NEW OPPORTUNITIES OUT EAST - Legal Week

STUDENT 

www.legalweek.com AUTUMN 2010 

IN ASSOCIATION WITH 

RIDING THE DRAGON 

NEW OPPORTUNITIES OUT EAST 

PLUS: RECRUITMENT SURVEY – FIRMS CUT BACK ON TRAINING CONTRACTS ● 

OFFTOTHEBAR–LAWSTUDENTS’FAVOURITEBOOZERS... ANDMUCHMORE

Sullivan & Cromwell provides 

the highest quality legal advice 

and representation to clients 

around the world. 

The results we achieve have set us apart for nearly 130 years and become a 

model for the modern practice of law. 

If you are considering a career as a solicitor, interested in working with the 

world’s leading companies on their most challenging matters, and feel that you 

have the qualities we are looking for, we encourage you to apply for a place on 

the 2011 summer vacation scheme in our London office. 

Please send a copy of your CV (including a full classification and percentage 

breakdown of all academic results) and a covering letter to: traineesolicitors@ 

sullcrom.com. We will be accepting applications for the 2011 summer vacation 

scheme in our London office from November 1, 2010 through 

January 31, 2011. 

www.sullcrom.com 

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CONTENTS 

30 

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2 News 

The latest law student and 

junior lawyer news 

10 Riding the dragon 

Opportunities out east 

16 Step-by-step 

Legal Week’s guide to 

becoming a solicitor 

18 We need a holiday 

Making the most of work 

experience 

20 Flexible working 

Lawyers who choose 

how they work 

22Ifnotlaw... 

Alternative career options 

24 Higher rights 

Advocacy training the 

new way 

26 Career clinic 

Advice from posters 

on legalweek.com 

30Join the queue 

Legal Week’s graduate 

intake survey results 

40Thescenicroute 

Lawyers’ unconventional 

pathstothetop 

44Hedgestock 

What happens when 

lawyers and festivals meet? 

46Waiting game 

Oxford United pro footballer 

on why he keeps deferring 

his training contract 

48Willing and able 

Disabledtraineeonlife 

in the magic circle 

52Arctic challenge 

Associate goes it alone for 

theadventureofalifetime 

54Mine’sapint 

Students tell Legal Week 

about the best boozers 

Bar special 

58Bar news 

Thelatestnewsfrom 

the Bar 

62StarsattheBar 

Claire Ruckin highlights the 

junior barristers to watch 

70 BPTC 

The new Bar training course 

comesintothespotlight 

72 Step-by-step 

Legal Week’s guide to 

qualifying as a barrister 

76 Hanging up 

my wig 

How one barrister was 

luredintojoiningalawfirm 

78Career clinic 

Advice from posters 

on legalweek.com 

www.legalweek.com/students Legal Week Autumn 2010 1 

54 

46

NEWS 

COLLEGEOFLAWBACKSPLANTOOPENUPTUITIONFEESMARKET 

suzanna.ring@legalweek.com 

TheCollegeofLawhasthrown 

its support behind Lord Browne’s 

review of student funding, which 

could see the removal of the cap on 

UK university fees. 

TheCollegehasralliedbehind 

Browne’sproposalsforafreemarket 

for higher education fees, which is 

intended to increase competition and 

deliver higher standards of education. 

Browne’s review, published 

on 12 October, suggests that the 

government should remove the 

£3,290 fee cap on tuition fees, 

allowing universities the freedom to 

decide how much to charge students. 

However, the Government will only 

subsidise fees of up to £6,000. Above 

this point, an increasing levy will be 

charged on each further £1,000. 

If the proposals are accepted, 

students will start to pay back their 

tuition fee loans when they earn 

£21,000,asopposedtothecurrent 

level of £15,000. 

CollegeofLawchiefexecutive 

Nigel Savage said: “We hope 

the Government will use the 

recommendations in this report to 

begin a timely and much-needed 

rethink of higher education and the 

role of educational institutions in 

England to ensure that they 

alldelivertoacontemporary 

agenda of employability, flexibility 

and diversity. 

“The fee cap coming off 

will create a more competitive 

environment. While we need to 

protect the best in our world-class 

institutions, we must eliminate the 

dividing lines between public and 

private tertiary education. 

“Wemustallowallinstitutionsto 

compete for the students and allow 

qualitytoflourish,”headded. 

The College of Law currently 

receives no public funding. 

HOLMAN FENWICK SIGNS EXCLUSIVE LPC DEAL WITH KAPLAN 


Holman Fenwick Willan has signed 

an exclusive deal with Kaplan Law 

School to provide the Legal Practice 

Course(LPC)forthefirm’strainees. 

Thedeal,whichcameintoeffectin 

September, will see Kaplan tailor the 

LPC to include a specific insurance 

module for the firm’s trainees. 

The agreement builds on an 

exclusivedealthatthefirmhas 

with the school’s sister provider 

Kaplan Altior for the provision of 

the Professional Skills Course, a 

Savage: ‘muchneeded 

rethink’ 

Proctor: tailored 

approach 

mandatory course that 

trainees complete during their 

training contract. 

Holman Fenwick trainees will 

also participate in the School’s 

‘Bridge to Practice’ programme 

that involves practical modules 

simulating typical scenarios they will 

encounter at the firm. 

Kaplan head Giles Proctor said: 

“We have been working with 

Holman Fenwick for a while and are 

now in the process of developing 

atailoredBridgeToPracticefor 

them,whichweoffertoallofour 

clientsthatwehaveanexclusive 

relationship with. 

“We have ongoing discussions 

with other firms about providing 

an exclusive service and expect to 

seemorefirmssigninguptothisin 

due course.” 

Holman Fenwick is also 

encouraging its trainees to complete 

their Graduate Diploma in Law 

with Kaplan. 

Fellow insurance outfit Ince & 

Co also signed an exclusive 

agreement to work with Kaplan in 

January this year. 

GRADUATE BRIEF FOR HERBERT 

SMITHREALESTATEPARTNER 

sofia.lind@legalweek.com 

see him guide and develop the firm’s 

graduate recruitment strategy. 

Herbert Smith has appointed real He will also oversee and 

estate partner Matthew White as participate in the campus activities 

the firm’s new graduate recruitment Herbert Smith undertakes at UK 

partner. 

universitiesandhewillalsoactively 

He will replace corporate partner support graduate recruitment 

ChrisParsons,whohaschosento diversity initiatives, playing a central 

step down after six years in the role. role in interviewing and selecting 

White,whowilltakeupthepost candidates. 

from 1 November, is a partner in Herbert Smith senior partner 

the planning group of the firm’s Jonathan Scott commented: “This 

real estate division and has been isaveryimportantjobwhichChris 

involved in the firm’s recruitment has carried out with great success 

processinrecentyears,taking over the last six years, but he 

part in university recruitment and recognises it is now time to hand 

interviewing candidates. 

over to another partner. We are very 

He will continue fee earning gratefultoChrisandwishMatthew 

alongside the new role, which will every success. His interest and 

2 Legal Week Student Autumn 2010 

experience make him ideally suited 

to the role.” 

Whitewillbesupportedby 

disputes partner Ted Greeno and 

corporate partner David Paterson 

in promoting the firm at universities 

to represent two of the firm’s key 

practice areas. 

Meanwhile, Veronica Roberts 

will continue as deputy graduate 

recruitment partner and Paul Lewis 

as vacation scheme partner. On 

the human resources side, Peter 

Chater remains the firm’s head 

of resourcing, which is a full-time 

recruitment role that, in addition to 

graduate recruitment, also oversees 

lateral hiring. 

www.legalweek.com/students


LAW FIRM FRANCHISE UNVEILS AGGRESSIVE EXPANSION DRIVE 


QualitySolicitors has unveiled plans 

to launch 50 new ‘branches’ next 

month as the controversial law firm 

franchisemovestobuildanational 

brand for retail legal services. 

Themuch-toutednetwork,which 

seeslawfirmssignupandpool 

resources for combined marketing, 

was launched in May this year in 

anticipation of dramatic changes to 

the market for retail legal services. 

In a statement issued this week, 

QualitySolicitorssaidthatitwill 

launch with a confirmed 50 new 

members on 11 and 12 November, 

including Liverpool practice Jackson 

&Canter,whichwillberenamed 

QualitySolicitors Jackson & Canter. 

Jackson & Canter managing 

partner and former Law Society 

president Andrew Holroyd 

commented: “The creation of a 

national legal services brand is 

essential if we are to compete with 

the new entrants to the market 

next year. Firms have a great deal 

to gain through this which we 

believe will enable us to become 

the first choice for quality legal 

services locally.” 

QualitySolicitors chief executive 

Craig Holt said: “QualitySolicitors 

will be the first recognised 

‘household name’ legal brand 

and the only one from within the 

profession itself. The benefits to 

the branded firms of achieving 

thisstatuswillbehugeandwe 

expect our branded firms to totally 

dominate their local market as 

QualitySolicitors becomes the first 

choice for consumers and businesses 

needing legal advice.” 

Thelegalbody,whichisintenton 

expanding its network nationally to 

achieve wide geographic coverage, 

says it is on course to sign up a 

further 50 law firms in early 2011, 

which would take the number of 

members in the network to 115. 

Firmsthatwishtojointhe‘brand 

franchise’ must rebrand and pay an 

annual membership fee based on the 

geographical area that they will cover. 

The launch of the expanded network 

will be supported by a national TV 

campaign, fronted by the actress 

Amanda Holden, due to air during 

primetime shows such as Coronation 

Street and ITV News at Ten. 

TargetfirmsthatQualitySolicitors 

islookingtosignuptypically 

generate revenues in the £2m- 

£5m region, though the business is 

believed to be in talks with several 

top100UKlawfirms. 

Theventureisbeingwatched 

closely as one of the most ambitious 

attemptsfromsolicitorstobenefit 

from expected changes in the market 

inthewakeoftheLegalServicesAct, 

which will allow outside investment 

into law firms from next year. 

However, the QualitySolicitors 

venture has proved unpopular in 

some quarters, with critics dismissing 

it as a claims management company 

that compromises the independence 

of member firms. Supporters, 

meanwhile, cite the initiative as an 

attempt by solicitors to rapidly adapt 

to a market in which companies 

are expected to heavily invest in 

building national brands in retail 

legal services. 

In a stark indication of the 

stakes, Justice Secretary Kenneth 

Clarke in an earlier speech warned 

that radical changes to the market 

couldleadtotheclosureof3,000 

high street law firms. 

CITYFIRMSUNDERPRESSURETOBRINGINCRIMINALEXPERTISE 

claire.ruckin@legalweek.com 

Primetime: The advert will air during Coronation Street and ITV News at Ten 

‘THE CREATION OF 

ANATIONALLEGAL 

SERVICES BRAND IS 

ESSENTIALIFWEARE 

TOCOMPETEWITHTHE 

NEWENTRANTSTOTHE 

MARKET NEXT YEAR’ 

Andrew Holroyd, Jackson & Canter 

Commercial law firms are facing 

growing pressure to recruit criminal 

lawyers with aggressive regulation 

and anti-corruption legislation on the 

horizon, according to senior litigators. 

Toplawfirmsareshowing 

increasing interest in developing 

white-collar crime practices against 

the backdrop of the imminent 

introduction of the Bribery Act 

and an increased risk of criminal 

offences which corporate boards 

now face. 

Thiswasoneofthekeyissues 

debated at Legal Week’s Commercial 

Litigation Forum, held in London 

last month. 

clients is now much higher. There 

PanelmemberandBerwin is a call from institutional clients to 

Leighton Paisner head of corporate be able to service that need and a 

and commercial disputes Nathan desire from commercial litigation 

Willmott commented: “The mindset departments to do so. 

of commercial litigation practices “There is an acknowledgement 

that many corporates might 

haschangedagreatdealandis 

continuing to change as the prospect inadvertentlycommitbreachesofthe 

of criminal investigations and criminal law, given the breadth of 

prosecutions against large corporate many of the newer criminal offences 


in the fields of competition, financial 

services, bribery and under the 

Companies Acts.” 

Other members of the panel, 

whichincludedCliffordChance 

partner Luke Tolaini and Crowell 

& Moring head of international 

regulatory and corporate crime 

Gerallt Owen, agreed that pressure is 

mounting on City law firms to build 

‘THE MINDSET 

OF COMMERCIAL 

LITIGATION 

PRACTICES HAS 

CHANGED A 

GREAT DEAL AND 

IS CONTINUING 

TO CHANGE‘ 

Nathan Willmott, Berwin 

Leighton Paisner 

up white-collar crime capabilities. 

Many commercial firms have 

been bulking up their criminal 

capabilities, with partners 

Elizabeth Robertson, Louise 

Delahunty and Jo Rickards moving 

from white-collar crime specialist 

Peters & Peters to Addleshaw 

Goddard,Simmons&Simmonsand 

DLA Piper respectively. 


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EVERSHEDS ROLLS OUT MINI-MBA FOR JUNIOR LAWYERS 


Evershedshasopenedupabespoke 

MBAforitsjuniorlawyersaspart 

of a new learning programme rolled 

out last month. 

The new Commercial Academy 

will see a number of optional 

courses, including a ‘mini MBA’, 

openeduptothefirm’sjunior 

lawyers. Some of the courses will 

be compulsory for lawyers in certain 

practice groups. 

The courses are being taught by 

both internal and external providers 

and last around a month each. 

Lawyers with up to four years’ 

post-qualification experience across 

all UK and international offices will 

be eligible. 

In addition to the MBA, 

courses include financial reporting 

CC TO OFFER ACCELERATED LPC FOR TRAINEES 


Clifford Chance (CC) has signed a 

deal with the College of Law to 

roll out an accelerated Legal 

Practice Course (LPC) for its 

incoming trainees. 

The course will span seven months 

rather than the standard 10, and is 

duetogoliveinJanuary2012for 

trainees joining the magic circle firm 

in August 2012. 

The accelerated course will be 

provided by the College of Law and 

comes as trainees at Linklaters – 

and decision-making (which 

will be taught by commercial 

and financial consultancy group 

MacIntyre Hudson); commercial 

relationships and networking; 

marketing and communications; 

and an introduction to business 

whichstruckasimilardealwiththe 

college this year – prepare to 

start their accelerated LPC in 

January 2011. 

CollegeofLawbusiness 

development director Sarah 

Hutchinson said: “The students 

on the accelerated course will be 

covering exactly the same syllabus, 

but they will not have the holidays 

allocated in the academic year. The 

main driver is to keep the momentum 

going between finishing the LPC and 

starting training contracts so that 

their learning is current.” 

development. 

The MBA, which is currently 

running between September and 

October 2010, has 100 lawyers 

signedup.Itisbeingtaughtby 

external provider Rupert Vernalls 

using Harvard Business School case 

Therecenttrendofmagiccircle 

firms offering accelerated LPCs has 

sparkedcriticismfromsomewho 

claim it will create a two-tier training 

system for young lawyers. 

CC human resources head Tony 

Kingsaid:“Ithinkthewishisto 

make sure that the programme is 

effective from both the students’ 

andthefirm’spointofview. 

So far the feedback has been 

positive and I think this idea 

benefits both sides.” 

CC has two annual intakes of 

traineesinAugustandFebruary. 

studies and materials. 

Vernalls is a UK-qualified lawyer 

whoheadedupOsborneClarke’s 

commercial law practice in Silicon 

Valley and worked as in-house 

intellectual property counsel for the 

Vodafone Group. He has an MBA, 

haslecturedattheUSDepartment 

of Commerce and has worked 

on Bath’s MBA and for Harvard 

Business Online. 

Eversheds human resources 

director Angus Macgregor said: 

“We have devised a programme 

of training to develop commercial 

business lawyers from a junior level, 

with skills fully aligned to the firm’s 

strategy. Lawyers are increasingly 

required to expand their capabilities; 

they are not simply fee earners 

but also business winners, client 

managers and team players.” 

LAWSOCIETYFLOATSAPTITUDETESTFORLPCENTRANTS 

friederike.heine @legalweek.com 

The Law Society is considering the 

introduction of an aptitude test for 

entry onto the Legal Practice Course 

(LPC)inanefforttoreducethe 

numbers of students taking 

the course. 

The society has appointed a 

consultant to investigate the viability 

ofsuchatest,inoneofanumber 

of initiatives discussed at its board 

meeting in September. 

Theproposalispartofan 

attempt to regulate entry to the 

profession due to an increasing 

disparity between the number of 

LPC graduates and the number of as well as offering prospective 

available training contracts. students a comprehensive overview 

Other initiatives discussed of the profession before beginning 

includedofferingincentivestolaw the application process. 

firmstoprovidetrainingcontracts, The proposals have been initiated 

6 LegalWeekStudent Autumn2010 

by the Law Society’s education and 

training committee at the request of 

chiefexecutiveDesHudson. 

The Bar Standards Board 

is currently piloting a similar 

approach for entry onto the new 

Bar Professional Training Course 

(BPTC).Thenewtestislikelytobe 

introduced as an entry requirement 

for the BPTC for students applying to 

startthecourseinSeptember2011. 

The consultant’s report on 

whether a similar initiative would be 

suitable for the solicitors’ profession 

is expected to be compiled for the 

Law Society by the end of the year. 

It is hoped a pilot will be launched in 

theautumnof2011. 

Hudson commented: “There are 

seriousissuestobeconsideredinthe 

current arrangements – many aspiring 

solicitors may be ill-served by the 

status quo, and considering possible 

reformsisaproperthingforthesociety 

to do. Implementation of any such or 

similar test would be a matter for the 

Solicitors Regulation Authority.” 


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LATHAM & WATKINS LAUNCHES CORPORATE 

JARGON IPHONE APPLICATION FOR DEAL LAWYERS 

By Brian Baxter 

Latham & Watkins has launched 

a new iPhone application which 

provides deal lawyers easy access to 

a digital glossary of financial, legal 

and regulatory jargon, reports The 

Am Law Daily. 

The new app, called The Book of 

Jargon,offersfreeaccesstomore 

than 750 definitions of corporate 

and finance slang and terminology. 

“Everyprofessionhasalanguage 

that it uses to exclude novices, and 

we really wanted to demystify some 

ofthisstuff,”saidLathamcapital 

markets co-chair Kirk Davenport. 

“I studied solar architecture, so 

when I was a first-year lawyer, I had 

no idea what the difference was 

between interest rate and yield. 

There are all these little subtleties 

thatyouhavetobeintheclubto 

know about.” 

The precursor to the digital 

glossary was a print publication 

ofthesamenamethatLatham 

firstproducedin2008,whichwas 

distributedtobothlawyersand 

clients. “I sent about 25 copies 

to my friends at the major Wall 

Street law firms and I was shocked 

athowmanyofthemcalledme 

back and said, ‘Can you send 50 

more?’” said Davenport. 

Fellow capital markets co-chair 

AlexanderCohen,aformersenior 

official at the Securities and 

Exchange Commission (SEC), pointed 

outtoDavenportthatLatham’s 

summaries could be found on the 

desks of many SEC staff. 

The idea of an iPhone application 

arose due to the prohibitive printing 

costsofdistributinglargenumbers 

of glossaries. 

Davenport and Cohen relied 

on members of the firm’s IT and 

business development teams to 

transfer the hard copy into a digital 

application. “I’ve got to give them 

the full credit for this one,” Cohen 

said. “It certainly wasn’t me and 

Kirk.” 

Latham’s business development 

team first looked into creating 

the app earlier this summer, said 

Kenneth Heaps, the firm’s chief 

information officer. The tech 

development work was handled 

in-house. 

“A couple of our programmers, on 

their own time, decided they would 

prototype it,” Heaps said. 

“But once you have the 

appropriate technology and 

developers, there is still a process 

you have to go through to become a 

certified app developer by Apple.” 

Then there is the review process 

by Apple, to determine whether or 

not it will accept the application. 

“It actually took longer for them to 

approve us than it did for us to finish 

the app,” Heaps added. 

Thefirmisplanningtobuild 

similar digital editions for its project 

finance and outsourcing manuals. 

SRA NAMES KAPLAN AS SOLE PROVIDER OF QLTS SCHEME 


The Solicitors Regulation Authority 

(SRA) has selected Kaplan Law 

School as the sole examining board 

for the new Qualified Lawyers 

Transfer Scheme (QLTS), which came 

into force last month. 

As of 1 September, the QLTS 

replaced the Qualified Lawyers 

Transfer Test (QLTT) as the official 

qualification allowing foreign 

lawyerstopractiseinEngland 

and Wales. 

Kaplan QLTS will be the only 

assessment organisation for the 

QLTS after the training provider 

wonatenderinAugust.TheQLTT 

was previously administered by six 

different law schools. 

Kaplan Law School managing 

director Peter Anderson said: “This 

is a fantastic opportunity for Kaplan 

andarealvoteofconfidence 

fromtheSRAinwhatwe’vebeen 

doingsofar. 

“TheSRAiskeentowidenaccess 

to the profession but make sure that 

the standard and quality of qualified 

lawyersinEnglandandWalesisas 

high as it should be, and I think that 

the new QLTS reflects this.” 

The new regime, which opens 

uptheschemetoahostofnew 

jurisdictions including emerging 

markets around the world, sees 

candidates now required to meet 

a certain standard of English 

before applying, while the former 

requirement of two years’ work 

experiencehasbeenreplacedbya 

series of practical exercises. 

The first QLTS assessments are set 

to take place at the start of 2011. 

ROPES&GRAYTOLAUNCHGRADUATETRAININGSCHEMEINCITY 

friederike.heine @legalweek.com graduate recruitment arrangement. 

Joint office heads Maurice 

Ropes&Grayissettotakeon Allen and Mike Goetz are working 

graduates in its London practice as the alongside client director Catherine 

USfirmlookstoexpandintheCity. McGonagle to launch the programme, 

The firm’s existing London whichisexpectedtotakeoffin2011. 

strategy has been to grow through McGonagle, who is responsible 

lateral hires, but as the burgeoning for the London office’s client 

practice begins to consolidate its programmes, as well as its knowledge 

presence in the UK, management and learning systems, has been in 

is beginning to consider a formal talks with the Law Society and some 


of the major universities. 

“Wehaveundertakensomeof 

the initial legwork, but it is a long 

drawn-outprocessanditwilltake 

a while until the recruitment 

becomes integral to the firm,” 

commented Goetz. 

“Luckily we are able to build on 

our fantastic reputation in the States 

inordertomakesurewehaveaccess 

to a large talent pool.” 

Ropes&Graymovedtoits 

permanent office space at 5 New 

Street Square in January 2009, with 

thefirminitiallyplanningtohouse 

some 40 lawyers. 

The firm has made several highprofile 

hires – including banking 

partner Matthew Cox from 

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and 

restructuring partner Tony Horspool 

from Weil Gothsal & Manges. 


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CHINA 

YEAR OF THE 

DRAGON 

NinemonthsagoIwalkedoutofBeijing 

Airport into the heady mix of sunshine, 

humidity and pollution, excited – but 

worried – about what lay before me. My 

trainingcontracthadbeendeferredfor 

12 months, and I had put a great deal of 

thought into the best course of action for 

the year ahead. I had certain criteria: I 

wantedtoenjoymyself,butIalsowanted 

to do something that would benefit my 

career in the long-run, and that would 

make me stand out. 

So I decided to look east. I’d spent a 

year in China after university, teaching 

Englishandusingmylongholidaysto 

travelthelengthandbreadthofthe 

fascinating country. I had also learnt a 

smattering of Mandarin along the way 

(the usual – enough to order a beer, take 

a taxi and ensure I didn’t get ripped off 


When Nicholas Buckland’s training contract was 

deferred, he decided to head for China to study 

Mandarin and gain some legal experience. It proved a 

rewarding–ifsometimesbemusing–adventure 

at the market). But this time I had very 

different priorities. I wanted to become 

fluent in Mandarin and gain experience at 

aChineselawfirm. 

Within 10 days I’d enrolled on a fulltime 

course at a Chinese university, 

booked a flight, grabbed my passport 

and left. I informed my firm, Field Fisher 

Waterhouse, and they were extremely 

supportive, maintaining that it was my 

year out to do with as I wished. I was 

pleasedtoreceiveanemailfromthe 

managing partner wishing me luck. 

I spent six months studying Mandarin, 

reaching a level acceptable enough 

toapproachacontactIhadinalocal 

consulting company and ask whether he 

knew any law firms I could gain some legal 

workexperiencewith.Heputmeintouch 

withKing&Wood,oneofChina’slargest 

and most prestigious law firms. 

Aftersomehownavigatingmyway 


through an interview in Mandarin (a 

terrifying experience in itself; imagine the 

usual worries about a training contract 

interview and then add the worry that 

you’llhaveabsolutelynoideawhatthe 

interviewing partner is saying), I found 

myself walking into the office on my first 

day.Iimmediatelyfeltoutofmydepth, 

particularly as my IT training consisted of a 

whirlwind tour of the Mandarin-language 

version of Microsoft Outlook. 

Then my secretary (whom I very rarely 

used,beingtooscaredtoeveraskher 

anything)cameinandbarked:“Nick,kai 

hui!” (meeting). Seeing the anguished 

expression on my face at the thought of 

havingameetingwiththepartnersin 

Chinese, she assumed that my language 

ability wasn’t up to much, and started 

repeating the phrase over and over, a little 

www.legalweek.com/students 

bit louder and a little bit slower each time, 

until I motioned that I understood. 

Lunchtime was a novel experience – 

no over-priced focaccias here. We paid 

sixyuan(about30p)adaytoeatinthe 

basement canteen. The food was delicious 

andithelpedthatthedinnerladieswere 

alwaysextrakindtotheonlyWesterner. 

All the associates ate their lunch together, 

which led to a real collegiate atmosphere 

in the office and gave me a great chance to 

All the associates ate their lunch 

together,whichledtoareal 

collegiate atmosphere in the office 

andgavemeagreatchanceto 

practice my colloquial Mandarin 

practice my colloquial Mandarin every day. 

As I was on work experience, I was able 

to choose my own workload, selecting 

mattersthatwereofinterestanduseful 

tomepersonally,asopposedtohavingto 

take on work for a certain partner. Many 

of my tasks, unsurprisingly considering 

theamountofmoneyflowingintoChina 

from abroad, concerned foreign direct 

investment, which involved advising 

foreign clients on Chinese regulations 

relating to acquisition finance. I was 

also able to gain experience from other 

departmentssuchasthefirm’sIPlitigation 

and dispute resolution practices, including 

working on a particularly interesting crossborder 

dispute between a Chinese firm 

and a US firm over a breach of contract 

and trademark infringement, which taught 

Continuedonpage12 

Legal Week Student Autumn 2010 11

CHINA 

Continuedfrompage11 

me much about the Chinese attitude 

tocontracts.Itiswellknownthatthe 

Chinese traditionally eschew contracts, 

maintaining that trust is paramount in any 

deal, and that any breach would result in 

the heaviest punishment of all: 

the loss of face and standing in the 

business community. 

When Chinese and Western businesses 

contract,detailscanbeaboneof 

contention, the Western side appearing 

to Chinese eyes as though it is untrusting. 

This was demonstrated when a Chinese 

client called on a Western client to 

sign some very one-sided contractual 

arrangements on a Mandarin contract, 

with the English version “to follow later”. 

The Chinese maintained the important 

thingwasn’twhatwasinthecontract,but 

that the two parties trusted each other. 

The Americans were unsurprisingly 

suspicious, had the document translated 

and instructed King & Wood to litigate. 

This experience taught me not only about 

A TASTE OF THE ORIENT 

LEGAL INTERNSHIPS IN CHINA 

“As the ‘Chinese way of doing things’ 

becomes internationally prominent, interest in 

internships in China has risen exponentially,” 

saysJamieBettles,manageratInternChina,a 

business that finds UK students and graduates 

internships in the country. 

“Thenumberofinternswetakeonisrising 

by around 25% year-on-year. As companies 

and universities realise that China has a huge 

role to play in international affairs, gaining 

practical experience of how Chinese companies 

conductbusinessisvital.Workforaforeign 

legal intern varies – from researching regulations 

in different jurisdictions, to attending meetings 

and seminars with clients, and producing 

presentations to partners about the legal system 

in their home country. 

