche practice areas. Up and coming is its practice in public welfare and education.

  A minimum degree requirement of 2:1 is necessary, law and non-law students are both eligible. Other qualities sought for by chambers are confidence, enthusiasm, keen perceptiveness and an ability to think creatively and quickly.
  
  You must also have good oral and written advocacy, excellent time and people management skills, ambitious and thrive on challenges and be committed to a career as a barrister.

  The chamber offers up to three funded pupillages each year, the selection process ensuring that only candidates who can meet the benchmarks for future tenants get taken on for a pupillage. Pupils will be assigned to three different pupils during the course of the year; the coverage ensures that pupils are exposed to all practice areas the chamber specializes in.
  
  Pupils shadow their respective pupil masters and undertake various tasks such as attending court proceeding and client conferences carry out research and prepare shadow opinions and pleadings.
  
  In the second six, pupils will additionally handle cases of their own, usually in personal injury, appearing in county courts twice or thrice in a week on small claims or fast track cases. As part of the tenancy selection process, pupils will participate in several mock advocacy sessions with issues based on actual cases and reviewed by a panel of four members from the chamber.
  
  Regular appraisals are also carried out for every task completed by the pupils, whether for supervisors or for other barristers in chambers. Two written assignments, one each in the first and second six will be reviewed by two independent members of chambers and will be counted among the various criteria for making offers of tenancy.
  
  The tenancy decision in July is made a by a panel consisting of all the pupil supervisors and members of the review panels who’ve earlier assessed the written and advocacy exercises.
  
  Mini-pupillages are conducted throughout the year, each runs for three days and follow an abbreviated schedule of the pupillage programme. These are not assessed programmes and a mini-pupillage at chambers is not a compulsory pre-condition for pupillage.

  Pupillage is funded by chambers with an annual grant of £ 42,500, of this up to £ 15,000 can be drawn down in the BVC year and the balance is paid out in equal monthly instalments. Pupils can also look forward to paid work during the second six.

  The chamber does not subscribe to the Pupillage Portal and application forms can be downloaded from their website: http://www.crownofficechambers.com/pupillage.asp. The last date for submission of completed forms and references is 30 April; the forms should be mailed to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with ‘pupillage’ in the subject field. A recruitment panel of four members review and score applications and references and shortlist about 24 candidates for the first interview.
  
  Verbal reasoning, argument, problem solving skills and the overall personality of the candidates are appraised at the interview. A culling at this stage brings the final shortlisted candidates to 12, who will attend the second round of interviews. Candidates will be provided a case study to consider in advance and this will be discussed with the panel at the interview. Offers to three selected candidates will be made on 1 August.
  
  Law students in their final year and non-law students in their GDL year are eligible to apply for mini-pupillages. The application is accessible at http://www.crownofficechambers.com/mini-pupillage.asp and should be submitted by no later than 31 March. Completed forms should be mailed to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with ‘mini-pupillage’ in the subject field.

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