The realities of gaining pupillage

They’ll say that the Bar is very competitive and that very few people secure pupillages. Like in a Hollywood movie, you’ll think that you have what it takes to become a barrister and you are going to pursue the career to prove them wrong. You get offered a mini-pupillage after another, thinking that this isn’t so bad after all.

After getting your 2:1 degree from an ordinary university, you successfully enrol on the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC), with a false sense of achievement that continues to feed your career aspirations.

After all, the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) is said to be a very demanding course with high entry requirements, so being accepted on the course must mean something.

The Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) is finished, and after a couple of pupillage interviews, none of your applications are successful. You have to take a year out before the next applications season, but you discover that you can’t get the job you want in a top law firm.

After such a demanding and highly acclaimed course, you are told that you are not experienced enough to be a paralegal; at the same time, you can’t secure legal admin or secretarial positions, because the firms need someone ‘more permanent’.

You end up in a dead-end job at the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), a small solicitor firm or a call centre, and then it hits you. With a patronising ‘barrister’ title, significant debt and struggle to make ends meet with your laughable wage, you can’t help but think: "What was the point?’" You have no one to blame but yourself – everyone told you not to do it!

If two years ago someone said that that this was going to happen to me, I’d think they were on a different planet. As hard it is to believe, this is how many of the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) graduates end up after the course. When I say ,”It’s hard”, I mean it.

I experienced the ups and downs of the pupillage chase, having made applications for three years already. It is an emotional rollercoaster and believe me, you don’t want to take it unless you enjoy being put down, having your confidence crushed and doubting your genuine achievements.

To succeed, you need something more than the passion for the law, determination to succeed and any other cliché nonsense. You need solid evidence on your application form.

Degree

To get interviews, you need a First from an established university (obviously, having a degree from Oxbridge makes things easer). A good 2:1 will do only if you also have some impressive and unusual extra-curriculum achievements.

With a borderline 2:1, 2:2 or a Third, don’t bother. Find a better use of those Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) fees. After reading all those glossy brochures about the career at the Bar, you will know that they are looking for the best of the best.

If you failed to demonstrate your academic abilities, maybe you are just not good enough for the Bar. It doesn’t mean that you won’t excel in other careers. Just don’t waste your time and money searching for a pupillage – it’s not worth it.

Achievements

For things like mooting and debating, you need evidence of your achievements in form of prizes, scholarships and awards. Listing participation in a university society is meaningless. This, however, is expected from all applicants, so you will need something really unusual to stand out from the crowd.

Things that helped people in the past include managing a bar in Paris and motorcycle racing. If you think about doing Masters or Ph.D, unless it is from Oxbridge, it’s unlikely to make a huge difference to your application.

Legal Work Experience

Mini-pupillages go without saying, but they add little weight to your application. Don’t bother with the legal secretarial jobs, clerking and support staff positions, because let’s be honest – all you do is audio-typing, filing, answering the phone and making tea.

Valuable work experience is where you get to attend court hearings, undertake research and do some written advocacy. And it is pretty difficult to get something like that for an undergraduate. Don’t lie on your application by changing ‘legal sec’ to ‘paralegal’ and so on – you may get found out and significantly reduce your chances of an interview.

References

Apparently, having a High Court judge as one of your referee adds weight to your application. But it goes like this – you either know a High Court judge, who is willing to supply a reference, or you don’t. Marshalling with a judge may help, but don’t get your hopes up.

As you can see, the path to the Bar is very uninspiring, often heart-breaking and soul-crushing. Should you wish to pursue it anyway, don’t say no one warned you.

Author of Android's Reminiscences Blog

23-09-2009