Many people are wary about the difference 

in language and culture, but Mandarin ability is 

most certainly not a prerequisite. In fact, many 

Chinese companies prefer someone without 

language ability, as this allows them to improve 

their own language level by working with the 

intern solely in English.” 

Working on a cross-border dispute 

between a Chinese firm and a US firm 

at King & Wood taught me that the 

Chinese traditionally eschew contracts, 

maintaining that any breach would be 

punishedbyalossoffaceandstanding 

in the business community 

how businesses from different cultures 

can sometimes clash, but also how 

international lawyers must be aware of 

and sympathetic to the unique cultural 

exigencies of their clients. 

Iwastakenouttolunchonmany 

occasions,theonlydownsideofthistreat 

beinghavingtolistentothepartners’ 

choice of music in the car (the Chinese are 

great at many things, but pop music isn’t 

one of them). I was also invited to join 

the weekly badminton group, chalking 

up one of the major achievements of my 

work experience – giving the hitherto 

unbeatable senior partner the runaround 

on court, impressing him so much he 

treated me to dinner afterwards. I was also 

invited on the firm’s annual trip around 

southern China. Even though I was only 

withthefirmtemporarily,Iwasmadeto 

feelarealpartoftheteam. 

Having returned to the UK, and with 

timetoreflectonmyChineseexperience, 

I don’t know what I was worried about. 

ReturningtoChinawasoneofthebest 

thingsIcouldhavedoneduringmy 

deferred12months.Iamnowproficient 

in one of the most challenging, yet most 

widely spoken, languages in the world. 

IalsounderstandtheneedsofChinese 

clients, and the complex interaction 

between traditional Chinese culture and 

modern business practices. 

And I know exactly how to play 

badminton against a Chinese senior 

partner without havingtoworryaboutthe 

dreaded ‘loss of face’. 

Nicholas Buckland is a trainee solicitor at 

Field Fisher Waterhouse. 

THE CHINESE LAW FIRM’S VIEW 

King&Woodisoneofthelargestfirmsin 

mainland China, and has offices in Tokyo, New 

York and Silicon Valley. Encouraging Westerners 

to intern and work there is a key part of its 

international strategy. Alan Zhang, King & 

Wood senior partner, says: “Foreign interns 

are a great asset in helping us understand our 

foreign clients, not only in terms of language but 

also in terms of culture and business etiquette. 

As the world becomes smaller and law becomes 

international, having a grasp of this is vital, 

both at an individual and firmwide level. Work 

experience placements for foreigners are a great 

way for both the firm to learn about the West, 

and the prospective Western lawyer to learn 


abouthowChineselawandbusinessfunction, 

particularly as China becomes more and more 

prominent in the world economy.” 

THEUKLAWFIRM’SVIEW 

“Wearedelightedwhenourjuniorlawyers 

show an interest in China,” says Field Fisher 

Waterhouse partner Andrew Lafferty, who 

is in charge of Chinese development at the 

firm.“Wehavealonghistoryofworkingwith 

Chineseclientsandestablishedcloselinkswith 

Chinese firms over 20 years ago. It was evident 

even then that China would quickly become the 

global player it is today. 

“AswecarryoutmoreworkforChinese 

clients, people with an understanding of 

Chinese language and business culture enable 

ustoservethembetter.” 


LEGAL REVOLUTION 

LawfirmsinChinahavecomealongwayinthelastfewyearsas 

thecountryincreasinglyopensuptoforeigninvestment.Alex 

Aldridge charts the changes in the country’s legal landscape 

The rise of Chinese law firms is remarkable 

given that just 30 years ago they didn’t 

exist.TheChineseCulturalRevolution 

between1966and1976sawallofthe 

country’s law firms and law schools 

shut down. Estimates put the number 

oflawyersinChinaduringthistimeat 

around 200, predominantly working in 

civil servant roles – an incredibly small 

number for a nation with well over a billion 

inhabitants. 

Jones Day counsel Owen Nee, who 

co-founded the first international law firm 

office in China for Coudert Brothers in 

Beijing in 1979 – operating semi-officially 

outofasuiteinThePekingHotel–recalls 

what it was like back then: “There were 

noChineselawfirmsorlawschoolsand 

almost no lawyers, just remnants of what 

was left over from before the Cultural 

Revolution.Togetavisawedidadeal 

with the Beijing Municipal Government 

that saw us teach a course on international 

trade law in the morning, then in the 

afternoonwe’dgobacktothehoteland 

practise law. The authorities, who were 

tentatively enthusiastic about encouraging 

foreigninvestment,werehappytoturna 

blind eye.” 

In 1982 a new state constitution 

permitting the founding of state law firms 

gave rise to the establishment of a handful 

of outfits as extensions of government 

departments. Then towards the end of the 

decade another change in the constitution 

permittedprivatelawfirmstoopenup, 

leading some lawyers from the state firms 

to establish the current first-tier of Chinese 

lawfirmssuchasJunHe(foundedin 

1989), Commerce & Finance Law Offices 

(1992), Deheng Law Office (1993), King & 

Wood(1993),Haiwen&Partners(1993) 

and Fangda Partners (1993). 

“It was an absolutely different era,” 

recallsAdamLi,co-founderofFangda 

Partners and now a partner at Jun He 

specialising in international M&A and 

capital markets work, where he arrived 

following a stint with Cleary Gottlieb 

Steen & Hamilton in New York. “At the 

time David Dali Liu [also a partner at Jun 

He]andIweretheonlytwolawyersin 

Shanghai with graduate degrees. Now you 

can’t get a job without one,” he adds. 

With commercial agreements in China 

still extremely basic at this stage and 

the scope of practice limited to a few 

coreareas,China’slawfirmsinthisfirst 

incarnation were staffed by generalist 

lawyers working independently of each 


www.legalweek.com/students Legal Week Autumn 2010 13

CHINA 


other in a style sometimes compared to 

UK barristers. Their Spartan offices closely 

resembled the government departments in 

which these firms had their roots. Veteran 

China-based Western lawyers recall the 

Chinese firms’ “poorly furnished buildings” 

and the “scruffy, civil servant-style 

clothing”ofthelawyersoftheday.Butthe 

opening up of China to foreign investment 

– which in 1992 saw international law 

firms granted permission to set up in China 

officially (although not permitted to practise 

Chinese law) – marked the beginning of 

a process that would see the country’s 

domestic firms evolve dramatically. 

“When China opened up it didn’t 

have a credible legal community, so for 

foreign direct investment and large-scale 

fundraising, international law firms filled 

the void,” recalls King & Wood’s Rupert 

Li, who worked under Nee at Coudert 

Brothers. “But Chinese firms quickly 

became an indispensable intermediary, 

interfacing with not only the international 

law firms but international investment 

banks. Basically what you had was a 

nascent profession that just happened to 

be dropped into the extremely fast-moving 

process of international fundraising, with 

a consequent huge transfer of knowledge 

taking place.” 

Before long the top Chinese law firms 

hadmovedtosmartnewofficesinthe 

buildingsspringingupinthecentres 

of Beijing and Shanghai, their lawyers 

now clad in designer suits. Meanwhile, 

firms’ structures evolved to increasingly 

resemble those of their international 

peers–albeitvialocksteppaymodels 

characterised by heavy elements of 

‘eat what you kill’ payouts for the bestconnected 

business generators. And they 

have been growing at a startling rate. In 

2005 Jun He had around 150 lawyers; it 

now boasts around 400 working out of 

offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, 

Dalian, Haikou, Hong Kong and New 

York.Therehasbeensimilargrowth 

at King & Wood, which now employs 

over 800 lawyers across 16 offices. 

Statistics on Chinese firms’ revenues 

are notoriously hard to come by, but 

they are said to have risen annually by 

double-digit percentage rates until the 

globalfinancialcrisisslowedinbound 

investment into China in 2008. 

Last year the leading Chinese practices 

are believed to have turned over between 

YUAN300m-YUAN400m (£30m-£40m) 

andYUAN1bn(£101m).Andsomefirms 

have bucked the slowdown altogether, 

with Dacheng Law Offices reportedly 

doubling its revenue between 2008 and 

Before long the top Chinese law firms 

hadmovedtosmartnewofficesinthe 

buildings springing up in the centres of 

BeijingandShanghai,theirlawyersnow 

clad in designer suits 

2009. Despite possessing a lower profile 

internationally than firms like King & Wood 

and Jun He, the fast-growing Dacheng 

nowhasmorelawyersthanboth,with 

a total of around 900 fee earners and 

approximately 400 partners operating 

out of 27 offices. Last year alone the firm 

opened 14 offices, the majority through 

the acquisition of local firms, though 

Dacheng is seen as having far less clout 

forhigh-endcorporateworkthanChina’s 

more established outfits. 

Salaries, meanwhile, are fast 

approaching Western levels, though not on 

par with packages available for commercial 

lawyersinmarketslikeNewYorkand 

London. Annual associate earnings at 

leading Chinese law firms start at around 

$15,000 (£9,00) and reach $100,000 

(£63,000)plusbonuses,whichcanadd 

another 40%-50%. Equity partners take 

home between $250,000 (£157,000) and 

$750,000 (£472,000) a year. Individual 

highflyerscanearnasmuchas$1m-$2m 

(£629,000-£1.26m) after tax. 

Given the much lower cost of living in 

China,thesesumsgoalongway.Dan 

Harris, a partner at Seattle-based law 

firm Harris & Moure and co-author of the 

China Law Blog, comments: “At partner 

level many of these guys are rolling in it, 

because they’re charging near-Western 

rates but paying Chinese costs. It is not at 

alluncommonforpartnersatChina’stop 

law firms to own condo after condo, car 

after car.” 

INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRMS IN CHINA 

While international law firms have been permitted 

to operate in China since 1992, under Chinese 

Bar rules they are not permitted to practise local 

law. In addition, the Chinese-qualified lawyers 

they employ must surrender their practising 

certificates, taking the role of ‘consultants’. 

In practice though, the restrictions are not 

particularly tightly policed. “Actually, the Ministry 

ofJusticeisprettyaccommodatingtoforeign 

firms, enforcing the restrictions far from rigidly,” 

says ex- Lovells (now Hogan Lovells) Beijing 

managing partner Robert Lewis, now a partner at 

Chinese law firm AllBright. He gives an example 

of a meeting of international law firm managing 

partners and Chinese Government officials he 

attended four years ago while at Lovells: “I 

remember one managing partner of an extremely 

high-profileNewYorklawfirmturningtothe 

senior Ministry of Justice official and saying, ‘You 

do know that if you enforced your rules properly, 

you’dhavetokickusout’.” 

But there is little doubt that the ban - which 

lawyerssaytheydonotexpecttobelifted 

anytimesoon-hassubstantiallyheldbackthe 

near 200 foreign law firms operating in China, 

putting a ceiling on their ability to expand. 

“ForeignfirmsdowellinChina,withabusiness 

model that sees them represent international 

clients investing in the country and offering 

foreign products to Chinese corporations going 

14 LegalWeekStudent Spring2010 

abroad, but this restriction means there will 

always be an awkwardness in the way the 

Chineselawserviceisrendered,”saysKing& 

Wood partner Rupert Li. 

Thebanhasalsocurbedexpansionoutside 

China’stwomajorbusinesscentres,saysLewis. 

“While it has been possible for many of the 

foreign firms to open up a third office outside 

BeijingandShanghaiforalmostfiveyearsnow, 

nobodyhasdoneit-mainlybecauseit’san 

extremelyhardselltocentralmanagementback 

in London or the US.” 

TheresultisthatasChinesefirmskeep 

growing, the international law firms with the 

largest presence in mainland China like Baker & 

McKenzie and Clifford Chance rumble along at 

around the 50-100 lawyer mark, limiting their 

ability to provide career paths to their native 

Chinese lawyers. Keen to play a part in their 

country’s economic renaissance, these lawyers 

- who have been targeted by international firms 

in China for some years for their language skills 

and understanding of the way business works 

in the country - increasingly view Chinese law 

firms as the best bet for furthering their careers. 

“InaChineselawfirm,peoplelikemecan 

make partner earlier and have more flexibility 

in developing their own business,” says former 

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom associate 

Kirk Tong, now a partner at Jun He. 


Got that Speechlys something? 

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in your personal qualities as we are in your 

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Think you’ve got that Speechlys something? 

Find out more at speechlys.com/trainingcontracts

STEP-BY-STEP 

STEP 1 

Get your degree 

A qualifying law degree is traditionally the 

first step on the road to becoming a 

solicitor. It will exempt you from the 

Common Professional Examination (CPE) 

or Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), 

provided it covers all seven foundations of 

legal knowledge: contract, criminal law, 

equity and law of trusts, European Union 

law, property law and public law. 

However, there is an extra requirement 

facing applicants for many of the UK’s 

leading universities – the National 

Admissions Test for Law (LNAT), a uniform 

legal exam that must be completed before 

advancing to the undergraduate law 

courses of participating universities. 

The following universities are signed 

up to LNAT: University of Birmingham, 

University of Bristol, University of 

Cambridge, Durham University, NUI 

Maynooth, University of Exeter, University 

of Glasgow, King’s College London, 

University of Nottingham, University of 

Oxford and University College London. 

Once a law degree is completed, you 

can then apply for the Legal Practice 

Course (LPC). 

Second-year law students and finalyear 

non-law students should bear in 

mind that this is the optimal time to apply 

for training contracts – with most firms 

recruiting more than two years in advance 

of scheduled start dates. It helps to do a 

vacation scheme with the sort of firm you 

are looking to work for before making 

the actual training contract application. 

Generally, summer vacation schemes can 

be applied for from around January in the 

year in which they take place. 

STEP 2 

Those whose degree is 

not a qualifying degree 

will have to take the CPE 

or the GDL 

How long? One year (full-time); 

two years (part-time). 

How much? Up to £8,730. 

When to apply: Third/final year of 

first degree. 

Although the main route to becoming a 

solicitorisviaalawdegree,thereis 

evidencethatmanylawfirmsactuallyprefer 

candidates to go through the CPE/GDL 

route, due to the wider range of experience 

they gain. 

The CPE/GDL comprises an examination 

in each of the seven foundations of legal 

knowledge, plus one other area of legal 

study.Thecourseisofferedbyamultitude 

of institutions across the country, from 

universities to traditional law schools 

(details of providers are on the Solicitors 

Regulation Authority website www.sra.org. 

uk). Applications for full-time courses 

shouldbemadecentrallyby1Februaryof 


COMPLETING 

THE JOURNEY 

theyearofentrytotheCPE/GDL.Formscan 

be downloaded from lawcabs.ac.uk or 

completed online. Application for part-time 

coursesshouldbemadedirectlytothe 

relevant college. 

Competition for places on the 

course can be fierce. The more popular 

schools, such as The College of Law and 

Nottingham Law School, are considerably 

oversubscribed. When awarding places, 

the primary consideration is academic 

achievement and the minimum degree 

grade is a 2:2. However, the majority of 

students hold a 2:1. Full-time students 

have three years in which to complete 

the CPE/GDL. Except in extreme 

circumstances, a candidate cannot sit 

for an examination on more than three 

occasions. Completion of the CPE/GDL 

does not automatically guarantee a place 

on the LPC. However, there are some 

institutions that do guarantee places if 

the CPE is passed at the same college, so 

check this when applying. 

It is also worth investigating the law 

firm contacts your CPE course provider 

has. These can be helpful in securing that 

all-important vacation placement. As with 

a qualifying law degree, the LPC must be 

started within seven years of passing the 

CPE or GDL, or you will have to start again. 

Those with training contracts in place 

may receive a maintenance grant, with 

many City firms now offering up to £7,000 

towards living expenses, as well as having 

their tuition fees paid. 

STEP 3 

Legal Practice Course (LPC) 




When to apply: The final year of a 

Becoming 

a solicitor 

can seem 

like a 

confusing 

process. 

Legal 

Week 

Student 

provides 

the 

roadmap 

to get there 

qualifying law degree or, for non-law 

graduates, at the beginning of your 

CPE/GDL course. Application forms are 

available until 1 December in the year prior 

to you requiring a place. 

WhilealawdegreeorCPE/GDLis 

academic in nature, the LPC features 

a more practical approach, ensuring 

trainee solicitors have the knowledge 

andskillstheyneedintheirfirsttwo 

years of practice, when they undertake 

their training contracts. LPCs can vary 

considerably in content and assessment 

methods, particularly at the elective 

stage, so it is important that you get a 

copyoftheprospectusofthecollegeyou 

areinterestedinbeforeyouapply. 

In 2006, five top City law firms struck a 

deal with BPP Law School to incorporate 

elements of MBA-style business training 

intotheLPC,inapioneeringattempt 

to bring business training into legal 

education. Further developments have 

seen greater emphasis placed on business 

awareness and management skills, as 

well as LPCs tailored to individual City 

firms, meaning students must give extra 

thought to their preferred career path 

fromanearlierstage.ManyCityfirms 

also offer financial assistance to future 

trainees, with contributions of up to 

£7,000towardslivingexpensesforLPC 

students with training contracts. 

Despite the widening differences 

between individual courses, the basic 

framework laid down by the Law Society 

remains in place, with courses broken 

down into five broad areas: core; 

compulsory; pervasive; skills; and elective. 

Core covers ethics, basic skills, 

taxation, the European context and 

probate/administrationofestates. 

Compulsory consists of litigation and 

advocacy, business law and practice and 


property law and practice. 

Pervasive areas are those that should 

be considered in the context of the 

other areas of the course. They comprise 

professional conduct and client care, 

EUlaw,revenuelaw,accountsandthe 

HumanRightsAct.Skillsincludepractical 

legal research, writing and drafting, 

interviewing and advising and advocacy. 

Asthenamesuggests,elective 

requires that three subjects are studied 

from a range of corporate and private 

client topics. If you already have a 

training contract, your firm will probably 

giveyousomeguidanceastowhich 

electivesitexpectsyoutotake. 

Forthosewithoutatrainingcontract, 

tailoring your electives to the type of 

firmstowhichyouareapplyingwillhelp 

in future job interviews. 

STEP 4 

The training contract 

How long? Two years. 

How much? They pay you. The Law 

Society-recommended minimum salary 

is £18,590 in London and £16,650 in the 

rest of England and Wales. City law firm 

trainee salaries go up to £40,000. 

When to apply: In the second year of a 

qualifying law degree or the final year of 

any other degree. 

The bonus of winning a training contract is 

that, with the larger firms at least, you get 

your CPE/GDL/LPC fees paid and can often 

receive an additional maintenance grant. 

However, it is not the end if you do not get 

taken on by the time you leave university. 

Plenty of people start the CPE and LPC 

without a training contract. 

The format of the training contract 

can vary substantially, with larger firms 

tending to have a more structured 

programme than smaller firms. Law 

Society guidelines stipulate that, in all 

cases, you must be allocated a training 

principal (who must be a partner or 

solicitor of equivalent status), who will 

monitor and appraise your work. 

They will also keep training records 

(although it is recommended that you keep 

your own training diary in case of Law 

Society spot-checks and for your CV should 

youdecidetoapplyelsewherelater).The 

training principal can then delegate your 

day-to-day monitoring to a supervisor. 

The Law Society has a checklist of 

training requirements. They should be 

completed by the end of the training 

contract. The supervisor is responsible 

for providing the trainee with sufficient 

balanced and useful work, to answer 

your questions and to give guidance and 

feedback on your performance. 

Whether you train in a large or small 

firm, your experiences should be varied. 

In a larger firm, you usually get the 

advantage of experiencing a variety of 

departments and different supervisors. 

Wherever you train, by the end of the 

contract you should have been allowed 

the opportunity to practise communication 

and support skills, legal research, drafting, 

interviewing and advising. 

In addition, you should have gained 

experience in negotiation and advocacy, as 

well as oral presentation skills. You must 

gain experience of at least three practice 

areas. These should encompass both noncontentious 

and contentious work, and 

an appreciation and understanding of 

litigation. Brush up on the research skills 

you learned at law school because they 

will be called upon often. 

Do not be seduced by the legal culture 

of long hours merely for the sake of 

appearance. But, by the same token, 

try not to be first out of the door in the 

evening. Present yourself as enthusiastic 

and willing to learn and do not be put off 

by the mystique surrounding many legal 

concepts. Nothing is that difficult and 

explanation is just a question away. You 

have been taken on as a trainee, not a 

consultant, so questions are expected. 

During your training contract, you 

will have to complete the professional 

skills course before you can be admitted 

as a solicitor. The course is divided into 

three compulsory components: financial 

and business skills; advocacy and 

communications skills; and ethics and 

client responsibilities. 

According to our research, most firms 

retain between 75% and 100% of their 

trainees. However, this does not mean that 

surviving the training contract is easy; the 

same qualities that will see you through 

the recruitment process will be needed 

during the training contract. 

LPC 

Legal Practice 

Course 

BPTC 

Bar Professional 

Training Course 

Centre for Professional 

Legal Studies 

LPC? BPTC? 

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LPC: law-lpc@cardiff.ac.uk 

BPTC: law-bptc@cardiff.ac.uk 

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LegalWeekStudent Autumn2010 17

VACATION SCHEMES 

NOT YOUR 

TYPICAL 

VACATION 

With training contracts 

in scarce supply, the 

vacation scheme is 

gaining increasing 

importance. Friederike 

Heine talkstoCitylaw 

firmsabouthowtoget 

one – and make the 

most of it 


In a recruitment landscape where training 

contracts are increasingly hard to come 

by, tales abound of students relentlessly 

working their way through countless 

application forms in a desperate attempt 

tostartonthepathtoacareerinlaw. 

Thebestwaytogetafootinthedoor 

is, of course, work experience. However, 

it will come as no surprise to students 

that vacation schemes are in equally 

short supply. 

SJ Berwin, for one, reduced its vacation 

scheme offering from three schemes a year 

totwoandreducedthenumberofplaces 

from50perschemeto40. 

“Inlinewithmanyotherlawfirms,we 

havemadeattemptstocutcosts,and 

vacation schemes have not been exempt 

from this,” says recruitment partner Bryan 

Pickup.“However,thishassimultaneously 

allowed us to improve our vacation scheme 

offering – the smaller the number of 

students, the more intense the experience.” 

Field Fisher Waterhouse, which used to 

offerplacementstomorethan60peoplea 

year, now provides only 20. “The reduced 

number of places is indeed a daunting 

prospect for students, especially since 

the number of applications we receive is 

increasing year on year,” says senior human 

resources(HR)managerSoniaCooke. 

“However, the students who do gain a 

place on the scheme get more face-tofacetimewithseniormanagement,which 

significantly increases their chances of 

securing a training contract.” 


Sincetheonsetoftherecessionnearly 

three years ago, HR directors have been 

inundated with applications for work 

placements. Cooke explains: “We heard 

through the grapevine that the increasing 

number of applications was primarily 

duetopeoplebeingturnedawayat 

investment banks. In this fragile economic 

environment, students are looking for 

securityintheirfutureprofessionandthe 

legal sector is viewed as such.” 

According to Linklaters recruitment 

partner Mark Middleton, students should 

be aware that in the current economic 

environment, standards are high and 

competition is fierce. “A vacation scheme 

isessentiallyanextendedinterview,” 

hesays.“Itisachanceforustosee 

how candidates handle themselves in a 

professional environment and whether 

they are able to adapt according to the 

tasksathand.” 

Many partners themselves cannot 

believe how tough it is to get in the door 

now, admitting that students may not 

even be considered without the right 

A-level grades, a good 2:1 and a gleaming 

resume full of relevant work experience. 

However, there are ways for applicants to 

set themselves apart. 

The application process 

Formostfirmstheselectionprocessfora 

vacation scheme is almost as rigorous as 

for a training contract. Magic circle firm 

Freshfields BruckhausDeringerrequires 

candidates to complete an application 

form and an online verbal reasoning test. 

Thisisfollowedbyawrittenexercise,an 

analytical interview and a more general, 

face-to-face interview. DLA Piper, 

meanwhile, puts its vacation scheme 

applicants through an assessment centre. 

Some firms offer places based on an 

online application only – which is why it 

is vital to make it stand out. “Law firms 

arelookingforpeoplewhohavelived,” 

says Field Fisher’s Cooke. “Further to the 

academic credentials, they are looking 

for candidates who have travelled – 

preferably self-funded travel – and 

those who have worked not just in the 

legal sector but anywhere that requires 

transferrable skills. Candidates also stand 

outiftheyhaveshownleadershipskillsat 

university or elsewhere.” 

Freshfields trainee recruitment manager 

Jess Booker agrees: “I cannot emphasise 

enough how important personality is 

during the recruitment process. Recruiters 

get rather bored with generic responses – 

I’malwaysimpressedbypeoplewhohave 

done interesting holiday jobs outside of 

the law.” 

Make the best of it 

Vacation scheme structures vary from firm 

to firm, but generally students will share 

anofficewithajuniorlawyerortrainee. 

Although some firms give candidates a 


CASE STUDY: HANNAH SMITH WILLIS – FIELD FISHER WATERHOUSE 

“FieldFisherWaterhouseisamid-sizefirmwhichattractsthesamecalibreofworkand 

clients as many of the larger City firms. It was this fact, coupled with its excellence in 

intellectual property (IP) and technology which drove me to apply for the firm’s vacation 

scheme. 

“Rather unusually, Field Fisher places you in one department for the full two weeks: I was 

placedincommercialIP.Thissystemallowedmetogetmuchmoreinvolvedwiththework 

that I was given and enabled me to really get to know everyone in the team. I was given 

varied tasks including a piece of research on IP ownership rights which a partner later used 

inaclientcall.Iwasalsopulledintoadealclosingwiththemediateam,whichprovideda 

realsenseofcontributionandagreatadrenalinerush. 

“Interestedinthefirm’sexpertiseinsportslaw,IaskedtoaccompanyapartnertoaBBCinterview 

regarding ambush advertising at the World Cup. Not only was I granted this request but my supervisor was 

overwhelmingly supportive of me pursuing interests and finding out as much about the firm as possible while I 

was there. 

“The largest single task during the vacation scheme was a mock pitch presentation that the students 

had to prepare and give in groups. Researching the pitch and performing our tender in front of the business 

development team, which included a senior corporate partner, was quite daunting, but a good way to 

experiencelifeasacommercialsolicitor.” 

SEE PAGES 

30-38 FOR THE 

LEGAL WEEK 

SURVEY ON 

LAW FIRMS’ 

GRADUATE 

INTAKE 

level of choice over which department 

they sit in, they may not be able to 

accommodate everyone’s wishes. 

At Freshfields, for example, students 

spendthreeweeksinjustonedepartment. 

On the other hand, students on vacation 

schemes at Addleshaw Goddard, DLA 

Piper and Weil Gotshal & Manges spend 

eachweekinadifferentdepartment. 

Hogan Lovells training partner Ruth 

Grant comments: “Given the complexity 

of the work handled and the amount 

of time students will get to spend in a 

department,itisunlikelythatyouwill 

getahugeamountofresponsibility– 

typical tasks may include legal research, 

note-takingataclientmeetingand 

proofreading.” 

Firms will supplement this with seminars 

designed to give students a better insight 

intothetypeofworktheyhandle,along 

with skills workshops to help with training 

contract applications. “The type of work 

you handle and the level of responsibility 

you are given will depend on your 

willingness to learn and the quality of your 

output,” says Linklaters’ Middleton. “If you 

tackle every task, even the more mundane 

ones, with enthusiasm and to the best 

of your ability, then you are more likely 

to be trusted with more interesting and 

challenging jobs.” 

During the scheme, it is important to 

show knowledge of the firm. Has it acquired 

any big name clients, won awards or done 

anything else newsworthy recently? A bit of 

background information will show a keen 

interest in the firm and the field you want to 

work in. It is also good to be informed if the 

firm has had any recent setbacks so as not 

to make any faux pas. 

Thekeytomakingthemostofa 

vacation scheme is to view it as an 

opportunity to experience the working 

culture of a law firm before committing 

the foreseeable future to a career as a 

City solicitor. There will be mundane 

tasks and long, long hours, but liking the 

environment you work in is vital in order to 

make this commitment. 

CASE STUDY: ALIM AMERSHI – HOGAN LOVELLS 

“The firm’s ambition to be a truly international law firm 

appealed to me, as this aspiration fitted with my desire to work 

on the most complex and groundbreaking cross-border deals. 

“I thoroughly enjoyed the scheme and the diverse structure of 

the programme played a big part in that. Over the three weeks, 

there was an excellent variety of formal skills sessions and informal 

interactive workshops, which enabled me to learn about the firm 

itselfaswellasaboutthequalitiesneededtobeasuccessfullawyer. 

“At the beginning of the scheme we were informed that 

during the final week we would have to present a pitch in groups to a number of 

partners. At first, this was particularly daunting, not least because we had been 

assigned to talk about an area of law that we knew little about; becoming familiar with 

the technicalities of this area of law and then presenting ourselves to be experts in this 

fieldwasasignificantchallenge.Eachmemberofthegroupdevelopedaconsiderable 

understandingofourchosentopicbytheendofthethreeweeks,whichresultedinus 

winning a prize for the best pitch. 

“The main advice that I would give, in terms of preparation, is to ensure that you 

have kept yourself up-to-date with any recent deals that the firm has worked on since 

your vacation scheme application and any current headlines in the legal press about the 

firm.Thisknowledgeisnotessential,butitwillstandyouingoodsteadwhenyouare 

on the scheme.” 


FLEXIBLE WORKING 

Atfirstglanceflexibleworkingcanseem 

like a simple issue of giving your staff a 

shot at achieving that elusive work/life 

balance. But closer inspection shows that 

theCity’stoplawfirmstakedifferent,and 

at times opposing, views on the pros and 

cons of flexible working arrangements. 

Not least of these is whether boosting 

flexibility is a means to improving female 

retention, with some firms seeing this as a 

corereasonforsuchinitiatives,andothers 

wary of making the connection. 

However, there is at least consensus 

that flexible working is not just about 

working less hours. With four-day week 

or nine-day fortnight arrangements on 

the march, the most common mode of 

flexibleworkingseemsbyfartoberemote 

working – boosted by new technology – 

butothernewideassuchaslawyerjobsharing 

are also being tried out. 

Flexible dealmakers 

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is currently 

piloting a flexible working scheme in its 

corporate department. Arrangements 

include job-sharing between associates, 

or working reduced or non-traditional 

hours with a ‘buddy’ colleague who covers 

for you when you are not available. The 

firm is also attempting to formalise offsite 

working that is already underway. 

The one-year pilot, which will be rolled 

out elsewhere if successful, comes as part 

of a major review into boosting flexible 

workingledbyglobalhumanresources 

(HR) manager Kevin Hogarth. 

Hesays:“Allfirmsrecognisethatin 

transaction-based practices there are 

significant challenges in terms of offering 

a high level of service to clients while also 

meeting lawyers’ personal needs. We 

figured that if we can make the scheme 

workinthecorporatepracticeitwillbe 

applicable also to other departments.” 

At magic circle rival Clifford Chance 

(CC) the majority of flexible working takes 

place in non-transactional departments. 

People partner Laura King says: “In the 

transactional practices it can be more 

difficulttostrikeanappropriatebalance. 

Lawyers don’t necessarily want to be away 

from deals they are running and client 

timetables can be unpredictable.” 

Onefirmthathassuccessfullytriedout 

flexibleworkingintransactionaldepartments 

isNortonRose.Thetop10Cityfirmrana 

highly-publicised flexible-working scheme 

duringthefinancialdownturnandmanaged 

to avoid making any redundancies, unlike 

most major law firms. 

The scheme was influenced by an 

existingmodelsetupin2002,when 

Norton Rose made its voluntary flexible 

working scheme available to lawyers and 

staff at all levels, including both males 

and females. 

Talent and development manager 

Andrew McEachern says: “The experience 

we had gained from introducing an 


Offering staff the chance to 

work flexibly has become de 

riguer for forward-thinking 

Citylawfirms–but 

hasanyonereally 

found the 

answer? Sofia 

Lind reports 

BENDING OVER 

BACKWARDS 

inclusive flexible working policy early on 

wasonereasonwhywefeltwecould 

successfullyrollitoutasatoolduringthe 

economic downturn.” 

Sodolawyersapplyingalesstraditional 

working pattern have the same chance 

of promotion? Simmons & Simmons 

managing associate Anna Rentoul thinks 

so. As a lawyer in the employment law 

team at the top 15 City law firm, she has 

worked flexibly for several years, currently 

working a four-day week including one 

day from home. 

She says: “I have been promoted since 

I started working flexibly and do the same 

workasbefore.Ifeelmycareerisstillon 

an upward trajectory and working flexibly 

has certainly not hindered that. The firm 

hasbeensupportiveandhasmademefeel 

very valued.” 

Rentoul has also had good feedback 

from her clients. She says: “There are 

rarely any practical issues and I have had 

good feedback from both clients and 

colleagues. I tend to buddy up with more 

junior associates so that there is continuity 

onthemattersIamadvisingon–andmy 

colleagues enjoy that extra responsibility 

whenIamnotintheoffice.” 

Part-time partnership 

MagiccirclefirmAllen&Overy(A&O) 

introducedapart-timeworkingschemefor 

equity partners this year. Head of intellectual 

property litigation Nicola Dagg is one of the 

‘Our clients 

have 

responded 

very well 

andinfact 

some of 

them work 

onasimilar 

pattern’ 

Nicola Dagg, 

Allen&Overy 

early entrants in the scheme and now works 

a four-day week, remunerated at 80% of her 

full equity points. 

She says: “The clients have responded 

verywellandinfactsomeofthemwork 

onasimilarpattern.ItalsohelpsthatIam 

backed up by an extremely talented team 

that rarely needs to reach out to me on my 

day off. 

“Obviously as a partner you have 

to have some level of flexibility – but 

generallyIfeelthatIstaytruetoworking 

80% of my previous commitment. The way 

theschemeissetupthere’salsoadegree 

offlexibilityfromthefirm’ssidethatif 

there is a period when I need to work full 

time I can take that time off in lieu.” 

In numbers 

WhileA&Oisnottheonlylawfirmtooffer 

part-time deals to partners, in general, 

theCity’stopfirmsseemtohavesome 

waytogoinpromotingflexibleworkingto 

lawyers further down the food chain. For 

themostpart,flexibleworkingremainsfar 

more common among law firms’ support 

staff than partner-track lawyers. 

TypicallytheUK’stoplawfirmshavea 

single-digit percentage of flexibly working 

lawyers,whileatsomefirmsalmosta 

quarter of support staff work flexibly. 

Forexample,HerbertSmithhassix 

London partners on a part-time flexible 

workingarrangement,or3.5%ofthetotal 

partner count. Among associates, the 


figure is largely similar with 21 associates, 

or 4.4%, working part time. At consultant 

and of counsel level the number is 

significantly higher, at 46.7% and 27.8% 

respectively. 

Among professional support lawyers 

the percentage is highest, at 73.7%, but 

thenumberisalsoespeciallyhighamong 

secretaries where part-time working 

equatesto24.9%.Overall,12.3%oftotal 

London staff and lawyer population are in 

a part-time arrangement while 15% have a 

formal flexible-working arrangement. 

Herbert Smith head of diversity and 

inclusion Carolyn Lee says: “There are a 

wholerangeofreasonswhyonemight 

wish to work flexibly but enabling people 

todoitmakesthemhappierandmore 

emotionally balanced. Removing some 

stresstoallowpeopletobeinahappier 

placetendstomeanthattheyaremore 

efficient and more motivated in the 

working space as well. Our policy has 

alwaysbeenopentoourpartnersaswell. 

Themoresenioryouaretheeasieritisto 

manage your time in that way.” 

At Herbert Smith, part-time working 

includes working a four-day week with a 

20% pay reduction – but, according to Lee, 

the arrangement of working a nine-day 

fortnightwithjusta10%cuthasbecome 

increasingly popular. 

By comparison, Norton Rose has just 

one London partner in a flexible working 

arrangement, equating to 0.7% of the total 


partner count in the office, but has a higher 

number of associates (9%) in a flexible 

working arrangement. Overall, 10.6% of 

London lawyers and staff work flexibly. 

In the magic circle, a relatively high 

number of Linklaters partners – 5% in 

London – work flexibly, but only 2% 

of London associates. CC, meanwhile, 

hasaroundadozenpartnersthatwork 

afour-dayweek.A&O’sequitypartner 

schemehasbeensuccessfulsofar,with15 

partners already taking part. 

Female stereotyping 

At A&O, the equity partner part-time 

schemecameaspartofambitionstomake 

female retention a top priority, with the 

schemeaflagshippartofachievingthe 

goal. 

Associate director of HR Sasha 

Hardman, who heads the scheme, 

says: “This is not a silver bullet to erase 

theissuesfacingfemaleretentionand 

promotion – but it is an important part of 

our toolkit. With 62% of our lawyer intake 

female, flexible working is a key issue for 

us to address.” 

Butnotallfirmspromote their flexible 

workingpoliciesasafemaleretention 

tool.AsCC’sKingsays:“Weareveryopen 

about flexible working policies, but don’t 

force take-up. There is research indicating 

that supporting diversity in general 

means improvement of retention across 

the board. The issue is complex but not 

necessarily one that should be exclusively 

tied up with female retention.” 

Several law firms only launched flexible 

working policies in 2002 when the UK 

introduced legislation surrounding female 

rights to work flexibly to aid childcare. 

However firms had to revisit the topic 

in 2006 when legislation was updated 

to include care of the elderly, which 

effectivelyextendedpoliciestomale 

workers for the first time. 

King comments: “Women’s groups 

sometimes cite concerns that linking 

flexible working solely to female retention 

canfosteraviewthatwomenneed 

disproportionately special treatment – a 

view which might be unhelpful to wider 

debate about working structures. There 

are more females than males who work 

part time, but this may also be influenced 

by a legislative framework which inclines 

towards women being primary care givers.” 

A UK view 

AtLinklaters,HRmanagerCarolineRawes 

takesmuchthesamestanceasmagic 

circle colleagues at A&O and Freshfields. 

“Flexible working is an important 

issue for everyone, not just women,” she 

says.“Itisnotjustthecorrectthingto 

do,butitalsomakesbusinesssenseand 

it has absolutely helped us retain female 

lawyers,” she adds. “I think we are in line 

withtheotherfirmsinofferingtwoweeks 

of paternity leave. However, everyone, 

‘Only if 

we retain 

agreater 

proportion 

of female 

lawyers do 

we stand a 

chance of 

having more 

female 

partners’ 

Kevin Hogarth, 

Freshfields 

Bruckhaus 

Deringer 

male and female, is free to take unpaid 

parental leave.” 

But several HR managers raise the issue 

that flexible working is just a plaster on an 

equalityissuethatrunsmuchdeeper. 

LookingoutsidetheUKborders, 

Stockholm-based legal giant Vinge has 

made a significant effort to promote 

flexible working, but a major influence lies 

in legislation promoting shared parenting. 

Vinge partner Fredrik Dahl, head of 

associate issues at the firm, says: “It is 

now standard among our male lawyers to 

take six months off after having a child or 

for the fathers to leave at four to pick up 

the children from nursery.” 

At the Swedish firm that cultural change 

was much brought about by changes 

in legislation and internal policies that 

financiallyassistmalesintakingalarger 

role in childcare. 

Dahl says: “It is a long, slow process 

to improve female partner ratios, but 

certainly in the last years we have made 

up as many women as men. Perceptions of 

what is acceptable change much quicker 

than you would expect.” 

At Freshfields, the flexible working pilot 

programme is gender neutral and not 

aimed at women, but Hogarth accepts that 

femaleretentionisamajordriver.“Onlyif 

we retain a greater proportion of female 

lawyersdowestandachanceofhaving 

morefemalepartners.Therehasbeena 

stigmafromthepastthatflexibleworking 

has become associated with working fewer 

hours but our consultation recognises that 

it is not just about reduced hours,” he 

points out. 

But DLA Piper HR head Carol Ashton 

says: “If you want to retain the best 

talent it is important to be able to show 

thatyouareflexible,butitisnotagender 

thing. We have seen more men become 

interested in part-time working, including 

for childcare arrangements, but the fact 

of life is that by far more women do that, 

andthatisanissuewhichrunsfardeeper 

than the legal sector.” 

Moving with the times 

Whilelawfirmsagreethattheprofession 

must develop with the times and flexible 

working is here to stay, it is clear that 

no-one has yet found the ideal solution to 

theissuesitraises. 

Herbert Smith’s Lee says: “Flexible 

workingisgoingtobeincreasingly 

common.Thereisaculturalaswellas 

a technological shift towards it which 

issupportedbysuccessfulcasestudies 

during the economic downturn. With the 

technology at hand it is possible to make 

flexible working seamless.” 

ButtheCity’stoplawfirmswillneed 

to step up their game if they want to lead 

in this area. Even Vinge’s Dahl says: “The 

legal industry is traditionally conservative 

and we cannot claim that we are at the 

forefront for these issues.” 


ALTERNATIVE CAREERS 

In the wake of job cuts and rising 

competition, many who have completed 

law degrees, and even the Legal Practice 

Course (LPC), Bar Vocational Course (BVC) 

or Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) are 

finding themselves at a crossroads, with 

no training contract or pupillage, a lack 

of inspiration to work for a law firm and a 

decision to make about their legal future. 

But is this future as simple as becoming 

a solicitor, barrister or nothing at all? For 

those not ready to throw in the towel but 

who are finding that their career trajectory 

isn’t shaping up the way they had planned, 

there are some other options to consider. 

Crown Prosecution Service 

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the 

government department responsible for 

prosecuting criminal cases investigated by 

the police, and preparing and presenting 

the relevant cases in court. 

There are numerous roles in the 

CPS that use the legal skillset but do 

not require a full solicitor or barrister 

qualification – such as the associate 

prosecutor, caseworker, or witness care 

officer roles. 

Salma Yousef had completed a law 

degree when she came to the CPS in 

a human resources role. Yousef began 

studying for her BVC while she was 

working, and once qualified she applied 

and was accepted for a role as an 

associate prosecutor. 

Her job entails reviewing and presenting 

guilty pleas in magistrates’ courts. She 

also supports lawyers in the courtroom, 

ensuring all documentation is provided 

and following up on any issues concerned. 

“It is a fantastic role and great for 

anybody struggling to get a training 

contract or pupillage, because you 

get hands-on experience in court,” 

says Yousef. 

The job pays a starting salary of 

between £25,000 and £32,500, 

depending on where you are located, and 

you do not need to have completed the 

LPC or BVC to apply. 

Another possible route at the CPS is to 

become a caseworker. Caseworkers are 

responsible for the administrative side 

of court hearings, preparing case files 

for court and acting as the first point of 

contact for the prosecution department. 

The role offers an alternative for those 

looking to obtain a training contract or 

pupillage with the CPS, and it is possible 

to work up from caseworker to chief crown 

prosecutor. Starting salaries range from 

£13,283 to £20,139. 

The position of a witness care officer is 

also something to consider, and involves 

minimising the stress of attending court 

for victims and witnesses by keeping them 

up to date with any news, managing their 

care throughout the case and explaining 

any sentences given. Starting salaries 

range from £15,225 to £20,139 and can 


With training contracts 

fewandfarbetween, 

Suzanna Ring talks to 

law students who have 

discovered alternative 

pathsintothelegal 

profession 

WHEN ONE 

DOOR CLOSES... 

increase to £26,810 if you become a 

witness care manager. 

Barristers’ clerk 

If you do not want to join the Bar or 

have had difficulty getting a pupillage, 

becoming a barristers’ clerk could be 

another option. 

Barristers’ clerks, in effect, run the 

business, making sure everything operates 

smoothly in chambers, client relationships 

are nurtured and the set is marketed 

effectively. 

Although you can apply for a junior 

position with just your GCSEs, there is 

an increasing trend for graduate hiring 

while the Bar goes through a period of 

re-assessment, and there are now often 

‘Clerking roles require strong 

communication and organisational skills 

together with levels of commercial 

awareness and customer focus that you 

wouldn’tnecessarilyexpecttobetaught 

inalawdegreecourse’ 

Jeremy Hopkins, 3 Verulam Buildings 

opportunities for graduates to start at a 

slightly higher level. As a junior clerk you 

would be responsible for managing the 

diary for the barristers, moving bundles 

from chambers to courts, answering the 

phone and dealing with clients. 

Senior clerks are more entrenched 

in managing client relationships and 

dealing with clients on a day-to-day basis. 

Depending on the chambers, some 

senior clerks are also involved on the 

strategic side, working with the chief 

executive officer. 

Jeremy Hopkins, senior clerk at 3 

Verulam Buildings, believes it is important 

to have the personal skillset to bring 

to the role as well as the academic 

qualifications: “Clerking roles require 

strong communication and organisational 

skills together with levels of commercial 

awareness and customer focus that you 

wouldn’t necessarily expect to be taught in 

a law degree course.” 

As there is often no defined career 

track, the pace of progression is uncertain, 

so it is also worth getting an idea of how 

long people have been in their posts at 

a chambers to gauge how quickly you 

might be able to move up the ladder. 


Strong graduates are likely to see a quicker 

progression than school leavers. 

Salaries start at around £16,000 as a 

graduate junior clerk and can progress to 

around £300,000 as a senior clerk at a top 

commercial seat. To apply for roles you can 

go through a recruitment consultancy or 

look on chambers’ websites for vacancies. 

Guy Hewetson, head of barrister 

recruitment at LPA Legal Recruitment, 

comments: “Clerking is a unique business 

model and will continue to be so. 

Graduates who display a high degree of 

credibility and business acumen, however, 

may find their career projection to be 

quicker than what’s on offer.” 

Paralegal 

“A paralegal position gives you good 

legal experience. For those looking at 

smaller firms it is often a way into a 

training contract,” says Gemma Baker, 

admissions and career service manager at 

Kaplan Law School. 

Paralegals assist solicitors in legal 

research and on deals, which effectively 

offers the chance to shadow a qualified 

lawyer. You do not need to have 

completed your LPC, but it will be looked 

upon favourably. Last year, four Kaplan 

LPC students received training contracts 

following roles as paralegals at their 

respective firms. 

Rohini Abrol, a former student at the 

York branch of The College of Law, was 

offered a training contract after less than 

a year as a paralegal. “From university 

through to the LPC I applied to nearly 40 

or 50 law firms and was unsuccessful. I 

was advised that rather than producing 

lots of applications, I should instead apply 

for paralegal work or legal assistant work 

in order to get more experience in a law 

firm and, more importantly, get my foot in 

the door. 

“I think this route is really important 

as it not only allows you to show the firm 

your dedication and what you are capable 

of in practice, but it also allows you to see 

if the firm is right for you.” 

Abrol advises others to get as much 

work experience as possible, even if it 

is just a few days or a couple of hours in 

court: “This will enable you to get a feel 

of the area of law you would like to go 

into and help justify the reasons for your 

choice. It is also very important that you 

network and make contacts and then 

actually go on to use them!” 

Paralegal roles are not generally 

advertised, so approaching the firm 

directly to find out about upcoming 

opportunities and vacancies is advisable. 

Salaries for paralegals usually fall just 

under the starting rate for a trainee. 

Other avenues 

If none of the above appeal, or you are 

just looking to boost your CV, legal charity 

work is a good option. 

One example, LawWorks, is a charity 

that provides free legal advice to people 

who don’t qualify for legal aid but cannot 

afford to pay a lawyer. As well as looking 

‘Charitylegalworkisagreatoption 

andwillenhanceyourlegalknowledge 

while you develop transferable skills. It 

shows you have searched for something 

alternative but related’ 

GemmaBaker,KaplanLawSchool 

great on your CV it will give you the 

chance to do responsible work with good 

legal contacts. 

Most of the top law firms are signed 

up to assist with pro-bono work done by 

LawWorks, which gives students or postgraduates 

the chance to work with some 

highly-respected lawyers. All roles are 

voluntary. 

Kaplan’s Baker says: “Charity legal 

work is a great option and will enhance 

your legal knowledge while you develop 

transferable skills. It is all relevant and 

shows you have searched for something 

alternative but related to law.” 

Other avenues to consider include 

court roles such as administrative officers, 

bailiffs, county and crown court ushers 

and clerks, as well as research assistants 

for the Law Commission legal teams. 

Baker concludes: “People who are 

thinking of dropping out of law altogether 

need to think carefully about all the 

options. Legal training costs a lot of money 

and before quitting altogether you need 

to think about what you can achieve by 

looking a bit further and wider.” 

We believe in letting our graduates have the 

freedom they need to make the most of their 

careers. Our trainees take on responsibility from day 

one and enjoy varied and challenging work for 

industry-shaping clients. If you become a trainee 

with us, you will be given the chance to excel. 

www.twobirds.com/graduates 

where do you want to be? 



HIGHER RIGHTS 

Higherrightsqualificationshaveundergoneadramaticchange–andshould 

leave solicitors far better prepared, as Penny Copper and David Emmet explain 

SEE YOU IN COURT 

Having completed their Legal Practice 

Course (LPC), their Professional Skills 

Course (PSC) and admission, you might 

wonder why so many early career solicitors 

then submit to a further set of higher 

rights exams. The answer is that a formal 

higher rights qualification gives a solicitor 

far more than simply the right to perform 

advocacy in the higher courts, significant 

as that right is. 

On 1 April this year, the Solicitors 

Regulation Authority (SRA) brought into 

operationtheSolicitors’HigherRights 

of Audience Regulations 2010. Solicitors 

whowishtoappearasadvocatesinthe 

higher courts now have an entirely new 

regime to follow. Gone are the old rules, 

whichrequiredthoseseekingtheirhigher 

rights either to follow the development 

route–andtakeafulltrainingcourse 

–ortheaccreditationroute,whichwas 

only open to solicitors with at least three 

years’ experience. 

Poor preparation 

The trouble with these traditional methods 

was they didn’t really do their job. First 

and foremost, the qualification allowed 

solicitors to exercise higher rights in both 

civil and criminal proceedings regardless of 


their experience in either. The development 

route required solicitors to undergo 

compulsory training on a fixed syllabus, 

which covered a lot of ground that would 

have been well known to anyone who had 

taken the LPC and completed a training 

contract. It also required training in both 

civil and criminal procedure and evidence 

even for those whose practice was based 

entirely in one of those fields. 

Both the development route and the 

accreditation route led to an assessment 

that was far from rigorous and scarcely 

prepared the would-be advocate for the 

demands of the higher courts. 

The end result was a process that was 

often lengthy and expensive to follow, but 

left solicitor advocates under-prepared. The 

assessmentswererelativelysimpletopass 

andledtoadvocatesoccasionallyexercising 

their higher rights in cases and in courts 

wheretheyriskedbeingoutoftheirdepth. 

Nowadays, the single route is to take an 

assessment – but it is an assessment that 

is considerably more testing and wideranging, 

and which, if passed, will leave 

solicitors feeling far more confident of 

their ability to practise and survive in the 

higher courts and in the world of litigation 

in general. There are also two higher 

The old 

process 

was often 

lengthy and 

expensive 

to follow, 

leaving 

solicitor 

advocates 

underprepared 

rights qualifications available: one for 

civil proceedings and another for criminal 

proceedings. A separate assessment must 

be taken for each. The new assessments 

are specifically designed to meet the 

standards prescribed by the SRA, which 

are much better defined and more relevant 

than they used to be. Candidates must 

demonstrate their competence in five 

areas: generic advocacy, civil advocacy 

or criminal advocacy, criminal evidence 

or civil evidence, ethics and professional 

conduct, and equality and diversity. But 

the standards for all areas are sensibly 

defined and confined to what advocates 

really need to know and be able to do. 

There is no more pointless learning 

required. Matters of evidence and ethics 

are those that are actually likely to arise 

in practice in the higher courts of England 

and Wales. The advocacy assessments 

also cover interim advocacy – submissions 

and applications, both as an applicant 

and as a respondent – and trial advocacy, 

meaning all aspects of proceedings, both 

as claimant or prosecution and defendant. 

Covered in the standards are evidence 

(including burden and standard of proof, 

disclosure, hearsay, similar fact and 

character evidence, opinion and expert 


evidence and improperly obtained evidence) 

andadvocacy(includinginterimadvocacy, 

such as skeleton arguments, dealing with 

interventions by the judge and presenting 

legal argument, trial advocacy, including 

trial strategy, cross-examination and 

dealing with experts and vulnerable 

witnesses, civil advocacy and criminal 

advocacy). Rigorous and demanding 

thoughtheassessmentsmaybe,theywill 

truly prepare the successful advocate for 

their higher rights responsibilities. What’s 

more, they encourage confidence to take on 

more demanding and complex cases in the 

higher courts. 

Training 

It’s worth remembering the rules do 

not require candidates to undergo any 

training. Whatever their experience, they 

may proceed straight to the assessment 

if they choose to do so. However, all the 

organisations authorised by the SRA 

to carry out the assessments also offer 

training by way of preparation. 

Howmuchtrainingcandidatestakeis 

up to them, depending on needs and 

budget–youmaybeatrainee,asolicitor 

with decades of experience or, perhaps, 

somewhereinbetweeninyourprofessional 

development. But the demands of higher 

courtadvocacyand,inaddition,the 

levelsofcompetenceexpectedbyjudges 

inthehighercourtsmaybegreater 

than candidates are used to. Training 

can improve the chances of passing the 

assessments and offers various advantages, 

including the chance to practise with the 

type of case study used for assessments and 

to learn specifically what will be expected in 

those assessments. 

Candidates will be able to gauge how well 

prepared they are to take the assessments 

and whether they are likely to pass, as 

well as familiarising themselves with the 

syllabus and improving their professional 

confidence as an advocate. Many firms 

undertake the training and assessment on 

an ‘in-house’ basis. Trainees, associates 

and partners from the firm are taught 

together as one group and all sit the 

exams at the same time. Those studying 

in this way claim they find it a support 

to have colleagues working side-by-side 

towards the same exams, but, of course, it 

also adds to the pressure. 

Elizabeth Cruickshank, former 

chairwoman of the Association of Women 

Solicitors and co-author of All You Need 

to Know About Being a Trainee Solicitor, 

encourages solicitors to consider getting 

their higher rights not just for the advocacy 

skills gained but also for the transferable 

skills. She says: “Solicitors with higher 

rights often get the best of both worlds; 

they can be a star advocate while at the 

same time be part of a thriving firm and 

deal with client matters at first hand in a 

way that barristers do not. 

“Some solicitors can manage to operate 

efficiently and lucratively without ever 

having to present a case in court, so why 

would you embark on even more formal 

study after you have already spent years 

to get your name on the Roll of Solicitors? 

The answer lies in that most hackneyed of 

phrases – transferable skills.” 

One of the most obvious benefits of the 

higher rights qualification is that even if 

those who complete it do not represent 

clients in court, they will be better 

prepared to brief counsel and to assist 

when sitting behind them in court. 

Responsibilities in this context might 

include assessing evidence, marshalling 

arguments and discarding irrelevant 

materials. What’s more, the oral 

presentation skills stand solicitors in good 

steadwhencarryingoutlegalresearch, 

explaining matters to clients, giving internal 

presentations and, astheybecomemore 

senior,makingpitchesfornewbusiness. 

“Asalways,thereisacaveat,”adds 

Cruickshank. “Do not undertake the course 

lightlyasitwillmakesubstantialdemands 

onyourtimeandenergyatanystagein 

yourcareer.Researchwhattrainingison 

offersoastomakesureitfitsyourneeds 

andbesurethatyoucandevotesufficient 

time to make the programme work for you 

and for your firm.” 

What is clear is the higher rights 

qualification promotes flexibility in an 

uncertain legal marketplace, where the 

ability to undertake the contentious as well 

as the non-contentious could be invaluable. 

Professor Penny Cooper and barrister and 

senior lecturer David Emmet are part of 

the continuing professional development 

atteamTheCityLawSchool,City 

University London. 

Stay informed. Stay connected. 

Stay in control. 


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CAREER CLINIC 

Corporatelawworkisaturn-off 

I’matraineeatoneofthetopCitylawfirmsandamfacingadilemmaaboutwheretoqualify.ThebasicproblemisthatIdon’twant 

tocloseofffuturecareeroptions,suchasmovingintoabusiness-facingroleinalargecorporate,butIcan’tstandtransactionallaw. 

Ifoundthehoursincorporatetobeincrediblylong(typically55-65hoursaweek)andhaveseenthattheworkcanbeunbelievably 

tedious (even at partner level) but appreciate that qualifying into such an area would provide a very good business background 

– learning about transaction timetables, business concepts, reading accounts, etc. My concern is that qualifying into arbitration/ 

litigation(theonlyfieldofCitylawthatIhavefoundremotelyinteresting)wouldcloseoffmyfuturecareerambitionsasitisnot 

sufficiently ‘commercial’. Any advice/tips would be much appreciated. 

If you hate transactional work and despise 

corporate, then you will never enjoy it. Do 

what you enjoy and if that means doing 

litigation (even though you think this may 

limit you in terms of being commercial) 

then do that. Coco 

Qualifying into a corporate department 

won’t provide you with a good platform 

for a business career as there isn’t a 

huge overlap in skills. Corporate lawyers 

conduct processes – they don’t get close 

to evaluating the merits of a particular 

transactionfromabusinessorstrategic 

perspective. You certainly won’t get 

anyusefulaccountingexperienceor 

exposure to ‘business concepts’ as a 

corporatelawyer–forthatyouneed 

anMBA,mastersinfinanceortheCFA. 

What you will get is a focus on detail, 

potentially some drafting experience and 

a knowledge of corporate law – not to be 

knocked, but hardly critical for a general 

business career. 

If you dislike transactions and want to 

learn about business you need to shift 

into consultancy and it’s unlikely any 

qualification seat is going to help 

much with that so you’re probably as 

well picking something you enjoy now 

andfocusingongettingoutoflaw 

from there. 

Wantawaylawyer 

I understand your frustration. I worked 

withalawfirmthatrefusedtoappreciate 

business development (BD). I had no 


Ah,thejoysofhavingacareersoldtoyou 

on the basis you can leave it. Come join 

theM&Asausagefactory,becausehey 

gimp, you can leave and go elsewhere. 

Seriously. Favouring the exit route over 

the daily diet is like going to a restaurant 

because you like its toilets. 

The truth is that there are in-house 

options open to you irrespective of your 

specialism. In-house lawyers have a large 

amount of risk management in their daily 

diet, and litigation skills translate well. I 

say that despite having hated the litigation 

experience my magic circle firm gave me. 

Many companies have lawyers from a 

diverse range of pre-escape disciplines. 

Sothebestadvicehereisdowhatyou 

enjoy, what stimulates and interests you. 

And if you want to come in-house, then as 

abusinesslawyer,youmayfindyouhave 

more opportunity to engage with issues 

outsideofthelaw,including,dareIsayit, 

strategic advice. Stupot 

The questions that you should ask yourself 

are:DoIwanttoworkwithandfora 

bunchofnot-so-nicebutdimdaddybought-a-pony 

Durham and Exeter types 

who think they got where they are through 

hardwork?DoIwanttosacrificemysocial 

life/interests/familylifeonthealtarofa 

reasonably but in no way exceptionally 

well-paidjob?DoIwanttodoboring, 

‘Favouring 

the exit 

route over 

the daily 

diet is like 

goingtoa 

restaurant 

because 

youlikeits 

toilets’ 

repetitive work? Do I want to cause 

damage to my long-term health, posture 

and common decency? Do I want to work 

in a stilted, unpleasant, fake environment? 

DoIwantvirtuallynochanceofpartnership? 

Do I want to work for aggressive clients 

who are themselves only doing their job 

for the money and don’t really enjoy it? If 

youansweredyestotheabove,corporate 

is certainly for you. Anon 

After 15 years pure litigation experience 

in private practice, three years ago I was 

looking for a new challenge and was 

offered and accepted a role running 

an in-house team dealing mainly with 

non-contentious work. It has been a real 

challenge but I have loved it. 

I still wouldn’t say I love drafting 

contracts or am the best contract drafter 

in the world, but my litigation experience 

(teamwork, project management, risk 

assessment, commercial advice, plain 

english)arekeytowhatwedoeveryday.I 

know other litigators who have made the 

move and believe that the important thing 

is to enjoy your job. Legal Manager 

If60hoursaweekistoomuchforyou, 

become a kindergarten teacher... you are 

livinginthepastifyouwanta“business 

facing”corporatepositionandcan’tputin 

that kind of time. Get Real 

Mysmallfirmwon’ttakemyBDeffortsseriously 

Followingredundancyandthebirthofourfirstchild,Ichosetoworkforamuchsmallerfirm.Ihaveapproachedthepartnerswith 

regardtomarketing,butIamtoldthereisnobudget.Thecost-freesuggestionsIputforwardarewarmlyreceived,butnothingever 

follows.HowcanIconvincethemtotakemattersseriouslyandbemoreproactive? 

People sometimes have a hard time 

imagining new things, and in our business 

we find that simple working prototypes 

or examples can work wonders. Can you 

spend some time actually implementing 

one of your ideas? It takes away some of 

the cognitive workload from those who’s 

approval you seek. Mike Bean 

choice but to leave and start my own firm 

andithasbeengreat!Kunsky 

Yourreactionseemsabitextreme–you 

havelostajob,hadachild,workpart-time 

and now you are talking about leaving 

because you don’t think they want to 

follow through your BD ideas. Why don’t 

youjustdosomeofthemanyway?You 

might enjoy that more and at least it 

will give you something to boast about 

whenyoulookforthenextposition.Ibet 

the firm is finding it tough, hence no BD 

budget. high street solicitor 

It’s really simple. It’s about understanding 

organisational behaviour. Most companies 

or law firms are fairly efficient at doing a 

fewthingsthattheyaresetuptodoand 

rubbish at doing anything outside their 

normal habits. Sitting around waiting for 

some rubber stamp for what you want to 

doisanon-starterifthewillisn’tthere 

from on high. Hmmm 


Whichseatgivesthebestgroundingtomovein-house? 

IamheadingintothefinalseatofmytrainingcontractbutIamstillundecidedastowhatareatospecialisein.Ihavedoneaclient 

secondmentandamseriouslyconsideringmovingin-houseinthenearfuture.Wouldacommerciallitigationbackgroundorgeneral 

commercialbackgroundbebetterformovingin-house?Isitpossibletoretraininoneortheotherspecialismsfollowingqualification? 

So you were seconded in-house and you 

still manage to come up with this drivel... 

That may sound harsh but seriously, it 

is a terrible question. Engage your brain. 

What did you do in-house? Why did you 

not speak to the other lawyers there and 

obtain their input? In any event, if you 

are at the end of the TC, the question 

is irrelevant. You clearly have time on 

your hands, so speak with your former 

colleagues over at the company you were 

seconded to. 

In this market, you should be asking 

yourself: what are my long-term prospects 

and where are those best served? We 

are still pretty much in a recession and 

getting an newly-qualified position is 

tough enough without being so narrow in 

yourapproach.Youcannarrowdownyour 

focus later. ME 

Almost all firms outsource major litigation, 

so as an in-houser you are likely to deal 

with the small beer. Think employment 

tribunals, nuisance litigants in person, 

debt collection, that kind of thing. Fine 

at a junior level, but unlikely to lead to a 

board level position. If you want a nice 

job for a few years and don’t mind limited 

prospects, in-house litigation would 

be good. Assuming you are ambitious, 

however, general corporate/commercial 

experience is what you need to get on 

in-house.Thatsaid,asatraineeyouwant 

to cover as much as you can – so try to 

do litigation as well as commercial seats. 

Even commercial lawyers need some 

understandingofwhatmighthappenif 

their deals go awry... Doh! 

If you haven’t done a litigation seat, I think 

youhavetodooneanyway,don’tyou? 

I wouldn’t see litigation as purely being 

the “here we are in court” option as a 

lot of disputes lawyers see themselves 

as given proper commercial advice to 

avoid it getting that far (effectively risk 

management), and in a lot of in-house 

jobs you will do a lot of that. If you already 

havelitigationthengoanddogeneral 

commercial and try and pick up bits of IP 

andthelikewhileyou’reatit.Ex-In-House 

‘Engage 

your brain. 

What did 

you do 

in-house? 

Why did you 

not speak 

to the other 

lawyers 

there and 

obtain their 

input?’ 

Whichsectorwouldyouliketomoveto 

in-house?Meatylitigationwillbedealt 

withbyalawfirm.Youmaybethecontact 

pointin-house.Generalcommercialisthe 

best bet. Skynet 

What sort of in-house team are you 

targeting?Doyouwanttobeageneralist, 

oraspecialist?Justlikeprivatepractice, 

in-house teams vary in size, and in 

specialisms. Similarly, what are the fields 

in which the company’s team practices? If 

you wanted to work in a company which 

has a heavy IP base, a knowledge of the 

components which make up intellectual 

propertymightbeuseful–iftheteam 

looks after banking regulation, something 

in the finance side of things. Neil 

Trytonarrowdownwhatsortofcompany 

and areas of law you enjoy. In general, 

though, in-house teams are more likely 

to instruct externally for litigation work 

rather than general commercial, so you’re 

morelikelytoneedtobewellversedinthe 

latter. In-house lawyer 

Debate: magic circle versus silver circle contract 

I’vegotinterviewscomingupwithtwomagiccirclefirmsandamwaitingtohearbackfromafewdecentUSfirms.However,I’ve 

alreadyhadanofferfromasilvercirclefirm,whichIreallylikedthelookof.Arethetrainingandcareerprospectsatamagiccirclefirm 

reallyworththesacrifice?Orcanyoutrainatasilvercirclefirmandtradeuplaterifyouwant? 

‘Itisfar 

easier to 

move from 

amagic 

circle to a 

silver circle 

firm should 

you later 

decide 

that’s what 

you want 

to do’ 

Depends a lot on what stage you are at in I would wait to hear from the magic circle 

in-house or into the public sector or doing 

your life and what you aspire to during your firms. You get good training there, access 

something else entirely. Been there 

trainingcontractandbeyond.Atyourstage to good precedents and practice notes, 

thekeythingthatshouldturnyourdecision andagoodopportunitytotakeaseat 

Itisfareasiertomovefromamagic 

isthekindoftrainingyouwillgetasa abroad if that is what you fancy. If later in 

circle to a silver circle firm should you 

trainee. The next thing you need to look at your career you want to move to a smaller 

laterdecidethat’swhatyouwanttodo.I 

is post-qualification (when you will still be a firmyouwillfindthatprettyeasyfroma 

similarly agree that the training budgets 

juniorlawyer),whichfirmwillofferyouthe magiccircleplatform.Boo 

and opportunities at the magic circle firms 

best form of next stage of further training 

are (by and large) far greater. Dorothy 

and career progression opportunities. Unless the silver circle firm is pushing 

Gale 

Beyond that don’t get too carried away for an answer, it’s too early to make a 

as to which firm ends up on legalweek. decision. It could be that when you go 

Whileitistruethatmagiccircleandsilver 

com on deal reports or which firm has foryourinterviewsfromthetwomagic 

circlefirmstendtohavemorestructured 

thebestprofitsperequitypartner.There circle firms you find that you don’t like 

(ie, classroom-based) training, they also 

will be little difference between selected thepeopleortheculture.Ifthat’sthe 

tend to force trainees into narrower 

magiccirclefirmsandselectedsilvercircle case, then you’ll find two years working 

fieldsineachtrainingseat.Atawellknownmagiccirclefirm,youcanendup 

firms in terms of training. Some silver circle somewhere you don’t like can be a 

firms are getting shadowed in the current miserable experience – notwithstanding 

doing full seats in particular branches 

climatebutthatwillchange. 

that you get to put that magic circle firm 

of derivatives, banking, projects, etc. 

IamdiscountingaUSfirmatthis on your CV when you qualify. Same holds 

In comparison, most US firms, having 

stage because their in-house training truefortheUSfirms. 

smaller numbers on the ground but 

programmes are not as up to the mark. What you need at this stage of your 

offering services across a comparable 

Of course once you are two years’ post careerisafirmthatwillgiveyouadegree 

number of areas will provide you with 

qualification experience your qualification of scope and flexibility so that you have a 

more diversity in the early stages of your 

will be easily transferrable between silver/ number of options on qualification – either 

career. I work in an American firm that 

magic/US. Personally I chose silver circle intermsofqualifyingintothatfirm,going 

treatsitstraineeslikeadultsandreally 

and I have not regretted it. Anon to another private practice outfit, going 

does allow them to run small deals. Anon 

www.legalweek.com/students Legal Week Student Autumn 2010 27

CAREER CLINIC 

My boss keeps criticising my appearance and dress 

I am a trainee at a City firm and I am having problems with my boss regarding my appearance – no matter how hard I try, she keeps 

tellingmeIlookscruffy.Myfirmhasadresscode,whichIadhereto.Iusuallyjustwearablackshirtandblacktrouserstoworkwith 

flat shoes, but on a number of occasions she’s criticised my clothes for being too baggy. My hair is really thin, so when I tie it back 

youcanseepartsofmyscalp,butifIhaveitdownitlooksuntidy.Mybosshasagleamingthickmaneofgoldenhairthatalways 

looksperfectlycoiffedandshealwayswearstight-fittingsuitssoIsupposeshehastroublesympathising.Ifeellikesheisbeing 

unreasonableandplacingmoreemphasisonthewayIlookthanmyactualwork.Shemaythinkshe’sjusttryingtohelp,butinreality 

she’smakingmedreadcomingintoworkasIfeelsuchpressuretolookthepart.WhatshouldIdo? 

Being a trainee is very difficult. Being a 

supervisor and taking scruffy trainees 

to meetings is also difficult. The outfit 

you have described could be fine if it is 

smart and fitted, or you could look like 

a student after one too many drinks: her 

criticism implies it is closer to the latter. 

Unfortunately, it is easier to get away with 

being scruffy, the more senior you are. It 

isn’t about spending money (and I have 

seen trainees criticised for not spending 

enough money on clothes, which is 

completely unacceptable) but presenting 

an image. Associate 

Don’ttakeyoursupervisor’scomments 

personally – at the end of the day it is 

aboutbusiness,andpeopletakeyoumore 

seriously if you dress the part. You should 

begratefulthatshehastoldyouaboutit 

and given you a chance to do something 

Iwouldnotworryintheslightest.Not 

only will any decent firm take into 

account and understand your position 

(whichisprettymuchthesameas 

every other trainee unless they were 

paralegals). They will no doubt spoon 

feed you the work and the knowledge. 

If I remember correctly, my first seat 

was tough work and I felt like I was just 

getting to grips with things as I relocated 

to the second seat, only to start all over 

again. The remaining seats were easier 

because I understood the culture, the 

IT systems and the standard of work 

required. 

A big tip though – if you are unsure, 

do not forget to ask for clarification. I 

amhappytoexplainstuffuntilthecows 

come home to a trainee who needs help. 

I get annoyed if (a) they don’t ask and 

progress their work incorrectly as a result 

leaving me to sort it out or (b) if they 

continually ask the same question having 

not learned from the last experience, so 

don’t forget to walk around with a pen 

andpapersoyoucanwritestuffdown! 

You’ll be fine – worry not! All the other 


aboutitasmanysupervisorswillonlyput 

that in your final appraisal or never tell you 

and mark you down because of this. Good 

luck and don’t be disheartened. anon 

Thatdoesn’tsoundlikeprofessionalattire 

to me. You represent the firm. I suspect that 

you know you aren’t coming up to scratch. 

You may make fair comments on your 

hair but you can do something about your 

clothes. D2:2 

Alwaysdressforthejobyouwant.“Dress 

poorly and they notice the dress, dress 

well and they notice the woman” - Chanel 

(or Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl, 

whichever you prefer!). Coco 

Asanin-houselawyerinacasualdress 

games company who now wears jeans 

andpoloshirtstoworkeveryday,Ihave 

‘Dress 

poorly and 

they notice 

the dress, 

dress well 

and they 

notice the 

woman’ 

tosaythatImisswearingsuits.Clients 

are paying a lot of money for your services 

and deserve to see you dressed smartly. 

Ifyoulooklikeyoudon’tcareaboutyour 

appearance they will expect your work to 

besloppytoo.Istucktothesameformula 

in all my years in private practice – always 

a suit, whether skirt (short or long, straight 

or flared) or trousers. Always heels, (boots 

in winter, shoes in summer) and always 

wear make up. in-house lawyer 

Iknowtraineesdon’thaveahugeamount 

of money, but you could jazz up your 

outfits with scarves, etc. A session with an 

appearance coach or someone like Color 

meBeautifulwillsetyoubackaround£70 

(more for a longer session). It might be an 

investment. And tell your hairdresser your 

dilemma and see if she can do anything 

with your hair. Helen 

HowmuchofwhatI’vestudiedwillIreallyneed? 

I’mstartingmytrainingcontractataCityfirmthismonth,butoverthelastfewweeksI’vestartedtohavenaggingdoubtsabouthow 

muchworkI’veputintoprepare.I’veforgottensomuchofthestuffI’ve‘learned’doingmystudies,andI’mworriedpeoplearegoing 

to cotton on pretty quickly when I get down todealingwithsomeactuallegalwork. 

traineesfeelthesameway,butmaynot 

admit it! Me 

Thereisnothingmoreterrifyingtoa 

supervisor than a trainee who is so 

confident of their own ability that they 

do their own thing and don’t ask a lot of 

questions. 

Traineesaresupposedtohaveagrasp 

of the basic legal principles but should 

notbeexpectedtoworkunsupervised.If 

you get it wrong, don’t panic; that is why 

you are being supervised. Your role is to 

learn your craft (and trust me, it takes a lot 

longer than two years). 

Askquestions,listentotheanswers 

and try to come at queries with a proactive 

approach.No-onesensiblewillmindif 

your suggested solution is wrong and it 

will help your supervisor to understand 

your thought process. 

Thismaywellworktoyouradvantage; 

traineesarenotyetfullyformedlawyers 

and can often come up with interesting 

solutionswhicharearesultofafresh 

perspective. 

Most retiring lawyers will admit (after 

‘If you get 

it wrong, 

don’t panic; 

that is 

why you 

are being 

supervised’ 

several hours of waterboarding) that they 

don’t know everything – no-one does. It’s 

healthy to recognise that early on!! 

Good luck. Happy Lawyer 

You are nervous. This is understandable. I 

started my training contract (many moons 

agonow)beingterrifiedthatIwasgoing 

to be expected to know everything and 

would look like an idiot when I didn’t. The 

opposite proved to be the case: I found 

most qualified lawyers were genuinely 

surprised that a trainee knew any law at 

all!Asasupervisormyselfnow,Idon’t 

expect trainees to know much to start 

with, although I do expect them to be 

able to distinguish between contract and 

tort questions (it’s amazing how many 

can’t). So don’t be nervous, relax and 

good luck.Associate 

You need almost nothing you learned at 

law school. Most things you will be asked 

to do could be done by your secretary, 

probably better. Be nice to her (in the 

sense of treating her as at least your equal) 

and she will help you. H Shipman 


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TRAINEE INTAKE 

JOIN THE QUEUE 

A Legal Week survey reveals firms are 

cutting back their graduate intake as the 

economic downturn continues to bite. 

Friederike Heine examines the results 



Asthelatestbandofstudentsentersthe 

milkround, they join increasing numbers 

of graduates struggling to make their 

wayontothecareerladder,withraftsof 

companies cutting back or closing their 

doors altogether to graduates as they 

weather the downturn. 

For the City’s largest law firms, which 

typicallyrecruitfortrainingcontractstwo 

years in advance of would-be lawyers 

walking through their doors, maintaining 

therightflowoftraineestomatchfuture 

predictedworkflowshasalwaysbeen 

somethingofajugglingact. 

Ithaslongbeenacommonlinetrotted 

outbylawfirmsthatgraduaterecruitment 

–likepartnerpromotions–shouldnotbe 

basedonthecurrenteconomicclimate, 

butthatalittlecrystalballgazingneeds 

tobeappliedtotheprocess. 

CMS Cameron McKenna’s graduate 

recruitment partner Simon Pilcher says: 

“The number of graduates we recruit is 

lessareflectionofthecurrentjobmarket, 

andmoreareflectionofwidertrendsin 

thelegalsector.Itisalsoareflectionof 

how we expect the market to look in two 

years’time–fromtalkingtobusinesses, 

we make an educated guess as to how 

manypeoplewewillrequire.” 

But for all the rhetoric, in reality law 

firms, like every other sector of business, 

have had to cut back on their recruitment. 

Research carried out by Legal Week 

reveals that the number of places on offer 

at the top 30 firms has fallen by just over 

10%inthelastthreeyears. 

Sincerecruitswerehiredin2008to 

joinfirmsin2010,thenumberofplaces 

onofferattheUK’stop30firmshas 

shrunk by almost 150 places, falling from 

1,375to1,225forthegraduatesdueto 

‘Wehavemaintainedafairlyconsistent 

levelofrecruitment–wehavetried 

nottooverreacttothedownturnand 

this has served us well’ 

Paul Olney, Slaughter and May 

startin2012. 

Slaughter and May practice partner 

Paul Olney says: “We have maintained 

a fairly consistent level of recruitment 

–wehavetriednottooverreacttothe 

downturnandthishasserveduswell. 

Thenumberofplacesweofferfluctuates 

slightly,butthisisnotonlyareflectionof 

theeconomy,butafeatureofthequality 

ofapplicantsinthatparticularyear.” 

Drop in applicants to top 30 

Interestingly, however, while the overall 

number of places on offer has dropped 

by10%,thenumberofapplicantshas 

also fallen over the period, declining 2% 

across the top 30 firms, with around 800 

moreapplicantsin2008(42,918)than 

2010 (42,070). 

Several law firms have actively tightened 

their entrance requirements, placing a finer 

filter over initial applicants. Simmons & 

Simmons and Hogan Lovells, for example, 

have launched psychometric testing as a 

precursor to any face-to-face interviews. 

And the record number of training 

contractsthatweredeferredorcancelled 

in 2009 means the legal sector is 

no longer the safe bet it has been 

traditionallyseenas. 

This drop-off in applications is a 

broad trend throughout the UK top 

30, although in some cases it has been 

more marked than in others. Freshfields 

Bruckhaus Deringer, for example, saw 

a 12% drop-off in applications last year 


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incomparisonto2008–asaresult,the 

magiccirclefirmwasabletooffer7%of 

applicants a training contract. 

Thefirm’srecruitmentpartnerSimon 

Johnson explains: “Many graduates 

decided to undertake an additional year at 

universityasaresultofmarketconditions 

at the time. Although we have received 

slightly more applications this year [2010], 

the overall number has remained low.” 

However, while the overall trend was 

foradecreaseinapplicationsoverthe 

three-year period, City firms, in general, 

actuallysawariseinpeopleapplying 

from2008to2010.In2010therewere 

around 2,500 more applications to the 

groupthantherewerein2008–almost 

a 10% increase. Meanwhile, the number 

of places offered dropped by 8% over the 

period. 

Travers Smith recruitment partner Tom 

Purton comments: “When the economic 

climateistough,peopletendtogravitate 

towardsacareersuchaslawwhichoffers 

more structure and greater security than 

many other jobs in the City. In addition to 

this,startingsalariesfortraineesinthe 

City are now among the best, which may 

alsohavehadaneffectonthenumberof 

applications.” 

City firm SJ Berwin experienced a 

10%decreaseinapplicationsin2009 

from 2008. However, during the 2010 

application round there was a 12% 

increase in applications from 2009, 

markinganincreaseevenonprerecession 

levels. 

Recruitment partner Bryan Pickup 

comments: “We expected to receive 

anumberofapplicationsfrom 


candidateswhomovedawayfrommore 

unpredictable careers such as finance and 

banking,butthishasn’tbeenthecase.” 

He adds: “This year, we received 

applications from several candidates who 

had already been assessed in 2009. We 

also received more applications from 

graduates – as opposed to undergraduates 

still at university. This reflects the fact that 

a number of those who were unsuccessful 

last year are still looking.” 

Tightening belts 

Nationalandregionalfirmssawamajor 

declineinapplicationsovertheperiod, 

with numbers dropping 25% from 2008 

to2010.Thiswascoupledwithafallof 

39% in overall places offered. 

Inaddition,asagroup,thenational 

and regional firms also take on fewer 

graduatesasapercentageofapplicants 

than their City counterparts. Whereas 

in2008Cityfirmstookon2.9%of 

applicants, for the national and regional 

firmsthispercentagewas2.5%.By2010 

this figure stood at 2.4% in the City 

compared to 2.0% regionally. 

Several regional firms deferred 

applicationsasaresultofthedownturn. 

Beachcroft, for example, closed its 2010 

application process early and offered no 

further places, after deferring 15 of its 

2009 applicants. 

A cut above 

AlthoughbothAllen&OveryandClifford 

Chance declined to participate in the 

survey,theresultsasawholerevealedthe 

remainingmagiccirclefirmstakeonthe 

highestproportionofapplicants. 

Contrary to popular belief, applicants to 

‘Many 

graduates 

decided to 

undertake an 

additional year 

at university 

as a result 

of market 

conditions 

at the time. 

Although we 

have received 

more applicants 

this year, the 

overall number 

has remained 

low’ 

Simon Johnson, 

Freshfields Bruckhaus 

Deringer 

‘Wehaveundoubtedlyseentheoverall 

quality of applicants improve. This could 

be due to the fact that students are 

becoming more realistic about what it 

takestosecureatrainingcontractata 

large commercial law firm’ 

Simon Pilcher, CMS Cameron McKenna 

magic circle firms have a higher chance of 

being offered a place than those applying 

to City or national and regional firms, 

although this could be due to stricter initial 

screening and more complex application 

processes weeding out weaker candidates 

early on. 

Freshfields has one of the highest 

proportional intakes across the top 30 

–secondonlytoDLAPiper–takingon 

6% of its applicants over the three-year 

period.However,themagiccirclefirmalso 

hasoneofthelowerlevelsofapplicants 

of the London-based firms, likely due to a 

particularly effective initial filtering process. 

Meanwhile, Linklaters – which takes 

applications from more than double the 

number of students as Freshfields – takes 

on the most graduates each year: 370 

over the last three years. 

Turning a corner 

Although many firms have admitted that 

the legal sector has not entirely escaped 

the worst ravages of the recession, there 

isquietconfidencethatthesituationfor 

graduatesisimprovingascommerciallaw 

firmsemergefromthedownturn. 

In recent months, there have been 

distinct signs that the market is picking 

up and recruitment partners maintain that 

law firms are once again thinking about 

recruiting roughly the same number of 

traineesasbeforethecreditcrunchhit. 

“Aslawfirmsemergefromtherecession, 

legalserviceswillundoubtedlybeinhigher 



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demand,whichshouldresultinalarger 

trainee intake among firms in the medium 

term,” argues Travers Smith’s Purton. 

Undoubtedly, there remains concern 

that there may not be enough work 

aroundtosustainthenumberoflawyers 

firmsbecameusedtoemployingduring 

theboomtimes.Despitetheslightly 

rosierprospectsintermsofthenumber 

of places available, recruitment partners 

point to other trends in the legal sector 

that may increase the pressure on 

Young entrants into the profession 

arebecomingmoreawareofthefact 

thatanyactivitytheyembarkonthat 

is supplementary to studying will 

potentially boost their CV 

undergraduates and graduates to secure 

training contracts. 

“We have undoubtedly seen the overall 

quality of applicants improve,” comments 

Camerons’Pilcher.“Thiscouldbedueto 

thefactthatstudentsarebecomingmore 

realisticaboutwhatittakestosecurea 

trainingcontractatalargecommercial 

law firm.” 

Freshfields’ Johnson agrees. “The 

applicationshavebeenofahigh 

standard,whichmaybeduetothefact 

that many students have completed a 

number of vacation schemes, allowing 

them to gain insight into what employers 

arelookingfor,”hesays.“Ithinkthere 

is a general trend towards graduates 




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UKlawfirmtraineeintake–September2008toMarch2010 

Firm Applications Places Success 

rate 

2008 for 2010 2009 for 2011 2010 for 2012 

Applications Places Success 

rate 

‘Aslawfirmsemergefromtherecession, 

legalserviceswillundoubtedlybein 

higher demand, which should result in a 

larger trainee intake among firms in the 

medium term’ TomPurton,TraversSmith 

Applications Places Success 

rate 

Clifford Chance* n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 

Linklaters 3,449 130 4% 3,455 130 4% 3,785 110 3% 

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer** 1,650 100 6% 1,450 100 7% 1,430 90 6% 

Allen & Overy* n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 

DLA Piper 1,052 88 8% 1,031 81 8% 1,462 93 6% 

(Legacy) Lovells** 1,700 85 5% 1,000 80 8% 1,700 85 5% 

Herbert Smith 1,470 105 7% 1,516 95 6% 1,760 85 5% 

Slaughter and May** 1,800 85 5% 2,000 90 5% 2,000 85 4% 

Eversheds 4,724 75 2% 2,741 55 2% 1,030 55 5% 

Norton Rose** 1,500 59 4% 1,650 48 3% 2,500 44 2% 

Ashurst 2,546 56 2% 2,782 56 2% 2,683 56 2% 

Simmons & Simmons 2,697 50 2% 2,556 50 2% 2,021 40 2% 

CMS Cameron McKenna n/a 64 n/a 937 62 7% 999 67 7% 

Pinsent Masons 2,148 69 3% 2,213 68 3% 1,826 53 3% 

Bird & Bird 1,674 16 1% 1,355 16 1% 1,384 14 1% 

Clyde & Co 992 25 3% 1,240 26 2% 1,362 26 2% 

Berwin Leighton Paisner 1,400 40 3% 1,466 40 3% 1,518 40 3% 

SJ Berwin 2,021 50 2% 1,825 40 2% 2,069 44 2% 

Addleshaw Goddard* n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 

Denton Wilde Sapte 1,251 34 3% 1,331 34 3% 1,558 33 2% 

Irwin Mitchell 1,662 40 2% 1,441 40 3% 1,759 43 2% 

Beachcroft 1,693 28 2% 2,241 20 1% 764 0 0% 

Hammonds 997 37 4% 1,034 9 1% 891 19 2% 

Nabarro 1,779 25 1% 1,306 30 2% 1,891 30 2% 

Holman Fenwick Willan 662 14 2% 789 14 2% 856 14 2% 

Wragge & Co 1,512 25 2% 1,056 25 2% 1,279 25 2% 

Withers 604 16 3% 579 15 3% 563 13 2% 

Macfarlanes 801 25 3% 808 27 3% 860 30 3% 

Field Fisher Waterhouse 639 19 3% 0 0 0% 1,066 15 1% 

Stephenson Harwood 495 15 3% 777 14 2% 1,054 16 2% 

Total 42,918 1,375 3.20% 40,579 1,265 3.12% 42,070 1,225 2.91% 

Average 1,651 51 3.23% 1,503 47 3.16% 1,558 45 2.91% 

*declined to participate 

**indicates approximate number 


the same time, they have become more 

becomingbetteratcraftingsuccinct 

sensibleaboutwhattoexpect.” 

applications with the relevant skills and 

experience.” 

The changing market 

Indeed, the majority of recruiters 

According to several recruiters, the 

have picked up on this trend, and many 

increasingly fierce competition to secure 

arguethatstudents’CVshavebecome 

atrainingcontractandthereduced 

significantly more homogenised in recent 

number of places available is not linked 

years. Young entrants into the profession “Students are becoming increasingly 

tothedownturn;rather,itistiedtothe 

arebecomingmoreaware of the fact savvyabouthowtouseextra-curricular 

contractionofthelegalsectorasawhole. 

thatanyactivitytheyembarkonthatis activities to their advantage,” says 

With law firms recruiting so far in advance 

supplementary to studying will potentially Ashurst graduate recruitment partner 

– and difficult-to-predict variables at 

boost their CVs. Graduate recruitment DavidCarter.“Theyarebecomingmore 

play,suchastheLegalServicesActand 

partnersatthetoplawfirmshaveseenit serious and professional about building 

legaloutsourcing–itisnosurprisethat 

all – marathons for charity, break-dancing theirCVs,andtheyaregettingthe 

graduate recruiters are not keen on 

groups at the local community centre messagethatyouonlygetonechance 

making concrete forecasts. 

and volunteer work at the Citizen’s peryeartoapplyandthereforeyouhave 

“Students are finding themselves in an 

Advice Bureau. 

tocraftyourapplicationverycarefully.At 


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increasingly tough environment to start in 

the law,” says Ashurst’s Carter. 

“The legal market has contracted, 

partly because of the recession, but 

mostly because the law has become 

less labour-intensive, and transactions 

havebecomemoreefficient–largely 

becauseoftheelectronicadvancesof 

recent years.” 

Purtonagrees.“Thereisdefinitelylessof 

therepetitivechurningworkwhenitcomes 

totransactions.Thereisariskofsome 

contraction in the legal sector if outsourcing 

does takes off,” he says. 

Several recruitment experts have 

indicatedthatretentionratesareinfact 

amoreaccurateindicationofthestate 

of the job market than the number of 

training contracts available. And trainee 

retention rates at the UK’s leading law 

firms are recovering strongly this year 

as activity levels begin to pick up in the 

wake of the downturn. 

Whileitisobviouslytoosoontosee 

how many of the current graduate intake 

will be retained, the average retention 

rate for September 2010 intakes across 

theUKtop30firmscurrentlystandsat 

82%. This marks an improvement of 

eightpercentagepointsonSeptember 

2009,basedonthenumberofqualifying 

trainees due to remain at their firm. 

Ahandfuloftop30firmshaveyetto 

confirmtheirretentionrates,butofthe 

23firmstodisclosefiguressofar,16 

have announced rates of over 80%, while 

four have kept on more than 90%. 

“Thefactthatretentionratesare 

improvingistestamenttothefactthatwe 

‘The job market 

will continue 

to improve for 

graduates, but 

it is important 

to be aware of 

thefactthat 

entering this 

profession will 

continue to 

become more 

competitive 

as the skills 

required 

become more 

complex’ 

David Carter, Ashurst 

are emerging from the recession,” says 

Carter.“Thejobmarketwillcontinueto 

improve for graduates, but it is important 

to be aware of the fact that entering this 

profession will continue to become more 

competitive as the skills required become 

more complex.” 

CASE STUDY: SIMMONS & SIMMONS 

The majority of top City firms find themselves 

inundated with applications for training 

contracts every year, and are able to offer only a 

fraction of candidates a place. 

Up until this year, this was the case at City law 

firm Simmons & Simmons. The firm received a 

total of 2,597 applications for the 2010 intake, 

and was able to offer only 50 candidates training 

contracts. 

“The application process was too 

straightforward, and some of the applications 

we were receiving were just not of a high 

enough standard,” says graduate recruitment 

partner Alex Brown. 

After a review process in early 2010, the firm’s 

graduate recruitment partner and the HR team 

decided to redesign its application process and 

form for the 2010 recruitment season to focus on 

reviewing applications from quality applicants. 

According to Brown, the firm has deliberately 

made its application form longer and thus 

more time-consuming to fill out with a view 

to automatically cutting down the number of 

applicants. The motivation for the changes is to 

identify those with a real interest in a job with 

the firm. 

Brown said that the move was not unusual 

and came in a bid to upgrade the application 

forms to match those of competing law firms. 

As a result of the process, the firm experienced 

a 21% drop in applications in 2010, and offered 

proportionately fewer places. 

“We figured that the people that found the 


questions on the application form too difficult 

were not candidates we wanted to consider 

in any case,” says Brown. “By reviewing the 

application process, we had inadvertently 

created a selection process that worked to our 

advantage.” 

In addition to these changes, the firm has 

split its physical recruitment process into two 

rounds to cut down time spent by fee earners 

on recruitment interviews. Where previously, 

applicants would be interviewed on their first 

visit to the firm, the first round of the process 

now entails coming into the firm to take a 

number of tests, including a newly-introduced 

Watson Glaser verbal reasoning test. Those 

who pass the tests then get invited for a second 

round, where they get interviewed by either 

partners or senior associates. 


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Legal Week research reveals that the 

number of places offered at the top 

30lawfirmshasfallenbyjustover10% 

inthelastthreeyears,droppingfrom 

1,375placesin2008to1,225in2010 

(see ‘Join the queue’ on page 30). 

Plenty of wannabes will doubtless be 

disappointed, and inatoughgraduate 

job market they may have to consider 

training contracts at places they would 

previously have deemed beneath them, 

asthepassagefromtopuniversitytotop 

lawfirmbecomesalittlelesssmooth. 

Startingoutatalesseroutfitisn’t 

always a bad thing, however. Indeed, a 

look at some of the CVs of the leading 

individuals in the profession reveals 

some highly unconventional routes taken 

to the top. 

Paul Maher, now chairman of Greenberg 

Traurig’s London office, struggled to 

secure a training contract at all. “In those 

days, firms attended the universities and 

you submitted yourself for interview. 

Unfortunately, I was rejected by 

everyone,” he says. 

Amongthemanyfirmswhichturned 

him down was Rowe & Maw, where he 


THEPATHLESS 

TRAVELLED 

Missingoutonatrainingcontractwithaleadingfirmdoesn’tmean 

you’llnevermakeittothetop.Alex Aldridge meets four lawyers 

whose careers have veered away from the conventional path 

wouldgoontobecomeseniorpartnerin 

2003, following the firm’s merger with 

USoutfitMayerBrown&Platt.Eventually 

MahersecuredaplaceatWestEndfirm 

BoodleHatfield,thenalmostentirely 

focusedonprivateclientwork,afterone 

oftheirfirstchoicecandidatespulledout. 

“Iknewprivateclientworkwasn’tup 

mystreet,butIhadachoiceofonefirm 

soIwentforit,”herecalls. 

A secondment to Imperial Chemical 

Industries’ (ICI, now part of Akzo Nobel) 

legal department two years into Maher’s 

timeatthefirm,whichledtoafull-time 

move, got him into corporate work – and 



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‘That job 

shaped 

my career, 

mainly 

because 

we were 

responsible 

for handling 

virtually 

allofthe 

deals the 

company 

was 

working on 

at the time’ 

Paul Maher, 

Greenberg Traurig 


from then on there was no looking back. 

“That job shaped my career,” says 

Maher. “Mainly because we were 

responsible for handling virtually all of 

the deals the company was working on 

atthetime,andjustlefttogetonwith 

the work.” 

Several contemporaries of Maher in 

that ICI legal team have also gone onto 

greatthings.TheyincludeSteveWilliams 

(now general counsel of Unilever), Andy 

Ransom (now an executive director of 

Rentokil), Michael Herlihy (who would go 

on to become ICI general counsel) and 

Neil Withington (now general counsel at 

British American Tobacco). 

Linklaters’ co-head of private equity, 

Richard Youle, is another high-profile 

lawyer who got off to an inauspicious 

start. With his options limited by a poor 

degree result (a 2.2 from Newcastle 

University), Youle was grateful when Hull 

law firm Stamp Jackson & Procter offered 

him a training contract. 

After qualifying, he managed to 

wangle a move to Eversheds’ Leeds office 

–afriendwhoworkedtherehavingput 

inagoodwordonhisbehalf.Twoyears 

later,andnowdefinitivelysetonacareer 

asacorporatelawyer,Youlemovedto 

London to join SJ Berwin’s private equity 

department,before18monthslater 

joiningLinklatersaspartofthe2006 

lateralhirethatsawhisbossGraham 

White brought in by the magic circle firm. 

“I’vealwaysbeenmotivatedand 

ambitious,”saysYoule.“Butthose 

characteristics express themselves in 

different ways at different stages of your 

life.AtuniIsupposemyenergywentinto 

playingfootballandgoingout,thenafter 

thatIrealisedIhadtowork,soIfocused 

onmycareerinstead.”Notthathehas 


anyregretsabouthisunorthodoxroute 

to the top. 

“Stamp Jackson & Procter taught 

meamuchmoreentrepreneurialand 

individualisticapproachtodelivering 

client service, which has held me in good 

stead throughout my career,” he says. 

Youle’s career has parallels with that 

of ex-Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft 

‘I’vealwaysbeenmotivatedand 

ambitious – but those characteristics 

expressthemselvesindifferentways 

at different stages of your life’ 

Richard Youle, Linklaters 

partner Justin Bickle, now senior 

vicepresidentatOaktreeCapital 

Management.Thefirstmemberofhis 

family to go to university, Plymouth-born 

Bickle didn’t even consider applying to 

largeLondonfirmsforatrainingcontact. 

“I lacked confidence, I guess,” he says. 

“ButIalsolovetheWestCountrydearly 

and didn’t want to move away.” 

Starting out with Foot & Bowden (now 

FootAnsteySargent),Bicklecuthisteeth 

on a mixture of legal aid, crime, family, 

conveyancing and insolvency work – 

learning “valuable entrepreneurial skills” 

ofatypehedoesn’tthinkhe’dhave 

acquiredatalargerfirm. 

It was insolvency work which he found 

most interesting, with this specialism 

seeing him move to Bevan Ashford 

(now Ashfords), where he focused on 

bankruptcy and directors disqualification 

cases. Then, aged 30, he decided to have 

ashotatthebigtime,registeringwitha 

City of London headhunter. 

Turned down by a magic circle firm for 

beingtooold,Bickle’sbreakcamewhen 

theheadofCadwalader’sfast-growing 

London restructuring team granted him 

an interview. Having convinced him that 

he was prepared to put the hours in, 

Bickle got the job – the interview lasting 

littleover15minutes. 

Not all lawyers begin their careers at law 

firms. Norton Rose head of planning Nigel 

Hewitson is one such example. Hewiston 

started out with Harrow Council, where he 

went on to spend 19 years. 

“I suppose I was just not interested in 

City law at that stage. My interest was 

in planning law,” he says. But during the 

late 80s and 90s corporate clients became 

increasingly involved in planning-related 

matters, bringing Hewitson into contact 

with lawyers at the major City firms. 

“The more I worked with these people, 

the more I thought, ‘I could do that’,” 

hesays.Sowhenanopportunitycame 

up to join Howard Kennedy in 2006, 

Hewitson–who’dbythisstagemoved 

onto English Heritage – grabbed it, 

before securing a move to Norton Rose a 

year later. 

While he enjoys being a partner in the 

City, he feels that the environment isn’t 

always the healthiest for trainees. “As a 

junior lawyer at Harrow Council I handled 

my first planning inquiry when I was just 

two-years qualified – something which 

would be unimaginable in a City firm. 

Alongside that I had a lot of access to 

senior people, which does wonders for 

your confidence. 

“Sometimes I wonder how we expect 

junior solicitors to develop given the level 

of hands-on experience they get,” he 

comments. 

Missing out on that glamorous City 

trainingcontractmaynotbethedisaster 

it seems. 


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NETWORKING 

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A man wearing love beads leans against a 

Volkswagen campervan emblazoned with 

peace stickers and cheerful multicoloured 

flowers. Nearby, a haphazard queue 

begins, as tie-dye swathed hippies wait 

forafreemassagenexttoagroupplaying 

ball games. Elsewhere, a cloud of thick, 

perfumed smoke pervades the air as 

thecrowdlaybackongiantbeanbags, 

enjoying the warmth of the sun, while 

inthedistanceTheWhotunesupin 

preparation for tonight’s performance. 

Butlookalittlecloserandyounotice 

the man in the love beads is chatting on a 

BlackBerry,theballgameechoesoutthe 

distinctive ‘thump, clack’ of croquet and 

the cloud of smoke can be traced back 

to leisurely puffs on half a dozen Cuban 

cigars. And The Who? Well, they are The 

Who. They don’t come cheap. 

This was the summer of Hedgestock. 

Backin2006,whenthemarketswere 

booming, the champagne was freeflowing 

and the politicians were talking 

about the “end of boom and bust”, 

Hedgestock was born. 

More than 4,000 City folk – including 

plenty of lawyers – paid £500 a ticket to 

attend the event, organised by Albourne 

Partners, the hedge fund and private 

equity consultant. 

It was held in the gardens of 

Knebworth, the country house famous 

for its rock concerts – The Rolling Stones, 

Pink Floyd and Oasis all having played at 

the venue. With around 30 different tents 

(the equivalent of a stall at a convention), 

it was one of the biggest events in the 

Citycalendar.Alltheproceedswentto 

Teenage Cancer Trust. 


PARTY BEFORE 

THE CRUNCH 

The 2006 Hedgestock festival featured champagne, croquet and 

business-casualcladlawyersatatimewhentheCitythoughtthe 

boom would last forever. Emily Jupp finds out what it was like 

Not a day of restraint 

In terms of the money thrown around, this 

was not, to put it mildly, a day of restraint. 

The Simmons & Simmons tent offered free 

massages, Henderson Global Investors 

installedaFormulaOnesimulatorandBNP 

Paribassetupaclimbingwall. 

Merrill Lynch brought a cumbersome 

inflatable bull, which was almost 

impossible to ride. Other elaborate exhibits 

speckled the peace-loving scene: the 

luxury watchmaker, Breitling, shared a 

display with Bentley, Moet tents dotted 

the landscape and Michael Romanek, the 

director of alternative investments for 

Observers remarked at the irony of 

wealthy City types stealing the trappings 

of a generation whose values were 

somewhat different 

Fortis Merchant Banking, arrived by diving 

outofaplane(withaparachute). 

Despite all the networking and dealmaking,thefundmanagersandthelawyers 

stillmanagedtolettheirhairdownalittle. 

“Some people really got into the swing of 

things and dressed up as hippies,” recalls 

Richard Perry, a finance partner at Simmons 

& Simmons. Even the lawyers? “The lawyers 

worebusinesscasual.” 

No-oneseemedtohaveindulgedin 

anything stronger than the Moet, and 

most attendees behaved themselves, 

apart from a bit of embarrassing dad-style 

dancingtothemusicofbandswithnames 

like HedgeStone and Red Herring. 

Not surprisingly, the festival came 

under fire at the time for misappropriating 

thevaluesofthelikesofWoodstockand 

Glastonbury. Observers remarked at the 

irony of wealthy City types stealing the 

trappings of a generation whose values 


‘Some people really got into the swing 

of things and dressed up as hippies. The 

lawyers wore business casual’ 

Richard Perry, Simmons & Simmons 

were somewhat different. But attendees 

shrugged off the criticism: “It was a bit 

different,abitoffun,”saidone,adding 

that the atmosphere was “light-hearted 

and a bit silly”, with slogans like ’make 

money not war,’ ‘peace, love and higher 

returns’, and ‘fund managers are from 

Mars, institutional investors are from 

Venus – how to woo, and keep, the 

institutional investor of your dreams’. 

However, these days – two years on 

from the global financial crisis that many 

blameontheexcessesofbanksandhedge 

funds–Hedgestockisn’tlookedback 

on particularly proudly. Something that 

was refreshingly whimsical then is now 

considered bad taste. And the festival 

has come to represent an embarrassing 

reminder that few in the financial services 

sector had any inkling of the meltdown 

that was just around the corner. The fact 

that sponsors included the now-defunct 

banks Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, 

both of which would astonishingly 

collapse just a couple of years later, marks 

Hedgestockoutas,morethananything 

else, an illustration of the hysterical mood 

prevailing in the City at the time. 

Having said that, some think that the 

blending of work and play that Hedgestock 

represented could provide a model for 

the future. Pete Lawrence, co-founder 

of the Big Chill festival, comments: “We 

don’t have a lot of time on this planet, so 

blurring the boundaries between work and 

leisure and harnessing people’s energy and 

inspiration is very important – in a way 

it‘s returning to village values but using 

technology to do so. Hedgestock definitely 

fits that idea of hyper-specialised interest, 

andcouldbeagoodwayforlike-minded 

business people to network.” 

Butnexttime,itmightbebesttoleave 

theparachutesandinflatablebullsathome. 

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Please quote the following reference when contacting us: LW2010 



SPORTS LAW 

Ben Purkiss became a 

professional footballer, 

then a lawyer (well, 

almost), then a footballer 

again. He tells Alex 

Aldridge about the 

thrill of playing top 

opposition, the tedium 

oftheLPCandwhy 

he’s put his training 

contract on hold 

BrabnersChaffeStreettrainee-to-beBen 

Purkiss has just finished training. It was a 

light session, following the 1-0 defeat the 

daybefore,awaytoWestHamUnitedof 

the Barclays Premier League in the third 

round of the League Cup. Purkiss, who 

played the full 90 minutes, is disappointed, 

but delighted his team, League Two outfit 

Oxford United, held its own against such 

qualityopposition–alast-gaspgoalby 

England international midfielder Scott 

Parker the only difference between the 

teams. The result is confirmation that 

his dream of making it as a top level 

professional footballer is still on. 

“Itwasagreatexperiencetoplay 

in front of 20,000 people against 

international players,” says Purkiss. 

Sowheredoesthelawfitintoall 

of this? Ten years ago Purkiss was an 

apprentice at Sheffield United, having 

leftschoolat16.Butwiththeclub’sthen 

manager Neil Warnock preferring to rely 

on his more experienced players, Purkiss’ 

career failed to take off. Academically 

gifted – Purkiss gained As in the A-Levels 

he took in history and French while playing 

full-time for the club’s youth and reserve 

teams – he decided to swap Sheffield 

United for Sheffield University. 

There, Purkiss studied law and French 

while playing semi-professionally for 

Conference North side Gainsborough 

Trinity. Having decided on a career in 

corporate law, he put in applications 

for training contracts and went on to 

secureaplacewithNorthwestcorporate 

outfit Brabners. 

Then,justashewasabouttoembark 

onhisfinals,YorkCityfromtheFootball 

Conference (a league above Gainsborough 

and pushing for promotion to the Football 

League) got in touch. 

“Itwasthe4March,thedaybefore 

transfer deadline day and they needed 

arightback.Ihadmyfinalsbutitwasa 

great opportunity that may not have come 

around again. So I went for it, relying 

onmyfriendstotakenotesformein 


A DIFFERENT 

BALL GAME 


STUART RIPLEY – FROM BLACKBURN ROVERS TO BRABNERS 

Stuart Ripley began his footballing career with 

Middlesbrough before joining Blackburn Rovers 

in1992andhelpingtheclubtowinthePremier 

League three years later. He retired from football in 

2002 and qualified as a solicitor earlier this year. 

“It wasn’t a conscious decision to become a 

lawyer,” explains Ripley, now a newly qualified 

solicitor at Brabners Chaffe Street. “I went back 

touniversityafterretiringfromfootballinorderto 

doamodernlanguagesdegree,butduetofamily 

commitments I was unable to spend enough time 

abroad and switched to law. After completing my 

degreeIwentontolawschoolandafterthatI 

was fortunate enough to land a training contract 

withBrabnersChaffeStreet,afirmwithafantastic 

sport department where my background in football 

was an asset.” 

Ripley adds that he particularly enjoys “the 

grey areas of law where debate and case law 

emerges”, while in the future he hopes to merge 

hisexperienceasaprofessionalsportsmanand 

knowledgeasalawyerinordertoofferhisfirm’s 

clientsavaluableperspectiveandservice. 


lectures,” Purkiss recalls. 

Having helped York reach the play-off 

semi-finals – and successfully completed 

his degree – Purkiss was offered a year’s 

full-time contract with the club. It meant 

deferring the Legal Practice Course (LPC) 

he was due to start, but Brabners gave him 

the all clear to do so, and Purkiss played 

35gamesasaprofessionalfootballerthat 

season. Then York offered him another 

year-long contract. Reluctant to defer his 

studies again, but keen to stay with the 

football club, he played for another year 

full-timewhilerushingtotheCollegeof 

Law’sYorkbranchaftertrainingtostudy 

for the LPC. 

“The LPC was pretty dull, so having 

‘Brabners 

have been 

great, 

recognising 

thatIwon’t 

be able to 

play football 

forever and 

whatarare 

opportunity 

this is. Even 

though I’ve 

deferred a 

number of 

times they’ve 

been fully 

supportive’ 

the football as well actually proved quite 

beneficial,” says Purkiss. Two further 

year-long contracts with York ensued, 

with Brabners allowing Purkiss to put 

his year-long training contract on hold, 

before Oxford United spotted his talents 

andofferedhimashotatleaguefootball. 

“Brabners have been great about it,” 

says Pukiss, “recognising that I won’t be 

able to play football forever and what a 

rare opportunity this is. Even though I’ve 

deferredanumberoftimesnowtheyhave 

been fully supportive.” 

In the meantime, there is no danger of 

Purkiss, now 26, losing touch with the law. 

Not only has his legal knowledge come in 

handy during contract negotiations with 

York and Oxford – “Paying attention to 

the small print helps when you’re dealing 

withagents,”hesays–butithasseenhim 

pursue a couple of personal claims; one 

against a mechanic whose incompetent 

work damaged his car, another against a 

landlord who refused to return his deposit 

for spurious reasons. “I’ve always found 

the law very interesting, and conducting 

cases for myself has helped me keep my 

eyein,”hesays. 

When Purkiss eventually becomes a 

lawyer–andheinsistsit’samatterof 

time–hesayshe’dliketousewhathehas 

learned in the game to specialise in sports 

law–withBrabners,ledbyManchester 

United director Maurice Watkins, one of 

the leading firms in this area. “My football 

career obviously won’t last forever,” he says. 

“I suppose the other option would be to be 

anagent,butthatdoesn’tappealasfrom 

whatI’veseentheyspendmostoftheirtime 

on the phone arguing about money.” 

For now, though, in true footballer 

style, Purkiss is “just taking each season 

as it comes”. 


DIVERSITY 

WILLING AND ABLE 

Inmypursuitofacareerinlaw,Ihavehad 

to jump through much the same set of 

hoops as anyone else wanting a training 

contractatamajorcitylawfirm.Since 

embarking on my training contract at Allen 

&Overy (A&O), however, my journey has 

been a little more unpredictable than I 

thought because of my disability. 

As a result of a tumour in my spine 

when I was three months old, I have 

a permanent physical disability called 

paraparesis, which means that the 

muscles in my legs are very weak. I cannot 

stand or walk unaided; I use crutches 

for short distances and the majority of 

my movement in the office and around 

London is with the use of a powered 

wheelchair (provided to me by the national 


Disability has not proved an obstacle to 

second-year trainee Arunima Misra 

–infact,ithasbeenausefullearning 

experience for her and her employers 

young person’s charity Whizz-Kidz). 

Mypassionforalegalcareerwas 

ignitedattheageof14whenIwaschosen 

to be an interviewer for a Channel 4 

schools programme called First Edition. 

My role on the programme (alongside my 

co-presenter, the legendary Jon Snow) was 

to interview politicians, celebrities and 

other influential individuals on the current 

affairs and controversial issues which they 

were involved with at the time. 

Often the interviews got quite heated, 

andIrelishedtheopportunitytofight 

mycornerinalogicalandarticulateway; 

thinkingonmyfeettoaskpoignantand 

probingquestions,oftenputtingmy 

intervieweeinadifficultposition.Irevelled 

in the limelight and realised that while my 

legs didn’t work very well, my loud mouth 

certainly did! 

Beingasolicitorseemedlikean 

obviouscareerchoiceandappealedtomy 

argumentative and language-hungry brain. 

Ihadfoundacareerpathinwhichmy 

disability would not get in the way of my 

progress and in which my mental, rather 

than physical, ability would be paramount. 



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DIVERSITY 


In hindsight, perhaps I was a little naively 

optimistic in thinking that my disability 

would not get in the way of my working 

life at all, but I was, and still am, utterly 

determined to give it my best shot. I had 

neverhadafull-timejobbeforeandso 

didnothavemuchofanideaofhowmy 

physical situation would affect my stamina 

at work. 

In my second year at Cambridge 

University I managed to get a place on a 

summer vacation scheme at A&O. From 

the outset I was pleased to see that my 

disability wasn’t going to be a major hassle 

forthehumanresources(HR)team.They 

letmeknowthatthiswasgoingtobea 

learning experience for both of us and I was 

happy for them to come to me with any 

questions or concerns. 

TheHRteamtookeverythingintheir 

stride – I was included in every single 

event which the vacation placement 

offered, from hauling my wheelchair onto 

acruisealongtheThamestoclubbingin 

acrowdedbarinLeicesterSquare.We 

workedasateamtoensurethatIdid 

notmissoutonanything.Inevergot 

theimpressionthatmydisabilitywasa 

problem; I was there because of my brain 

(andsparklingpersonality,ofcourse)and 

ifIhadadisabilitytodealwithontheside, 

then so be it. At the end of the vacation 

scheme, I was thrilled to be offered a 

training contract. 

Ifinishedmylawdegree,completedthe 

Legal Practice Course and started my stint 

intherealworldinMarch2009.A&Ohad 

inquiredpreviouslyastowhatadjustments 

were needed to make my training contract 

run with as little difficulty as possible. 

Mymainconcernsweretheexistenceof 

disabledtoiletsandlifts–butthefirmhas 

more than one disabled toilet on each floor 

andthereareover20liftsintheoffice. 

Unfortunately though, a few months into 

my training contract the combination of the 

exhaustionthatmydisabilitycausesand 

the long, frantic hours required of trainees 

began to take their toll; there were now 

otherfactorsthatA&OandIwouldhaveto 

consider and work through together. 

Itdawnedonmethatinmybubbleat 

CambridgeIwasincontrolofmydays–if 

my fatigue got the better of me, I could just 

takearestandcontinuewhenIwasfeeling 

better – but I’m not sure that climbing on 

top of my desk to have a power nap would 

godowntoowellatamagiccirclelawfirm. 

The smallest of things required the 

greatestofeffort.Irealisedthatareal 

independentlifeasadisabledperson 

meansthatsomanythingshavetobe 

takencareofthatgobeyondtherealms 

of my job: 

l My disability makes me exhausted by 

the end of the day, meaning that I am 

unable to work long hours like the rest of 

the trainees; 

l I have numerous hospital appointments, 


A&O clearly recognises how important 

diversityisintheworkplaceinorderfor 

a business to progress and thrive. It’s so 

inspiring being surrounded by people 

fromallwalksoflife;everyonebrings 

their own refreshing perspective 

which mean I often have to leave the office 

in the middle of the day; 

l If my wheelchair breaks down I have to 

think about how I am going to get to and 

from work and who is going to rescue me; 

l Ifit’sraining,Ihavetoorganisean 

adequate wheelchair-friendly taxi (a much 

more difficult task than you would think) 

to take me to or from work; and 

l Anysocialeventhastobeheldina 

disabled-friendly venue, otherwise I 

cannot attend. 

Luckily though, these were all problems 

thathadasolution.A&Olistenedtome 

and was incredibly understanding and 

helpful.Wearrivedatasolutionforeach 

of the difficulties I was facing. I now work 

flexiblehoursandmytrainersunderstand 

thatIhavetoleavetheofficeatacertain 

time of day in order to go home and rest. 

Ifoundawheelchairbreakdownservice 

whichdoesroadsideassistanceandIhave 

myownblackcabaccountwiththefirmin 

ordertohelpmegethome. 

I am now in the second year of 

my training contract and things are 

goingsmoothly.Therewasaperiodof 

adjustment and learning for me and the 

firm, but A&O helped to provide solutions 

to my problems and didn’t leave me to 

struggle on my own. 

Thefirmhashelpedtobuildupmy 

confidence by concentrating on my ability 

and not my disability. In turn, it displayed 

its own confidence by showing me that 

my disability mattered enough for it to 

helpmefindasolutiontomydifficulties, 

butnotsomuchthatitbecameanuisance 

orahassle. 

Support and confidence are so vital 

for a disabled person to grow. Without 

confidence, I wouldn’t have the strength or 

the determination to make the most of my 

life and use the talents I possess despite the 

adversities I face. 

A&O clearly recognises how important 

diversity is in the workplace in order for 

abusinesstoprogressandthrive.It’sso 

inspiring being surrounded by people from 

all walks of life; everyone brings their own 

refreshing perspective. 

Crucially,inordertobenefitfromall 

the brilliant things that diversity brings, a 

businesswillhavetotakeintoconsideration 

some of the things that come with their 

employees as a result of the life-path that 

the employee is walking. It’s a two-way 

commitment. 

Iamaverypositivepersonand,ifI 

could give other law firms some advice, 

it would be to recognise that disabled 

applicantswishtobeacknowledgedfor 

whattheycando,notwhattheycan’t.We 

do have some extra hurdles to consider 

whenapplyingforajobandsettlingdown 

independently in a new city. I, for one, 

certainly do not want sympathy; this is 

thehandIhavebeendealt.AllIneedis 

an understanding from my employer of 

this fact. 

The majority of people I have worked 

with have been incredibly understanding 

and empathetic. They have inspired and 

motivated me to progress in my career and 

to do the best job I can. 

Thishasbeenmorethanacareer 

journeyforme,it’sbeenajourneyof 

independence and freedom. It’s a strange 

journey, one where I have learned 

something new about myself every day and 

I am loving every minute. 

ArunimaMisraisatraineeatAllen&Overy. 


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We have more 

than most. 

Being based in the Gherkin gives us some amazing views over 

London. But those aren’t the only interesting perspectives 

you’ll find here. We are a leading international firm focusing 

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counselling matters. And as a true meritocracy we can offer 

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yourself from the very start of your career. From there, how 

high you go is entirely up to you. 

For the best views go to kirkland.com/ukgraduate

LAWYER’S LIFE 

Caroline Grimshaw talkstoformerFreshfieldsBruckhausDeringerassociateAlastairVere 

Nicollaboutturninghisbackonthelawtosetuphisownprivateequityfund 

If you are looking for a commercial lawyer 

who has gone to somewhat extraordinary 

lengths to achieve a life outside law, you 

need not look much further than Alastair 

Vere Nicoll. 

In broad terms, the former Freshfields 

Bruckhaus Deringer private equity 

associate’s story is unremarkable – 

disillusioned lawyer attempts to escape 

from a profession that offers potfulls of 

cash but insufficient fulfilment. We have 

heard it before. But what is more unusual 

is that he now runs his own successful 

fund management company and got there 

via a 76-day traverse of the Antarctic. 

And, by the way, he has written a book 

about it. 

Vere Nicoll is co-founder of Berkeley 

Energy, a private equity fund manager 

specialising in renewable energy 

infrastructure investments in developing 

markets. It is still early days for the 

company, established in January 2008, but 

in December last year it achieved first close 

of €50m (£42m) on its Renewable Energy 

Asia Fund and is hoping to at least double 

THE GREATEST 

ADVENTURE 

that by final close at the end of this year. 

Vere Nicoll concedes that he does most 

of the legal work, so from that point of 

view he has not really escaped law at all. 

But then it is a small start-up company, 

and he does a bit of whatever lands on 

his desk. “I go from ordering the bin bags 

and employing the cleaner to agreeing 

currency hedging – it’s the full gambit,” 

he says. 

The variety is a long way from his days 

at magic circle giant Freshfields, which he 

joined as a trainee in 1999 at the end of 

the dot-com bubble. He is anxious about 

appearing disparaging about his former 

firm, but notes that it was a ‘slog’ for 

associates working their way up to the 

partnership, and that the hard work did 

not stop when you became a partner. He 

didn’t want to become one of the ones 

who moans but does little about it. He 

wanted more. “I didn’t want to be in just 

a legal role, but an entrepreneurial role 

which allows you to fulfil your financial 

VereNicollintheAntarctic 



goals and ethical ambitions.” 

The circuitous route by which Vere 

Nicoll arrived at a role that he says now 

fulfils his goals and ambitions could easily 

be mistaken on paper for one lacking in 

direction, and it is true that the direction 

changed a couple of times along the 

way. His achievements so far, however, 

have undoubtedly resulted from advance 

strategic planning. 

Having left Freshfields in 2003, Vere 

Nicoll took an eye-watering salary cut 

to work as a part-time lecturer at BPP 

Law School, with a view to working 

towards achieving his first ambition of 

writing a book. His second ambition was 

to undertake a major expedition, and it 

became obvious that the two could work 

hand in hand. Cue two years of planning, 

£400,000 of funding, a sabbatical and a 

four-man trip by kite and sledge across 

Antarctica. The book, Riding the Ice Wind, 

followed and was published in June. In a 

notable endorsement, British adventurer 

Bear Grylls describes the trip as: “…one 

of the longest, hardest polar journeys of 

recent years…” 

Two goals achieved – tick – but 

the low wages of academia were no 

longer sustainable, and once again the 

strategising began. Vere Nicoll decided to 

start his own renewable energy business, 

yet returned to Freshfields private equity 

team in June 2006: “My CV needed a bit 

of strengthening and to target setting up a 

renewable energy business I wanted to go 

back in at a higher level than when I left 

‘I’m pretty exposed and I don’t think 

anyofmyothercolleagueswould 

havetakentherisksI’vetaken’ 

Alastair Vere Nicoll 

and try to do a renewables deal.” 

During his second stint at the firm 

he wrote a business plan and began 

networking with high-profile renewables 

professionals, leaving Freshfields a year 

and two months after joining, during 

which time he had pulled together the 

team that now runs Berkeley Energy. 

While he may have escaped the slog, 

hard work is something that would 

definitely characterise the last couple 

of years setting up Berkeley Energy, 

combined with a risk factor that was never 

present as a private practice solicitor. 

Setting up a fund during one of the worst 

credit crunches in recent history is not for 

the fainthearted and, with two children 

to support, it’s lucky Vere Nicoll also 

has an understanding wife. “I’m pretty 

exposed and I don’t think any of my other 

colleagues would have taken the risks I’ve 

taken,” he says. 

But it is largely because of that 

willingness to take risks that he has found 

a mental and emotional buy-in with the 

company that was never present in private 

practice. 

Vere Nicoll’s ethical ambitions have 

evidently been achieved; the fund is 

investing in building renewable energy 

installations in Asia and, while raising 

money is the object, they are also “trying 

to help a problem”. 

But what about his financial ambitions? 

Well, the salary is not yet rivalling his 

private practice income and Vere Nicoll 

says honestly, “I earn less than half”. 

Performance-related bonuses come in 

lump sums but are unpredictable, so, he 

says, you learn to live off the salary. 

On the plus side, when you do get 

a windfall, because it hasn’t already 

been accounted for in your day-to-day 

expenditure, it can be put towards 

something extraordinary. “It might mean 

you can pay off a mortgage.” 

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BUILDING FUTURES 



STUDENT PUBS 

Choosingwhichlawschooltoattendisn’t 

easy. The College of Law, BPP Law School, 

Kaplan Law School, City Law School…let’s 

face it, they seem pretty similar. Of course, 

the amount of time most students spend 

in the aforementioned establishments 

aredwarfedbythehourstheypassinthe 

surrounding pubs. Which is why Legal 

Week Student has been out taking a look 

at the most popular watering holes near 

London’s top law schools. 

A drink at the pubs around City Law 

School, in Gray’s Inn, and BPP Law 

School’s Holborn branch – both located in 

the heart of legal London – comes with the 

useful advantage that it involves potential 

access to thousands of law professionals 

escaping the office. 

“The conversation inevitably turns to 

law,” says Tommy Dutton, who is currently 

doingtheBarProfessionalTrainingCourse 

(BPTC). “If there are lawyers around in the 

pub, or if you’re standing outside smoking, 

you might get into some law conversations 

with professionals.” 

And these conversations can lead 

to more, adds Dutton: “It’s shameless, 

but we’d head over to Fleet Street and 

Chancery Lane to try to meet professionals 

and scrounge a job or pupillage. It 

was great during the World Cup, since 

everyone was out. I got a three-month 

summer job through a barrister I met in 

apub.You’llbumpintosomeonewho 

knows someone who’s got work.” 

Popular pubs in this area among law 

students and professionals alike include 

the Cittie of Yorke, a grade II listed public 

house on High Holborn featuring Victorian 

cubiclesthatwereoriginallyusedby 

lawyers in consultation with clients; and 

theKnight’sTemplar,aWetherspoon’s 

pub in the former Union Bank building on 

Chancery Lane, which takes its name from 

theorderofKnightsacrosswhoseland 

Chancery Lane was built in the 

12th century. 

Bloomsbury, the College of Law’s 

main London branch, is not so good for 

schmoozing with lawyers, but the area’s 

bohemian history and celebrity-spotting 

potential makes up for it. The Fitzroy 

Tavern, a pub on Charlotte Street, is 

particularly popular with law students. 

“Everyone goes to The Fitzroy Tavern,” 

says Dutton. “It’s a Samuel Smith’s 

pub so it’s very cheap. After exams or 

assessments, there’s always students 

spilling out into the street”. And with a 

sizable outdoor area under large leafy 

trees, the pub offers a pleasant place to 

watch life go by on a summer’s evening. 

“The Fitzroy has a good atmosphere 

as well an interesting historic link,” adds 

Legal Practice Course (LPC) student Jeremy 

Isaacson,whodidhisGDLattheCollege 

of Law last year. 

He is referring to the pub’s heyday – 

fromabout1919to1956–whenitwas 

the drinking hole of choice for many on 


Afterahardday’sstudy,you’llbe 

in need of some liquid refreshment. 

Melanie Law takesontheonerous 

task of exploring the London pubs 

popular with law students 

MINE’S 

APINT 

the London literary scene, a fact tavern 

manager Peter Deiuliis enthusiastically 

elaborates on: “Big-time boozer poet 

Dylan Thomas began many a pub crawl 

here, since we’re on the divide between 

Camden, where the license ended at 

around 10:30pm, and Westminster, where 

licenses end half an hour later. They used 

todoatraildowntoSoho,”hesays.“And 

more recently, actor Hugh Grant was in 

with some friends a few weeks ago.” 

Another Bloomsbury law student 

hauntisTheCollegeArms,located, 

fittingly, an arms-length from the College 

of Law’s doors. 

“About 75% of our customers are law 

students,” says pub manager Ryan Moore. 

“Beginning mid-September we do student 

specials every night of the week until the 

endofthesemester.” 

He adds that this autumn the pub is 

holding a comedy law quiz on Tuesday 

nights, run by a former law student, with 

comedysketchesinbetweenrounds. 

ThedownsidewithTheCollegeArms 

is that, according to Dutton, it’s “the one 

place you might bump into lecturers on a 

Friday night”. 

As for other kinds of clientele, Pete 

Doherty has been in as he was filming 

in the area recently, while John Bercow, 

SpeakeroftheHouseofCommons,is 

another regular. 

Across the river in Borough, where 

KaplanLawSchoolislocated,istheplace 

to be for the serious drinkers. The Market 

Porter on Stoney Street holds a special 

licensethatseesitopenfrom6am-830am 

Monday-Friday to cater for workers at the 

nearby market. 

“Afteralongnightofclubbing,itcould 

be a good place to get one last drink on 

the way home,” says Kaplan Law School 

lecturer Natasha Morgan. Or, if it strikes 

you, on the way to class. 

Nearby is law student favourite The 

Mudlark,whichisoneofthecheaper 

pubs in the area – fitting, perhaps, as it 

is named after the penniless people who 

combedthebanksoftheThamesfor 

coal, iron and other loot fallen from boats 

passing through. 

Situated just far enough from the 

market to avoid the majority of tourists, 

the pub has a big outdoor area and a 

traditional interior that suits those looking 

for a low-key, mid-week pint. 

Andthenthere’sTheGeorge,on 

Borough High Street. “The George is a 

National Trust building, so it’s a unique 

place to get a drink,” says Morgan. 

“Charles Dickens and Shakespeare used to 

go there, and it’s the only galleried pub in 

London.” 

Winston Churchill even used to stop 

in, cheekily bringing along his own Port. 

Legal Week Student would never advocate 

such behaviour, but we would recommend 

looking beyond the brochures when 

selecting a place to study. 



Real. 

Jenny Hodges, Trainee 

Distinctive. 

Opportunities. Challenging. 

Integrated. 

“I’ve been encouraged to handle increasingly 

challenging tasks by myself, in the knowledge 

that support is always at hand.” 

Vacation Placements 

31st January 2011 

Training Contracts 

31st July 2011 (to start 2013) 

www.wfw.com/trainee

STUDENT 

AUTUMN 2010 

BAR SPECIAL 

FUTURE STARS 

10 YOUNG BARRISTERS TO WATCH 

l 

PLUS: BPTC – MORE THAN JUST A NEW NAME? CROSSING THE 

l 

DIVIDE – ALLURE OF LAW FIRM LIFE NEWS AND CAREER ADVICE


STEPHENSON HARWOOD CONVERTS TO 

LDP TO APPOINT BARRISTER AS PARTNER 

sofia.lind@legalweek.com 

Stephenson Harwood has become 

thelatestlawfirmtotake 

advantage of the Legal Services Act 

(LSA) after appointing a barrister to 

its partnership. 

Financial regulatory disputes 

specialist Sara George joined the 

firm last week from Allen & Overy, 

where she has been senior associate 

for four years. Prior to that, she was 

a prosecutor both with the Financial 

Services Authority and the Serious 

Fraud Office. 

Stephenson Harwood is currently 

converting to a Legal Disciplinary 

Partnership (LDP) and George will 

become the third partner in the 

firm’s financial services contentious 

regulatory practice, which is headed 

up by regulatory litigation partner 

Tony Woodcock. 

The other partner in the group 

is Sean Jeffrey, who joined the firm 

in May this year from Freshfields 

Bruckhaus Deringer, where he was 

a counsel. 

Stephenson Harwood has advised 

onfinancialservicesdisputesfor 

around 20 years. However, the 

firmrecentlykickedoffadriveto 

expand the group in light of the 

recentincreaseinregulationonthe 

financial sector. 

Woodcock commented: “We 

have a longstanding track record in 

this area of advice and by recruiting 

peopleofSara’scalibreweare 

placing ourselves further ahead of 

the game.” 

OnlyafewUKtop50firmshave 

adopted LDP structures – which form 

akeyplankoftheLSAandallows 

non-lawyerstoformupto25%ofa 

lawfirm’spartnership–sincethey 

came into force in March 2009. 

BARSTANDARDSBOARDFLOATSPLANSTO 

REGULATE BARRISTER-DRIVEN BUSINESSES 


The Bar Standards Board (BSB) 

has launched a third consultation 

on the Legal Services Act (LSA) to 

determine whether the watchdog 

should regulate businesses as well as 

individual advocates. 

The consultation, ‘Regulating 

Entities’, was launched on 27 

September. The results will form 

the BSB’s position as to whether 

it should become an entitybased 

regulator of new structures 

under the Act such as alternative 

business structures (ABSs) and legal 

disciplinary partnerships (LDPs). 

The consultation will also look at 

whether the cab-rank rule – which 

requiresbarristerstoacceptcases 

brought to them – can be modified 

toapplytobarristerspractisingas 

managers of LDPs. 

Itwillaskopinionsonwhether 

barristers should continue to be 

prevented from providing litigation 

services and holding client money, 

twoofthemostsignificant 

restrictions that still exist on the way 

barristers work. 

Thereview,whichisduetoclose 

on 23 December, is the third in a 


Baroness Deech: 

significant consultation 

series of BSB consultations looking 

at the LSA. 

The first consultation – 

‘Implications for the Regulation of 

theBar’–waslaunchedinFebruary 

2008 while the second was launched 

in December 2008. 

The second consultation saw the 

Bar regulator signal approval for 

barristers to join LDPs. 

LDPs form a key plank of the LSA 

and allow law firms to add nonlawyers 

to their partnerships, up to 

a cap of 25% of total partner count 

whileABSs–oftendubbed‘Tesco 

law’ – will allow companies to invest 

in law firms and provide legal services 

outside of traditional partnerships. 

BSB chair Baroness Ruth Deech 

said:“Thisisoneofthemost 

significant consultations we have 

issued to date. These decisions could 

have major implications for barristers 

andthosewhoseektheirservices,as 

wellasfortheBSBasaregulator.” 

Sheadded:“Theproposalsinthe 

consultation are provisional and we 

encourage all those with an interest 

to submit their views and influence 

thefutureoflegalserviceprovision.” 

Thenewsfollowstheresultofa 

recent YouGov survey which indicated 

that35%ofbarristerswouldbe 

‘likely’, or ‘very likely’ to join a new 

structure within the next five years if 

the BSB was to regulate them. 

FIRST ENGLISH 

LANGUAGE 

CASE HEARD IN 

COMMERCIAL 

GERMAN COURT 


The first-ever case to be held in 

English in the German courts has 

been heard after a recent ruling 

permittedtheuseoftheEnglish 

language in commercial cases in a bid 

to win more international business. 

The German regional court 

in Bonn heard Belgian company 

BDC International’s claim of lost 

profits against German electrical 

engineering group Moeller, which 

concluded on 31 May, in English. 

Apilotcasehadpreviously 

beenheldattheendofMarchin 

Duesseldorf after the German state 

of Rhine-Westphalia said that it 

was looking to facilitate the use of 

English in commercial court cases 

where necessary. 

Foracasetobedealtin 

English, the federal Bar requires 

three stipulations be met: all the 

participantshavetomakethe 

request; the use of an interpreter 

isbanned;andtheremustbean 

international element to the case. 

Linklaters Germany ex-managing 

partner Markus Hartung said: “The 

Government and the federal Bar 

started this initiative to be able to 

caterforcasesinEnglishsothatthe 

German legal system would be more 

attractive for international investors. 

“Unlike the English system, 

every party is allowed to talk 

directlytothejudge,makingiteven 

more necessary for international 

companies to have the use of a 

common language.” 

TheuseofEnglishhasnowbeen 

implemented in several forums 

including regional courts in Cologne, 

BonnandAachen.Abillisalso 

currently in discussion to allow for 

written submissions and verdicts to 

be dealt with in English, taking the 

initiative one step further. 

IN NUMBERS: 

10 

Number of up-and-coming 

barristers profiled in the Stars 

at the Bar feature 

SEE PAGES 62-68 


BRICKCOURTQCOPTSFORMOVETOSERLECOURT 

friederike.heine@legalweek.com 

Brick Court Chambers silk Conor 

Quigley QC has made the unusual 

move of leaving the set to join 

commercial chambers Serle Court. 

European Union law specialist 

Quigley, who took silk in 2003, 

joined Serle Court on 1 October. 

Commenting on his move, Quigley 

said: “I believe that my interests, 

which cover a broad range of 

EU-related commercial matters, 

are perfectly suited to Serle Court’s 

areas of practice. The international 

nature of much of my work makes 

Serle Court an ideal choice.” 

BrickCourtjointseniorclerkIan 

Moyler commented: “Although it 

is very sad indeed to see Conor 

go,wewishhimallthebestfor 

hisnewroleatSerleCourt.Hefelt 

as though his interests would be 

better served there. A move like 

this is unusual, but it has become 

more common of late as the market 

becomes more fluid.” 

Notable recent cases that 

Quigley has acted on include Louca 

v A German Judicial Authority, one 

of the first judgments to be 

delivered by the new UK 

Supreme Court. 

Quigley: 

unusual 

move 

Ealier this year Serle Court 

barrister James Corbett QC left 

the set to join Kobre & Kim, giving 

the US law firm its first English law 

capability in London. 

MILLS & REEVE PROMOTES 

BARRISTER TO PARTNERSHIP 

friederike.heine@legalweek.com 

Mills & Reeve has added a barrister 

to its partnership in the firm’s annual 

promotions round, becoming the 

latest UK top 50 practice to convert 

to Legal Disciplinary Partnership 

(LDP) status. 

Richard Sykes, the head of the 

firm’s public law and regulatory 

team, has become a member of the 

equity partnership after the firm 

converted to LDP status on 1 May. 

LDPs, a key aspect of the reforms 

ushered in by the Legal Services Act, 

allow non-lawyers to form up to 

25% of a law firm’s partnership. The 

changes came into force in March 

2009, but to date only a handful of 

firms including Halliwells and Irwin 

Mitchell have taken up the option. 

Mills & Reeve senior partner Mark 

Jeffries commented: “We were 

not able to promote Richard to the 

equity partnership last year due 

to our limited liability partnership 

status. We are very happy to 

welcome him on board this year – 

the changes were long overdue.” 

The move comes at the same time 

as Mills & Reeve’s annual promotions 

round, which has seen two solicitors 

made up to the partnership, taking 

the total number of partners to 92. 

The new partner promotions 

include Amanda Tagg, whose 

practice focuses on agricultural real 

estate. Tagg trained at Slaughter and 

May and joined Mills & Reeve’s real 

estate group in Cambridge in 2005, 

transferring to the agricultural real 

estate team in 2008. 

The other new partner is banking 

specialist Zak Virgin, who joined the 

firm as a trainee in 1999. He spent 

Jefferies: 

change 

overdue 

his first five years as a solicitor in the 

corporate team before moving to the 

banking team in 2006. 

Jeffries added: “These two 

talented individuals will enable us to 

extend the reach of our real estate 

and banking practices. 

ABA CONSIDERS PLAN TO ACCREDIT FOREIGN LAW SCHOOLS 

Karen Sloan 

are under more pressure than ever lawyers with “less reliable training” the overseas accreditation would 

to make decisions about admitting than graduates of US law schools be born by the foreign law schools 

TheAmericanBarAssociation(ABA) foreign lawyers as the legal profession will be admitted to the Bar, the rather than the ABA. 

is to consider proposals to accredit becomes increasingly globalised. committee said. Additionally, there ABA spokeswoman Nancy 

foreign law schools in what would be “Such an expansion would will be a lack of consistency among Slonim said that the committee’s 

a closely-watched development in the provide additional guidance for states as to how foreign-trained nine-page report has been sent to 

international legal education market. state supreme courts when lawyers lawyers are admitted, it said. state supreme court justices, the 

The recommendation has come trained outside the US seek to 

“IfwebelievethattheAmerican leadership of the ABA, deans of 

from a committee of law professors, be allowed to sit for a US Bar legal education model is the ‘gold ABA-approved law schools and other 

lawyers, judges and law deans set examination,” the committee said standard’ for legal education 

interested parties. Relevant parties 

up in June to examine whether in its report. “Since that is a key worldwide and that well-trained have until 15 October to submit 

foreign law schools should be function of the accreditation process lawyers are critical to the global comments, she said. 

allowed to seek ABA accreditation. generally, the expansion would be economy, then a willingness to expand The committee included University 

The ABA’s Council of Legal consistent with the historic role of accreditation to schools embracing of California Hastings College of 

Education and Admissions to the the section in aiding state supreme the American model is an appropriate the Law professor Mary Kay Kane, 

Bar is scheduled for December courts in the Bar admissions area.” way to improve the training of lawyers Virginia Senior Justice Elizabeth Lacy, 

to consider the committee’s 

The committee cited figures from globally and contribute to the modern University of Miami School of Law 

recommendation – that overseas the National Conference of Bar economy and the international legal Dean Dennis Lynch, Indiana Chief 

schools that follow a comparable Examiners that each year between profession,” the panel said. 

Justice Randall Shepard, and K&L 

model to the US should be able to 4,000 and 5,000 foreign-trained law However, the committee did cite Gates partner David Tang. 

receive ABA accreditation. 

graduates take the Bar exam in the potential downsides to accrediting There will be much interest in 

The ABA, the US’s umbrella Bar US. Most of them sit for the exams in international law schools, 

the UK regarding the stance of 

association, is already responsible New York or California. 

including the expansion of practice leading law schools such as the 

for accrediting US law schools. If the ABA decides not to expand opportunities for foreign-trained College of Law and BPP Law School, 

Thecommitteecitedanearlier accreditation, and states are forced lawyers with no reciprocal benefit which have made little secret of 

ABAreport’sconclusionthatstate to make their own decisions about for US law school graduates. The their interest in building up their 

supreme courts and Bar associations foreign-trained lawyers, some committee said that the cost of international links. 

www.legalweek.com/students LegalWeekStudent Spring2010 59


NEWYORKTRIALSPECIALISTCONVERTSCITYARMTOLDPSTATUS 


Kobre & Kim has become the first US 

firm in London to convert to Legal 

Disciplinary Partnership (LDP) status 

in England and Wales. 

Themovewillallowthefirm’s 

UK lawyers and barristers to begin 

practising English law as partners in 

the firm. 

The five-partner London office 

includes former Serle Court barrister 

FORMER LINKLATERS IP CHIEF 

JOINSCITY’SPOWELLGILBERT 


Powell Gilbert has recruited 

Linklaters’formerheadof 

intellectualproperty(IP)Anna 

Carboni in a boost for the firm’s 

trademark practice. 

The highly-rated trademark lawyer 

joinstheCityIPboutiquefrom 

Wilberforce Chambers, where she 

has been a barrister since leaving 

Linklaters in 2003. 

Carboni will be the eighth 

partner at the boutique, which was 

launched by a five-member group of 

ex-Bristowspartnersin2007andis 

noted for its patents practice. 

Carboni headed Linklaters’ IP 

group for around two years from 

2001 after making partner in 1996. 

James Corbett QC, who joined the 

firm in April, handing Kobre its 

first English law capability. Corbett 

was joined by Simon Cullingworth 

from Fladgate Fielder in April and 

Enterprise Chambers barrister 

TimPrudhoe,whohaveboth 

become partners. 

Thetriowillworkalongsidetwo 

London-based US-qualified partners. 

Kobre is now aiming to expand its 

presenceintheCityandisexpected 

Shequalifiedasabarristerupon 

leaving Linklaters. 

Commenting on her return to a 

law firm, Carboni told Legal Week: 

“This is a great opportunity to 

put the advocacy skills I have 

acquired into practice and combining 

thethingsImostliketodo.Powell 

Gilbert is the ideal-sized firm for 

my practice.” 

Powell Gilbert founding partner 

Simon Ayrton said: “We are thrilled 

Anna will be joining us. She brings 

enormous talent and experience to 

drive the continued expansion of 

ourtrademarkandsoftIPdispute 

resolution practice. 

“We are very proud she has 

decided to join us – it’s a great 

accolade for the firm’s achievements 

torecruittwomorelawyersat 

partner level over the summer. 

Kobre focuses on litigation against 

banks, futures intermediaries, 

investment companies and 

professional firms. 

LDPs,whichformakeyplankof 

the liberalisation of the profession 

ushered in by the Legal Services Act, 

allow non-lawyers to form up to 

25%ofalawfirm’spartnershipand 

forsolicitorstogointopartnership 

Carboni: great 

opportunity 

so far,” he added. 

Last year Powell Gilbert also 

addedtoitspartnershipwiththe 

with barristers. The changes came 

into force in March 2009, but to date 

Halliwells and Irwin Mitchell are the 

onlyUKtop50firmsknowntohave 

registered for LDP status. 

Corbettcommented:“Ourfirmis 

one of only a handful of international 

litigation firms that offers a conflictfree 

platform for litigation and 

advocacy through an integrated 

team of English solicitors, barristers 

and US-qualified lawyers.” 

hiretheformerheadofNokia’s 

European IP rights litigation group, 

Ari Laakkonen. 

BPPGAINSUNIVERSITYSTATUSASPARTOFPRIVATESECTORPUSH 

alex.aldridge@legalweek.com 

BPP College of Professional Studies 

has been granted ‘university college’ 

status, creating the first private 

sector university college for more 

than 30 years. 

The new arrangement means 

BPP Law School is now part of BPP 

University College. However, the law 

school’snamewillremainthesame 

and no changes will be made to the 

way it operates. 

This is the first time a private 

institution has been awarded 

the university college title since 

Buckingham University College – 

nowtheUniversityofBuckingham– 

was created in 1976. 

BPP Law School chief executive 

Peter Crisp told Legal Week:“From 

a reputational point of view this 

is excellent news. All of our staff, 

students and alumni will benefit 

from being a university college.” 


David Willetts, minister of state 

for universities and science, said: 

“The coalition Government is 

committed to promoting a wider 

range of educational opportunities, 

delivering a more diverse higher 

education system and matching the 

skills employers want. 

“It is healthy to have a vibrant 

private sector working alongside 

our more traditional universities. 

International experience shows that 

a diverse range of higher education 

providers helps widen access, 

focuses attention on teaching quality 

and promotes innovative learning 

methods, such as web-based 

distance learning.” 

Three years ago BPP was 

awarded degree-awarding powers, 

afterrivalTheCollegeofLaw–a 

registered charity – became the 

first non-university in England 

and Wales to be allowed to award 

degrees in 2006. 


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UP-AND-COMING BARRISTERS 

Emerging legislation is reshaping the Bar, with much debate arising over its future direction. 

Claire Ruckin profiles10up-and-comingbarristerspeggedamongthebestofthenewgeneration 

STARSATTHEBAR 

Charlie Kelly 

‘Sushma is thorough 

and diligent, has good 

judgement, clear 

drafting and has done 

some effective crossexamination 

to boot’ 

Sushma Ananda, 

7 King’s Bench Walk 


The future of the Bar always sparks a fiery 

debate, and never more so than now, 

with the Legal Services Act (LSA) opening 

up new opportunities set to reshape the 

future of the legal profession. 

The upcoming changes have split 

lawyers into two camps: those who believe 

it is a dying profession, with barristers 

unable and unwilling to change, and 

others who see the Bar as a vital part of 

our legal system going forward, which is 

opening up to modern practices. 

The Bar has not been immune to the 

effects of increasing pressure on clients 

to reduce costs and seek value-added 

services from their legal advisers. A large 

majority of sets have become savvier 

about marketing, have increased their 

client focus, and are now willing to be 

open to discussions on alternative pricing 

methods. 

And the debate over the future of the 

Bar is particularly relevant for the next 

generation of up-and-coming barristers, 

whose roles will be greatly impacted 

by the changes. 

This year’s stars at the Bar were chosen 

based on Legal Week research and the 

opinions of over 70 people within the 

Bar–bothinregionalandCitysets–as 

well as instructing solicitors. In order to 

beconsidered,allcandidateshadtobe 

called10yearsagoorlessandhadto 

beamemberofthecommercialor 

Chancery Bar. 

SUSHMA ANANDA 

7 King’s Bench Walk 

Called to the Bar: 2007 

Education: Singapore Anglo-Chinese 

Junior College; University of Cambridge 

In a relatively short space of time Sushma 

Ananda has made a big impact. Those 

instructing her have said: “Although 

very junior and only three years call, 

Sushma punches far above her weight. 

She has impressed everyone on the team. 

She is thorough and diligent, has good 

judgement, clear drafting and has done 

some effective cross-examination to boot.” 

One of her first big cases involved 

defending the Liberian Government 

against alleged vulture funds. She was 

acting on her own against a silk. She 

describes the case as “pretty intimidating 

but a very good experience”. 

Ananda is preparing to go to the Court 

of Appeal later this year representing 

insurance company Generali against 


Orient Express hotels on of a claim arising 

from the damages suffered as a result of 

Hurricane Katrina and Rita. 

With firms such as Freshfields 

Bruckhaus Deringer, Kennedys and Dewey 

& LeBoeuf already instructing her, Ananda 

looks set to have a bright career. 

STEVEN REED 

No5 Chambers 


Education: Brentwood School; 

University of Kent 

Steven Reed had an exciting start to his 

career, successfully acting for the Football 

Association during his pupillage, on the 

ownership of intellectual property rights 

for England mascot World Cup Willy. He 

cites winning this case as the proudest 

moment of his career. 

Reed has gone on to advise on 

a number of interesting copyright 

infringement and defamation cases, such 

as defending the BBC in a £350,000 

copyright infringement case; successfully 

representing the boyfriend of one of the 

finalists of Britain’s Next Top Model and 

receiving substantial damages from the 

Daily Mirror; and acting in a case involving 

fake eBay postings. 

Asked what he loves most about the 

Bar, Reed comments: “I like being selfemployed 

and I like the chambers system. 

You can rely on the support of other 

people to get advice and draw from their 

experience, but you work by yourself to 

build your own reputation – that’s what 

motivates me to get up in the morning.” 

Onecommentatorsays:“Hehasa 

practice and following years ahead of his 

callbuthisrelativelyjuniorstatusisignored 

byclientswhoseehimasapersonable, 

intelligent, commercially-savvy advocate 

with a maturity beyond his years.” 

NIK YEO 

Fountain Court 


Education: Geelong Grammar School 

(Victoria, Melbourne); University of 

Melbourne; University of Oxford 

Nik Yeo was always attracted to the Bar 

but took a while to get there. He initially 

qualified in Australia and worked as a 

solicitor in Melbourne for Allens Arthur 

Robinson before moving to the 

UK to study for his Bachelor of Civil Law 

(BCL) at the University of Oxford. 

Prior to joining the Bar, Yeo was a 

law lecturer at Wadham College before 

realising a life of academia was not for 

him. He joined Slaughter and May as a 

transactional lawyer for three years but, 

deciding he was attracted to the prospect 

of being a barrister, he made the switch 

and joined Fountain Court. He advises: 

“Anyone keen enough to join the Bar 

should do it.” 

Yeo has worked on a number of highprofile 

cases including working with 


Charlie Kelly 

Yeo’s transactional 

strength made him 

attractive to HM Treasury, 

which instructed 

himtoadviseonthe 

Government’s £300bn 

asset protection scheme 

Norton Rose advising Lehman Brothers in 

various applications in the insolvency of 

the UK Lehman entity. 

His transactional strength, alongside 

his litigation ability, made him attractive 

to HM Treasury, which instructed Yeo 

alongside Slaughter and May to advise 

on the latter stages of the Government’s 

£300bn asset protection scheme, set up to 

protect banks against toxic debt. 

One instructing partner comments: “Nik 

is technically superb while at the same 

time very practical and client friendly. He 

was a solicitor before re-qualifying at the 

Bar and this certainly gives him a good 

understanding of client needs.” 

Nik Yeo, Fountain Court 

STEPHEN MIDWINTER 

Brick Court Chambers 


Education: Verulam School; 

University of Cambridge 

Stephen Midwinter wanted to join the Bar 

from a young age. He recently rediscovered 

a piece of school work in which he, age 11, 

writes: “When I grow up I want to go to 

university to study law and be a barrister 

in London.” 

Instructed by law firms including 

SkaddenArpsSlateMeagher&Flom, 

Clyde&Co,HerbertSmith,DLAPiper 

andBarlowLyde&Gilbert,Midwinter 




‘Midwinter is 

bright, good 

on paper and 

unafraid to give 

pragmatic and 

robust advice. He 

has been wellregarded 

by silks 

with whom he 

has worked’ 

Stephen Midwinter, 

Brick Court Chambers 


hasactedonanumberofhigh-profile 

disputes. Of note, he successfully struck 

out a case brought against client Roman 

Abramovich in 2008 by Russian company 

Yugraneft, the oil production subsidiary 

of TNK-BP. 

Another notable case saw Midwinter 

appear in the House of Lords representing 

AGF in the landmark reinsurance case of 

Wasa and AGF v Lexington. The judgment 

was handed down on the last day the 

House of Lords was operating. 

He says the best moments are the 

small victories he wins by himself, such 

as securing a freezing injunction that was 

important to a client. With influences such 

as Brick Court Chambers’ Mark Howard 

QC, Midwinter’s advice to newcomers 

would be to “stay optimistic and don’t be 

put off”. 

Instructing solicitors say: “We have 

instructed Stephen, and seen him on 

the other side in commercial disputes 

concerning complex financial instruments 

and allegations of misrepresentation and 

civil fraud. He is bright, good on paper 

and unafraid to give pragmatic and robust 

advice. He has been well-regarded by silks 

with whom he has worked.” 

JAMES WILLAN 

Essex Court Chambers 


Education: Loughborough Grammar; 


James Willan is celebrating the recent 

win of approximately £400m for his client 

Yukos after a long-running battle with 

Russian oil company Rosnef, which was 

James Willan, 


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brought in both the English courts and 

the British Virgin Islands (BVI). He says he 

is most proud of this case as it was “hard 

fought and we made interesting new laws 

on freezing orders in the UK and BVI”. 

He also took a role in the high-profile 

Tajik Aluminium Company (TALCO) case 

representing first defendant Ermatov. 

Cited by instructing firms as “one of the 

brightest up-and-coming juniors”, he cites 

Essex Court Chambers’ Bernard Eder QC 

as a great influence: “He has been a great 

support and someone there to chat things 

through with and encourage.” 

JONATHAN HILLIARD 

Wilberforce Chambers 


Education: King Edward VI School; 


A big hitter in trusts, pension funds and 

regulatory work, Jonathan Hilliard has 

been instructed by top firms including 

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Slaughter 

and May, Hogan Lovells, Taylor Wessing, 

Travers Smith, and Macfarlanes. 

Instructing solicitors refer to him as: 

“absolutely brilliant, someone with lots of 

brain power – impresses silks and solicitors 

alike”. Others say he “completely outflanks 

some senior members of the Bar”. 

Top cases include acting for pension 

trustees in the high-profile case involving 

Independent Trustee Services (ITS), where 

he successfully recovered £32m from GP 

Noble Trustees in a High Court hearing. 

Pupillage 

Charlie Kelly 

3 VERULAM BUILDINGS is one of the foremost commercial sets of barristers’ chambers in London, as its ranking in the legal directories 

and its members’ participation in the leading trials confirm. 3VB is also well known for its approachable style and the willingness of its 

members to work as part of a team with solicitors and clients. 

Chambers provides litigation and advisory services across a wide range of commercial law, with particular specialisms in: 

• Commercial Arbitration 

• Banking 

• Financial Services 

• Insurance and Reinsurance 

• Insolvency 

• Professional Negligence 

• Entertainment and Media 

• IT and Telecoms 

• Commercial Fraud 

• Cross Border Disputes 

• Building and Construction 

• International Trade 

As a pupil at 3VB you will train with some of London’s leading commercial lawyers in a supportive atmosphere. 

Applications for pupillage commencing in October 2012 should be made through the 2011 Pupillage Portal. 

Our pupils receive a pupillage award of £60,000, up to £20,000 of which may be drawn down during the 

BPTC year, in addition to any earnings they make during their practising six months. 

For further information please contact Adam Kramer 

or visit our website at www.3vb.com 

3 Verulam Buildings 

Gray’s Inn London WC1R 5NT 

DX: LDE 331 Tel: 020 7831 8441 Fax: 020 7831 8479 

chambers@3vb.com www.3vb.com 



Emily Gillett, New 

Square Chambers 

He has also acted for the trustees of a 

pension scheme fighting the Government 

over its guarantee on the privatisation of 

BT, as well as acting in litigation relating to 

the collapses of Lehman and Nortel. 

HilliardsaysalltheQCsinhischambers 

are a great influence but cites Brian Green 

QC as “absolutely phenomenal, great to 

workwithandevenbettertoseeinaction”. 

EMILY GILLETT 

New Square Chambers 


Education: Malvern St James; University 

College London; Universite Paris II 

Emily Gillett first became interested in 

the law at the age of 10 when her mother 

was involved in a legal matter and was 

dissatisfied with the service. From then on, 

Gillett got involved in public speaking and 

debating at school and the Bar seemed like 

a natural progression. 

Delivering his judgment after her 

firsttrial,thejudgesaidGillettwas 

inescapablycorrect–thisjudicial 

recognition was Gillett’s proudest 

professional moment and it was then she 

knew the job was “worth it”. 

Top cases include an instruction from 

Hogan Lovells to act for BTA Bank in 

relation to the $300m (£192m) offshore 

fraud of a number of individuals. 

Gillett is instructed by firms including 

Withers, RadcliffesLeBrasseur, and 

Addleshaw Goddard, and solicitors regard 

her as “very young but someone with a lot 

of sense”. 

Advice Gillett would give to people 

starting out at the Bar is: “Make sure 

you are doing it for the right reason. Do 

it because you are impassioned about 

standing up in court, getting people to see 

your argument and excited by the use of 

language. Don’t do it because you think 

there is going to be great money, because 

dragging a suitcase to a county court 

somewhere ain’t glam!” 

ELIZABETH FITZGERALD 

Falcon Chambers 


Education: St Edward’s College; 

King’s College London 

Elizabeth Fitzgerald’s cases include 

advising Star Energy UK Online against 

Bocardo in relation to trespassing 

compensation for the extraction of oil. 

She also advised on a trespassing case 

involving extracting oil from beneath the 

Al Fayed family estate. She has had an 

impressive roster of work, having been 

instructed by firms including Norton 

Rose, Hogan Lovells, Olswang, Eversheds, 

Denton Wilde Sapte, and Freshfields 

Bruckhaus Deringer. One instructing 

solicitor says she is “very bright, user 

friendly, commercial and good on her feet 

even in front of the most prickly of judges”. 

ToanyonelookingforacareerattheBar, 

Fitzgerald says: “You get a lot of negative 

advice when you first come to the Bar and 

peoplesayhowharditis.Takethatadvice 

seriously but also remember that someone 


FOUR NEW SQUARE 

We only want the Best 

At Four New Square we are committed to recruiting the very best applicants and for this reason we 

have increased our pupillage package to £60,000. 

This includes guaranteed earnings of £10,000. Pupils are able to draw down part of the award in the year 

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For more information on pupillage matters, please contact 

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“Based in Lincoln’s Inn, chambers combines a commitment to achieving and maintaining high standards of advocacy 

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www.legalweek.com/students LegalWeek Autumn2010 67



hastocometotheBarandmakeit…soif 

youwantitbadlyenough,youhavetotryor 

youwon’tgetanywhere.” 

JAMES SEGAN 

Blackstone Chambers 


Education: King Henry VIII School; 

University of Oxford 

James Segan is currently involved in acting 

for the Crown against MPs to determine 

if they are protected under parliamentary 

privilege from criminal prosecution if 

charged with expense fraud. The case was 

heard most recently by the Court of Appeal 

and is set to go to the Supreme Court 

in the autumn, with Segan acting under 

Blackstone Chambers’ Lord Pannick QC. 

Having set his sights on joining the Bar 

from an early age, Segan advises anyone 

going into the profession that “preparation 

is everything”. 

Withaloyalfollowingfromanumberof 

firms,hehasworkedwithBaker&McKenzie, 

Taylor Wessing, Allen & Overy, and Olswang. 

SegancitesNo5Chambers’BrianDeanasa 

big influence, having been taught the ropes 

byhimwhileonaminipupillage. 

EMILY WOOD 



Education: St George’s School; University 

of Oxford; University of Cambridge 

Emily Wood recently acted in a big 

arbitration representing Diageo against 

Solicitors have 

referred to 

Wood as 

‘fabulous, 

bright, calm, 

commercial and 

greattoworkwith’ 

SABMiller in order to lift a commercial 

court injunction that was preventing 

Diageo from entering into a joint venture 

with a Tanzanian brewery company. 

She also acted for Kuwait Airways in 

the enforcement of a $1.2bn (£759m) 

judgment against Iraq Airways. The 

dispute has been ongoing for 20 years, 

so Wood was especially pleased to play 

a role on the most recent aspects of the 

long-running case. Solicitors have referred 

to Wood as “fabulous, bright, calm, 

commercial and great to work with”. 

Wood said she likes the Bar because: 

“It gives you the opportunity to lock 

yourself away in a room and look at 

legal principles while still allowing you 

toapplyittoresolvebusinessdisputes.” 

However,heradvicetothosejoining 

theBaris:“Don’tbeputoff,especially 

by the financial situation, which can be 

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get very early on in this career is unlike 

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Great minds think differently 

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TRAINING 

TheBPTCanditspredecessortheBVChavecomeinforheavycriticism.Dominic Carman 

asks how entrance standards at the Bar are changing 

RE-SETTING THE BAR 

“It’s quite fashionable at the Bar to say: 

‘The Bar Professional Training Course 

(BPTC)–no-onecaresaboutthat.It’s 

rubbish, isn’t it? We don’t care what grade 

you get.’ It is certainly not viewed with 

much respect, or anything like the same 

importance that academic degrees have. 

“Ours is one of the highest pass rates 

intheworldforaBarcourse.Inalotof 

places, only 30% of people pass.” This 

damning indictment from Adam Kramer, 

pupillage secretary at 3 Verulam Buildings 

andauthorofBewiggedandBewildered: 

A Guide to Becoming a Barrister in 

England and Wales, echoes the sentiments 

of many practitioners about the new BPTC. 

But is it entirely fair? The BPTC, being 

taught for the first time this academic 

year, replaces the longstanding Bar 

Vocational Course (BVC). Its genesis came 

in the Wood Report of 2008, prepared 

byDerekWoodQC,whichreviewed 

the BVC, consulting widely across the 

profession before making a series of 

recommendations to raise standards. 

“There was concern,” explains BPTC 

sub-committee chairman Nigel Cooper 

QC,“thattheBVCwasn’tmeeting 

therequirementsoftheprofession.A 

proportion of students were coming 

through who were not of a sufficiently 

high standard to practise at the Bar.” 

The new BPTC continues the aims of 

its predecessor: to introduce prospective 

barristers to the practical knowledge and 

skills required from the job. 

In his report, Wood concluded: “The 

large gap between the number of BVC 

graduates seeking pupillage and the 

number of pupillages available is a cause 

for considerable concern.” 

There is also heavy competition 

for BPTC places, warns the Bar 

Standards Board website. In the 

region of 3,000 candidates apply for 

approximately 1,800 places. In the year 

to September 2009, of the 2,657 BVC 

applicants, 1,793 were enrolled and 1,330 

(74%) were successful in passing the 

exams. 

However, the real competition comes 

in finding a place to practise: over the last 

year, only 402 barristers have commenced 

pupillage,down35%fromadecadeago. 

Students are allowed to seek pupillage 

for up to five years after completing the 

course, so competition for pupillages 

remains intense. 

ButaccordingtoCooper,theBPTC 

isn’tintendedasameansofrestricting 

numbers entering the profession: “It 

willworkinaverysimilarfashiontothe 

BVC, save that there is going to be a 

tightening of standards; a raising of quality 

thresholds. Everyone coming off the course 

should meet minimum standards to be 

fittopractiseattheBarandthereforefit 

to enter pupillage – the ability to write 

fluently and the ability to speak fluently.” 

Because the BPTC requires a high 

level of ability in both written and oral 

English, for candidates whose first 

language is not English, BPTC offers 

are conditional on gaining a score of 

7.5oraboveinallsubjectsonatestfrom 

the British Council International English 

Language Testing System. 

Usingasimilarmodularstructure 

totheBVC,mostofthe11BPTC 

subjects will be assessed 

through multiple choice 

written papers, 

whereas criminal 

and civil advocacy, 

resolution of 

disputes out of 

court and 

74% 

PASS RATE FOR 

THOSE WHO TOOK 

BPTC EXAMS 

conference skills will be appraised by video 

performances. 

Thepassrateforeachmoduleisbeing 

raisedfrom50%to60%.Everymodule 

has to be passed in order to pass the 

BPTC, and successful candidates are 

graded as ‘outstanding’, ‘very competent’, 

‘competent’ and ‘not yet competent’. 

It’s too early to assess the changes put 

inplacebytheBPTC,sowhatdorecent 

BVC graduates think of their course? 

“It was less challenging than university 

and sometimes quite bureaucratic,” says 

Anton Dudnikov at Essex Court Chambers. 

“For example, constructing a research trail 

doesn’t represent practice and it’s largely a 

waste of time.” 

Paul Luckhurst at Blackstone Chambers 

adds:“Thewholethingisverydifferent 

to undergraduate work, you’re learning 

practical skills – it was less demanding in 

termsoftime.” 

And there is no shortage of radical 

suggestions for improvement. “It could 

becondensed–tomakeitshorterand 

cheaper,” says Luckhurst. “Squeezing 

it into four or five months might reduce 

thecostaswell.Thefeesareeyewatering; 

I don’t think they’re justified. 

It’s extraordinarily expensive, which is a 

substantial barrier to entry. Not everyone 

can take the risk, given that the majority 

don’t get pupillage. The real learning curve 

is the pupillage.” 

Current fees for the course at the 10 

providers range from £10,000 to £15,000 

with most at, or towards, the top end of 

the range. Kramer suggests: “It could be a 

three-month course for four grand.” 

Dudnikov adds: “Many students treat 

the course as part time and do other 

things, like teach, to gain some experience. 

Perhaps the solution is to make it 

genuinely part time so that you don’t have 

to attend as many lectures and 

classes. Reduce the time, 

but up the quality.” 

Happy overall with the 

course, he found advocacy 



classes “really useful; I learned a lot” 

andsuggeststheBPTCteachclient 

management: “It’s a staple for commercial 

barristers.” 

While the standard of participants 

hasbeenproblematicinsomemodules, 

Luckhurstoffersapositiveview:“If 

someone else gives a very bad submission 

in an advocacy class, it doesn’t 

detrimentally affect you when you get 

upanddoyourthing.Whenyou’redoing 

negotiation, you’re obviously at the mercy 

of the person you’re working with. But 

then you have to learn to negotiate with 

bad negotiators as well as good ones.” 

Group BVC exercises were obviously a 

headache for Kramer: “In every tutorial 

group,halfthepeoplewerehopeless, 

with no chance of getting a pupillage. 

OftenitwastheirEnglishorlackof 

advocacy skills. The question is whether 

you want them in there. It’s very difficult 

to learn, particularly for interactive things 

like negotiation or, more importantly, 

advocacy,ifyou’retryingtocross-examine 

someonewho’spretendingtobeawitness 

andtheirEnglishisn’tverygood,orthey’re 

not that bright.” 

The solution may come with the new 

compulsory BPTC aptitude test, which 

is currently being piloted. Originally 

scheduled to be in operation last month, 

the test has been postponed until next 

September to ensure the exam is “fair 

forallapplicantsbeforeitisfinalisedand 

becomes an absolute entry requirement”. 

All candidates on the BPTC this year will 

be required to take part in the continuing 

pilot studies. Developed in conjunction 

with Pearson VUE, the aptitude test will 

be a multiple choice critical reasoning test, 

based on Watson Glaser-type testing, 

widely used by companies and government 

bodies. The threshold pass mark will be set 

after sampling is complete. 

Everyone applying to start the BPTC in 

September 2011 will sit the test, although 

the results won’t have any effect on their 

entrance to the course. The test will be 

fully operational for those starting their 

BPTC in September 2012. 

Cooper explains that the aptitude test 

will determine each candidate’s ability 

“to think analytically and logically. It’s 

designed to ensure that those 

who go on to the Bar course 

have the necessary abilities to pass, and 

toremovethosewhohavenoprospectof 

ever passing the BPTC”. 

The fee for sitting the aptitude test will 

be relatively nominal, confirms Cooper. 

As well as saving time, money and 

disappointment, Cooper suggests the test 

will “prevent their impact on the learning 

experienceofothersontheBPTC”. 

He doesn’t believe it will have a 

significant impact on numbers accepted, 

but will simply “remove that small minority 

who don’t have the ability to do it and 

succeed”. 

The original Wood Group 

recommendation, explains Cooper, was for 

candidates to be able to sit the aptitude 

test as many times as they want. Maybe, 

‘The fees 

are eyewatering; 

I 

don’t think 

they’re 

justified. 

It’s a 

substantial 

barrier 

to entry’ 

Paul Luckhurst, 

Blackstone 

Chambers 

he concedes, there should be “a finite 

number” of resits. 

“I approve of the aptitude test and the 

improvement of standards,” says Kramer. 

“The teaching on the Bar course is quite 

good, even though it gets a lot of flak. The 

aptitude test may allow the good teaching 

and excellent facilities to have their effect 

rather than students being hampered by 

awkward exercises.” 

Stealing a march on the competition, 

Kaplan Law School’s new BPTC – run 

byJamesWakefield,formerleaderof 

theNottinghamLawSchoolBVC–has 

introduced an aptitude test of its own, 

called a selection event. This weeds out 

roughly 15% of applicants who already 

made it through the CV and online 

assessment stages. 

“Many good candidates are applying 

toKaplaninthebeliefthathavinga 

rigorously selective course will mean a 

higher standard overall. At the selection 

event, a variety of written, advocacy and 

interview tests weed out all but the best 

candidates: a third of the 55 students on 

this year’s course have first-class degrees, 

theremainder2:1s.“Wehopetogiveour 

candidates the best fighting chance of a 

pupillage,”saysWakefield. 

Presently, the minimum requirement 

to study for the BPTC is a 2:2. The Wood 

Review recommendation for a minimum 

entry requirement of 2:1 was not adopted, 

although in practice most BPTC applicants 

mayrequirea2:1tostandachanceof 

getting a place. 

Have you got 

what it takes 

to join the best? 


Consistently ranked as a first division set and its 

members as leading individuals, Essex Court 

Chambers offers up to four 12-month fully funded 

(current award £60,000) pupillages each year. 

Applications (Summer Pupillage Portal) are welcome 

from both law and non-law graduates. 

Do you have the desire and ability to succeed in an 

intellectually challenging environment? 

Do you believe that you can be a future star at the bar? 

Do you want to join the best? 

If so, further information is available on Chambers’ 

website www.essexcourt.net or from the pupillage 

secretary at pupillage@essexcourt.net 

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STEP-BY-STEP 

Aspiring barristers have 

amountaintoclimb. 

Legal Week Student 

takes you through the 

journey–frombase 

camp to summit 

STEP 1 

Get your degree 

Aqualifyinglawdegreeistraditionallythe 

firststepontheroadtobecominga 

barrister. It will exempt you from the 

Common Professional Examination (CPE) or 

GraduateDiplomainLaw(GDL),providedit 

covers all seven foundations of legal 

knowledge: contract, tort, criminal law, 

equity and law of trusts, European Union 

law, property law and public law. 

However, an extra hurdle awaits 

applicants for many of the UK’s leading 

universities – the National Admissions 

Test for Law (LNAT), a uniform legal exam 

that must be completed before advancing 

to the undergraduate law courses of 

participating universities. 

The following universities are signed up 

to the LNAT: University of Birmingham, 

University of Bristol, University of 

Cambridge, Durham University, NUI 

Maynooth, University of Exeter, University 

of Glasgow, King’s College London, 

University of Nottingham, University of 

Oxford and University College London. 

Around this stage it is always advisable 

to do a mini-pupillage at a set of 

chambers. The experience you get – and 

the contacts you make – will be very 

helpful when it comes to applying for Bar 

school and pupillages. 

STEP 2 

If you do not have a 

degree, you will have to 

take the CPE or GDL 




When to apply: Third/final year of first 

degree. 

Followingthelawdegreerouteisthemain 

waytobecomingabarrister.Butthereis 

evidencethatchambers,likelawfirms,look 

favourably on candidates who choose the 

CPE/GDL route because of the wider range of 

experience they get. The CPE/GDL comprises 

onethree-hourexaminationineachofthe 

seven foundations of legal knowledge, plus 

one other area of legal study. 

The course is offered by a multitude of 

institutions across the country, from 

universities to traditional law schools. 

Applications for full-time courses should 

be made centrally by 1 February of the year 



GAINING A 

FOOTHOLD 


of entry to the CPE. Forms can be 

downloaded from www.law.cabs.ac.uk or 

completed online. Applications for parttime 

courses should be made directly to 

the relevant college. 

Competition for places on the course 

can be fierce. In most colleges, the 

minimum grade is a 2:2, but the 

substantial majority of students hold a 2:1. 

Full-time students have three years in 

which to complete the CPE/GDL. Except in 

extreme circumstances, a candidate 

cannot sit for an examination on more 

than three occasions. Completion of the 

CPE/GDL does not automatically guarantee 

a place on the Bar Professional Training 

Course (BPTC). However, there are some 

institutions that do assure places if the CPE 

is passed at the same college. So check 

this when applying. It is also worth 

checking the Bar contacts of your CPE 

course provider, because these can be 

helpful in securing a mini-pupillage. 

STEP 3 

The BPTC 




When to apply: During the final year of a 

qualifying law degree or at the beginning 

of the CPE/GDL course for non-law 

graduates. All students must join one of 

the four Inns of Court – Gray’s Inn, 

Lincoln’s Inn, Inner Temple and Middle 

Temple – before registering on the BPTC, 

formerly known as the Bar Vocational 

Course. Eight educational establishments 

offer the course. 

The purpose of the BPTC is to ensure 

students acquire the skills, knowledge of 

procedure and evidence, attitudes and 

competence to prepare them for the more 

specialised training in the following 12 

months of pupillage. Some variance exists 

between the courses. However, the main 

skills taught are divided into three groups: 

casework, which covers fact management 

and legal research; written skills, which 

comprises general word skills, opinion 

writing and drafting of documents; and 

interpersonal skills, which concentrates on 

interviewing clients, negotiation and 

advocacy. 

Intermsoflegalknowledge,theBPTC 

covers civil and criminal litigation, evidence, 

sentencing and two optional subjects 

selected from a list of at least six. Assessment 

is by a combination of multiple choice and 

written papers, as well as by video-recorded 

performance for the interpersonal skills 

modules.Applicationscanbemadeatwww. 

barprofessional training.org.uk. In the past, 

thepassrateforthecoursehasbeenaround 

80%. Academic achievement is the primary 

consideration when awarding places and the 

minimum required degree grade is a 2:2, 

although the majority of students have a 2:1. 



STEP-BY-STEP 


Pupillage must be started within five years of 

completing the BPTC. 

STEP 4 

Pupillage 

How long? One year. 

How much? They pay you. The minimum 

award (including any fees earned) is 

£5,000 for each six-month term (increasing 

to £6,000 in September 2011). 

When to apply? The year prior to 

starting your BPTC. 

To facilitate the pupillage applications 

process, the Bar Council has created the 

Online Pupillage Application System (OLPAS). 

There are two deadlines each year. Students 

should go to the Pupillage Portal website 

(www.pupillages.com) for details of OLPAS 

and the timetable. 

The rules state that all pupillages must 

be advertised on this website. Vacancies 

will not appear directly on the site, but 

there are direct links to all pupillage 

information and vacancies. The site acts as 

a gateway to the information, meaning 

prospective pupils can get all the data they 

need from one source. 

Pupillage is the final stage of 

qualification to the Bar, with pupils gaining 

practical training under the supervision of 

an experienced barrister. It is divided into 

two six-month parts: the ‘first six’ and 

‘second six’. All pupillages are full-time. 

Workingunderthetutelageofa 

pupilmasterormistress,thepupilisexpected 

tosuccessfullycompleteachecklistof 

experience, which is usually tailored to the 

particular specialism of the chambers. 

However, pupillage will include most aspects 

of chambers life, from dealing with clerks to 

client conferences to advocacy. 

The first six months are non-practising. 

Much of this time is spent shadowing the 

pupilmaster or mistress. Previously, it was 

compulsory for this time to be served in a 

set of chambers. However, the rules have 

been changed to allow law firms and 

commercial companies that employ 

barristers to offer both first and second 

sixes. During the second six, the pupil is 

permitted to practise and to accept paid 

instructions from clients. It must be started 

within 12 months of completing the first 

six. The second six may be completed at 

one of several locations: in the same 

chambers; at another set, or partially at a 

solicitor’s office (in the UK or the EU); at 

the European Commission (EC) in Brussels 

or Luxembourg; with a High Court or 

circuit judge; or with a solicitor or other 

professional with a practice relevant to 

your chambers. 

In addition, the full second six can be 

served with an ‘employed’ barrister in 

industry or with the EC in London. Full 

details are available on the Bar Council 

website (www.barcouncil.org.uk). As well 

as completing the checklist and satisfying 

their pupilmaster or mistress, pupils must 

complete further external training modules 

in advocacy training, advice to counsel (a 

practical course on working as a barrister) 

Chambers 

offer 

around 500 

pupillages 

each year. 

Competition 

is intense, so 

applications 

should be 

made as 

early as 

possible 

and forensic accountancy – either during 

pupillage or within the first three years of 

practice. On successful completion of the 

second six and associated red tape, you 

will receive your final certificate. This 

will enable you to practise unsupervised. 

Chambers offer around 500 pupillages 

each year. Competition is intense, so 

applications should be made as early 

as possible. 

STEP 5 

Get tenancy 

Tenancies, whether at the chambers where 

you trained or elsewhere, have to be 

applied for. They are not offered as a 

matter of right on successful qualification. 

Some chambers take pupils with a view to 

giving them all a tenancy if they make the 

grade, while others take on more than they 

need and select the best at the end. 

Pupillage is often described as a yearlong 

job interview. To pass, pupils must 

show all-round ability, particularly in 

advocacy, research and writing skills. The 

decision on whether to grant a tenancy is 

often taken by committee, a little while 

before the end of the second six. 

Ifyoudofindyourselfwithoutatenancy, 

thereareseveraloptions.Youcanapplyto 

doa‘thirdsix’or‘squat’atanother 

chambers,oryoucanworkincommerceand 

industry. There are around 2,500 employed 

barristers in this field. Information on this 

canbeobtainedfromtheBarAssociationfor 

Commerce, Finance & Industry. 

A career in advocacy 

2tg is acknowledged as one of the leading civil and commercial barristers’ 

chambers. We offer one of the most generously funded, well-structured 

and enjoyable pupillages at the Bar. We only offer pupillage to those 

we consider good enough to become tenants and our pupils are 

never in competition with each other. Our pupillage award 

for applications in 2012 is £60,000. For more details, including 

information about mini pupillages, please visit our website 

or contact Leanne McCabe at lm@2tg.co.uk 

www.2tg.co.uk 

2 Temple Gardens, London EC4Y 9AY 

Tel 020 7822 1200 



MAKERS OF 

FINE LAWYERS 

We have a single objective: to create 

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We carefully select and nurture individuals 

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REQUALIFYING 

When Robbie Constance realisedacareeratthe 

Bar was not for him, he decided to become a solicitor 

–andhe’sneverlookedback 

HANGING 

UP MY WIG 

Three months after my pupillage finished 

in 2002, I decided to ‘cross the floor’ to 

become an assistant solicitor. A few years 

later I re-qualified, and now, as a senior 

associate at Reynolds Porter Chamberlain 

(RPC), I look back with no regrets. 

Unsure about the long term after 

leaving school, I knew I wanted to go 

to Edinburgh University and there was 

no point in studying law there, so I did 

philosophy and politics instead, with a 

view to possibly converting afterwards. 

At the end of my degree I applied to 

some top 10 law firms but felt that they 

weren’t really for me and that I would 

instead go down the barrister route. 

Perhaps I should have listened more to 

the inner voice suggesting I aim for midsized, 

West End, niche-type practices. 

But I thought the Bar would suit me well 

as an independent thinking, confident 

speaking, argumentative person – and 

having watched family and others at the 

Bar, there was no mystery about it. 

I enjoyed studying the law from an 

intellectual perspective, which reinforced 

my decision to go to the Bar rather than 

become a solicitor. I did a couple of minipupillages 

and was offered a pupillage at 

a general civil chambers in Lincoln’s Inn. 

Although not a high-profile set, it had lots 

of very able practitioners. 

During Bar school I liked what I learned 

about the Bar. I enjoyed the bizarre pomp 

and ceremony of it, with its antiquated 

systems and quirks. I felt the privilege of 

joining ‘the club’ and was confident that 

it would suit me. I started my pupillage 

in October 2001. There were some 

stereotypical moments – before even 

meeting me, I heard my first pupilmaster 

growling, “where’s my slave?” while 

walking up the old wooden stairs to 

our shared room in chambers. Another 

pupilmaster told me there was no need to 

type my drafts as he had no intention of 

using them. 

The work was fun and varied, but each 

new experience meant something else to 

stress about. At the end of my pupillage 

I ‘squatted’ for a few months while 

considering what to do next. I decided 


that I didn’t have a future at the Bar, that I 

was satisfied with this decision and that I 

was not sad to leave it behind me. I think 

that the intellectual intensity required to 

be a really good barrister at one of the 

top sets was either beyond me or didn’t in 

reality suit me. If you work in a top set, you 

have to be thinking in a legal context at 

such a high level for so much of the time, 

and I wasn’t willing to commit to that. 

Married to the Bar 

To work in an average set that couldn’t 

offerahigh-flyingcareerseemedabit 

pointlesstome,particularlyasbeinga 

barrister is a lonely, stressful, competitive 

and repetitive job wherever you do 

it. Being a barrister involves irregular 

working hours and financial insecurity. 

My first pupilmaster warned me that 

there was no point staying with my 

girlfriend as “marriages never last at the 

Bar”.Hetoldmethatittakesoveryour 

wholelifetobeagoodbarristerandthat 

itisverydifficulttohaveagoodfamily 

life in that sort of environment. 

Basically I was probably not suited to, 

or prepared to go for, a high-flying career 

at the Bar, and was not willing to settle for 

anything less than that. I also realised that 

I was, in any event, more interested in the 

commercial side of law and that I wanted 

to be able to develop client relationships. 

I went to see a recruitment agent who 

specialised in moving barristers into law 

firms and she found me a job at a niche 

insurance litigation practice. The choice 

between that and tenancy offers at lower 

ranking sets became easy. 

From the start, I was given plenty of 

responsibility and had to learn a lot very 

quickly, figuring out how to be a solicitor 

as well as specialising in a totally new area 

of law. I picked up the skills but decided 

that I wanted to be part of a bigger 

organisation with more support behind 

me. Maybe the independence I thought I 

craved didn’t suit me after all. 

In June 2004 I moved to a highlyregarded 

team at RPC, where I have 

done professional liability litigation in 

relation, primarily, to financial services. 

‘Myfirstpupilmasterwarnedmethere 

wasnopointstayingwithmygirlfriend 

as “marriages never last at the Bar”’ 

As regulation has become an increasing 

concern for clients, so my work has 

moved also into risk management and 

regulatory advice. I work for insurers and 

compliance/risk officers and other board 

members of financial services firms, who 

are sophisticated clients who know what 

they want. I report on insurance claims and 


‘I didn’t enjoy the inevitable feeling at 

the Bar of being under-prepared for 

court–Sundaynightsusuallyfeltlike 

goingbacktoschoolwithouthaving 

done my homework’ 

JusticeinrobesandthecharmoftheInns. 

However,evenwhenIhearmyfriends’ 

war stories, I do not regret my decision 

to leave. 

I am also glad that I didn’t have to do a 

training contract, though I think I would 

have benefited from doing a corporate 

seat. I enjoyed Bar School, whereas I’m 

told that the LPC is tedious. And my 

pupillage experience was fantastic. Above 

all, I’m glad that I have ticked off being a 

barrister as I had some great experiences 

and may always have wondered about it 

had I not given it a go. I have no thoughts 

about going back to the Bar, with my 

ambitions now focused on partnership. 

Early decision 

In terms of advice to others thinking of 

making the switch, I found it very easy 

to move across because I did so at an 

early stage in my career. There is still 

considerable kudos at law firms for being 

a barrister. The key thing for me was 

adjusting from the mindset of having to 

deal with something immediately in court 

the next morning, having only just received 

the papers, to growing with a case over 

time – sometimes years. At first, I found 

it hard to take a step back and let the 

process take its course as I was used to 

immediate results. The buzz of solicitors’ 

work is less intense than going to court, 

but I find that the commercial issues are 

enough to sustain my interest. 

Ifyouswitchtoworkinginalawfirm, 

you can be an employed barrister so long as 

thereisanotherexperiencedbarristeratthe 

firm who can be your supervisor. You have 

to continue your Continuing Professional 

Development (CPD) as a barrister and it 

canbehardtokeepthisupinalawfirm, 

particularlytheadvocacysideofthings. 

To become a partner in a firm, though, you 

havetobeasolicitor,soIcross-qualifiedby 

taking the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test 

(QLTT). This was straightforward; it involved 

only a three-hour exam in accounts and 

ethicsafteraweekofeveningclassesatBPP, 

advise on litigation in a similar way to how 

barristers advise and it therefore provides 

plenty of intellectual challenges. 

I prefer being a solicitor because I am 

part of a team, working with colleagues 

for the same clients and seeing matters 

from start to finish. Although finishing 

cases off in court was a buzz, it felt 

strangely detached. I like having the 

support of colleagues, supervisors, 

trainees and secretaries. And I like the 

fact that the disputes are long-running, 

high-value and interesting. Getting paid 

every month is preferable to being selfemployed, 

and I appreciate being able 

to switch off my computer and my brain 

and go home at a decent hour. I didn’t 

enjoy the inevitable feeling at the Bar of 

being under-prepared for court – Sunday 

nights usually felt like going back to school 

without having done my homework. 

Of course there are some things that I 

miss about the Bar, such as running my 

owntime,workingwhenIwantedto,the 

excitement of the courtroom advocacy, 

swanning through the Royal Courts of 

paid for by the firm. 

My main advice to those considering 

a career at the Bar would be to ask 

yourself whether you are prepared to be a 

barrister first and foremost. Are you doing 

it because your sense of self requires the 

status of it or because you are doing good, 

well-paid and interesting work? If it is the 

former, then think long and hard about 

whether it is worth the enormous sacrifices 

that will inevitably have to be made. 

Robbie Constance is an associate solicitor 

at Reynolds Porter Chamberlain. 

www.legalweek.com/students LegalWeekStudent Autumn2010 77

CAREER CLINIC 

Do big personalities exist in law? 

I’majuniorlawyersufferingaminorspiritualcrisis.Iamquiteenjoyingtheworksofar,butmyproblemisthatIlookaroundtheoffice 

atthepartners,allofwhomareperfectlypleasant,butratherdullandgrey,andthink:‘That’smein15-20years’.Where’stheflair 

andexcitementoristhatnotpossibleinlaw? Isitthesameeverywhere,orhaveIjustlandedatacharacterlessfirm?Anyexamplesof 

personalityatlawfirmsorbarristers’chamberswouldbeappreciated,ifonlytohelpmethinkaboutmynextmove... 

There is no doubt that there are now 

fewerbigcharactersinthelaw.The 

downside of that is that firms and 

chambers have become more formalistic 

about who they recruit, when 20 or 30 

yearsagotheyweremuchmorereadyto 

takeonindividualsoutsideofanarrow 

educational and social background. 

The drive to institutionalise clients has 

also contributed to this, which is why a lot 

of partners are really just senior account 

managers. It’s only odd that lawyers then 

scratch their heads and ask why clients 

struggle to differentiate them. But the 

upside is that there are less loony, racist, 

bullying, sexual harassing alcoholics 

kicking around the Square Mile, so it’s 

swings and roundabouts really. Hmmm 

Hollywood desperately tries to depict 

lawyers as inspiring personalities living in 

an exciting and challenging world – but 

that is just Hollywood! No matter what 

practice group you are in, don’t expect to 

be inspired by the partners at your firm 

unless you are limited yourself. Expect to 

be inspired by brilliant junior lawyers who 

leave for totally different and truly amazing 

career paths, though! Andreas 

City partnerships are totally designed 

around preserving and increasing capital 

for the partners. 

This crudely capitalist model generally 

feeds off the need for a few chiefs to 

plan and many minions to execute often 

high pressure transactions in the context 

of a relatively dry/non-creative industry. 

Can’t really comment on Cardiff but I have 

worked on commercial litigation in Leeds 

as well as the City. We would always 

use London counsel for anything meaty, 

Manchester for crap low-value stuff and 

Leeds... er, never. I thought we did good 

stuff up North, but now realise how limited 

it was. Far worse, you will be building up a 

nice circle of instructing solicitors in Wales 

who will stop instructing you if and when 

you relocate to London, leaving you in 

some difficulties. Bear in the Woods 


Despite some efforts at appearances, there 

is rarely genuinely any room for a ‘big 

personality’ in the non-partner tiers. 

Usually the big personalities are at the 

partner end, particularly those who are 

very effective at bringing in business, 

hence always serving a purpose. 

Figure out how much you are prepared 

to compromise your personality for your 

work environment and act accordingly. 

Happiness is a cigar called working 

outside City private practice 

Right then, charismatic commercial 

lawyers... you’re in the wrong game, 

mate. Or maybe I’m being too harsh. I 

guess there are people like Nigel Knowles 

and Paul Maher, who seem to have done 

interesting things in their careers. Oh, and 

the people in that Halliwells/Kennedys 

Sheffield video on YouTube. Tony 

Bigpersonalitiesarethinonthegroundat 

most law firms and even barristers’ chambers 

these days, but charisma has fallen out of 

fashionelsewhere,too–notjustinlaw,but 

in accountancy, business and politics. 

The culture in law firms is such that 

conformity and protocol are valued over 

innovation and individuality. This is 

probably a function of the kind of detailoriented, 

‘thinking within the box’ skills 

needed to do most legal work well. 

Only after some years in private practice 

did it dawn on me that, while I was 

surrounded by intelligent, mentally agile 

lawyers, I wouldn’t be caught dead next to 

them at a dinner party because they were 

‘Hollywood 

desperately 

tries to 

depict 

lawyers as 

inspiring 

personalities 

living in an 

exciting and 

challenging 

world–but 

that is just 

Hollywood!’ 

without a scrap of imagination and so 

devoid of any decent conversation – and 

my colleague’s experience bears this out! 

If Only Lord Denning Were Still Alive 

Big personalities are frowned on in the big 

(and not so big) City firms as they threaten 

the partners. It’s a real shame too – as 

an ex-City associate I’ve met and worked 

with some really great people in practice 

who have gone on to pursue much more 

fulfilling and lucrative careers elsewhere. 

Life in City practices is dull. If you want 

excitement, use your legal training outside 

this sphere. Anonymous 

Ifyougooutandminglewithpeoplefrom 

avarietyofareasoflaw,you’llfindpeople 

who mirror the rest of society. Some are 

interesting and entertaining, some are just 

plainboring.You’llfindawidenumberof 

reasonswhypeoplewentintothelawand 

people hailing from a variety of backgrounds 

and not just Oxbridge. There are inspiring 

peopleinallpartsofthelaw,inplacesgreat 

and small. high street solicitor 

I cannot believe that this query has failed 

to produce even one actual example 

of a charismatic, inspirational lawyer. 

Admittedly I don’t have any examples, but 

surely there must be someone out there 

willing to pay tribute to an interesting 

character they once worked with...?! 

Disappointed 

Shane Sayers and Geoffrey Lord at 

Kennedys? City alumni 

Wouldstartingintheregionsbeabadcareermove? 

I’mtakingmythird-yearexamsatatop10universityandplantodoaMastersnextyear.IintendtogototheBarafterthis,but, 

beingaWelshboyatheart,wouldliketogobacktoCardiffforsometime.I’mawarethattherearelimitedcareeropportunities‘in 

theprovinces’,butwouldthisputmeatamajordisadvantageasandwhenIchoosetocomebacktoLondon? 

As long as you refer to the regions rather 

than the provinces..... Steve, Bristol 

I started at the provincial Bar doing a 

mixed common law practice and then 

decided that, despite the advantages of 

living in a city I loved, the quality of work 

wasn’t nearly satisfying enough. A move 

to London was the only option. My advice 

is to try London first and then, if you 

decide London isn’t for you, or you meet 

a nice girl from the Valleys, it should be 

reasonably easy to make a move 

out of London. Going into London 

after a few years outside will be 

much, much harder. Tall Barrister 

Do you mean going back to Cardiff to take 

the Bar course or to practise? Regarding 

the Bar course, you should probably look 

at pass/fail rates for each of the providers. 

As for practise, your location may well be 

decided by wherever you manage to get 

pupillage. Fiona 


Will my experience as a law librarian give me an edge? 

IworkasaninformationassistantinlibraryandresearchatamagiccirclefirmintheCity.Ihaveasolidcareeroflibraryexperience 

behindme,astrong2:1degree(non-law),andamconsideringretrainingtobecomealawyer.Iknowprovingmyworthwillbe 

difficultamongpeoplewhohavestudiedlawalltheiracademiclives,buthowdoyouthinkIwouldfare?Willmyexperienceof 

dealingwithlegalcontentgivemeanadvantageoverothercandidates?Inaddition,Ihavejustgotmarriedandweareplanningon 

havingchildren.Tothosewomen(ormen!)whostudiedfortheirGDL/BPTC/LPCatthesametimeashavingafamily;howdidyoufindit? 

Your obvious enthusiasm and 

determination to explore a passion is 

rather refreshing. Certainly when one 

considers the number of traineeshipsearching 

graduates who just grumble that 

the market is highly unfair and that firms 

somehow owe them something. 

Law firms and barristers chambers take 

on people regardless of their background 

or previous study. They appreciate and 

acknowledge the range and diversity of 

skills which different people can bring 

to the table. So persevere, persevere, 

persevere. If you have the passion and 

hunger for it then don’t give up and you 

will break through. Craig 

Undertaking your law studies while having 

a young family may well prove to be a 

nightmare and while others will no doubt 

say “go for it” with rose-tinted views, 

it is you that needs to assess whether 

you can balance the course and do your 

family justice – and my advice would be 

exactly the same for a man planning on 

that endeavour. However, assuming you 

want to give it a shot, I would certainly 

encourage that and perhaps speak to your 

current firm. If you are well liked they may 

offer to fund the course on a part-time 

basis with a view on the longer term. That 

might be your best option. ME 

Think carefully before taking such a step. 

I have 10-plus years post-qualification 

experience and two children, and have 

decided that a client-facing role in the law 

is no longer sustainable. As a result, I am 

currently looking for a support role that 

will allow me to work fixed hours. Once 

you have children you want to spend less 

time in the office, not more. Unfortunately, 

client demands mean that is rarely 

possible. City Litigator 

could bring to the role. Further, you will find 

that academic law has little to do with the 

actual practice of law. SD 

Yournon-lawdegreeisunlikelytobea 

hindrance.AndIwouldbeshockedifyour 

experienceasalawlibrariandidnotgive 

youaboost.ButIwouldbewaryabout 

combining study with having children. I have 

studied for my Graduate Diploma in Law 

(GDL) and Bar Professional Training Course 

(BPTC) on a part-time basis. On both courses 

therewasatleastonemotherofaninfant 

andontheGDL,oneofmyclassmateswas 

pregnant and gave birth in the spring of our 

firstyearofthecourse.Allthesewomenhad 

difficultykeepingupwiththeworkrequired 

(andmostoftherestofuswerecombining 

with full-time employment). Beth 

All else being equal, I suspect I’d rather be 

a librarian than a fee earner. Having kids 

is a huge and rewarding commitment. I’d 

give my best to that, rather than trying to 

start a career (in a profession that doesn’t 

believe in families). Big Dave 

‘Your nonlaw 

degree 

is unlikely 

to be a 

hindrance. 

AndIwould 

be shocked 

if your 

experience 

asalaw 

librarian did 

notgiveyou 

a boost. But 

Iwouldbe 

wary about 

combining 

study with 

having 

children’ 

Just a point about working in law if you 

want to have a family. I had my first child 

during my training contract at a City firm. 

The firm was great about accommodating 

my maternity leave and let me complete 

my training contract part time, but on 

qualification I found it impossible to get 

a job which would not involve me totally 

neglecting my children. Angela 

IstartedmydistancelearningGDLwhilethe 

mumofafour-year-oldandthreemonths 

pregnant with my second child. I gave 

birthintheFebruary,tooktheexamsas 

scheduled in June and passed comfortably. 

NotwantingtomakelifeeasyformyselfI 

became pregnant again during the second 

yearofmyGDLandgavebirthoneweek 

beforetheexams.Ideferredtheexamsuntil 

the August and passed the overall course 

withadistinction!Iwentontocomplete 

the Legal Practice Course over the following 

two years (no pregnancies this time but had 

three young kids) and also passed that with 

distinction.Goforit–youmightsurprise 

yourself. I did! Trainee mum 

We are a large modern set operating from state of the art premises in the 

Temple. We have 84 tenants and practise in the areas of commercial, EU, 

employment, public and human rights law; several members of Chambers 

are also leading practitioners in the public international law field. As a pupil 

in Blackstone Chambers you will receive a thorough and varied training 

in all aspects of Chambers’ work. 

Ican’tcommentonthechildrendecision, 

Applications for pupillage are made via the Pupillage Portal and we are 

but, coming from a law librarian 

offering four (or, exceptionally, five) 12-month pupillages with individual 

background in a top 50 firm, my experience 

awards of £52,500 for the 2012 year of intake. We will also consider 

applications for an advance of up to £15,000 of the award payable 

is that it does give you an edge. The fact 

during the BPTC year. 

thatIhadworkedinalawfirmandspent 

a lot of time assisting solicitors with legal 

Information is available on our website: www.blackstonechambers.com or 

research meant that I could draw on my 

contact Julia Hornor, our Chambers Director, with any queries or requests 

experienceatinterview.Additionally,as 

for brochures and application forms. 

atrainee,mylegalresearchskillsand 

theattentiontodetailIhadlearnedas 

Blackstone Chambers 

alibrarianwereinvaluable.Don’tworry 

Blackstone House Temple London EC4Y 9BW 

aboutnothavingalawdegree–mydegree 

Telephone: 020 7583 1770 

wasnotinlawandIfoundthatlawfirms 

Email: pupillage@blackstonechambers.com www.blackstonechambers.com 

appreciatedthebreadthofexperiencethatI 

www.legalweek.com/students LegalWeekStudent Autumn2010 79

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