Pupillage October 2020 - 2021
Chambers’ reputation as the leading set in the North East across its core practice areas is consistently recognised by the legal press including Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500:
“Outstanding and by the far best in the North of England”
“They are a very forward thinking set and the clerking is excellent”
“…a regional heavyweight set which has a growing national reputation. It has ‘exceptional litigators' and ‘genuine strength in depth'. As one of the largest civil law sets in the region, it is strong across a range of practice areas…”.
"All of the barristers have been nothing but professional, warm and friendly," comments one satisfied client.”
One of the reasons for our exceptional reputation and strength in depth is investment in our pupils and junior tenants. We firmly believe that by recruiting high quality pupils and providing high quality pupillages, Chambers will continue to thrive. We have a very strong tradition of offering tenancies to pupils who demonstrate the requisite level of ability and dedication and many of our senior practitioners were themselves pupils in Chambers.
A civil pupillage is likely mean exposure to our core areas of work: personal injury, clinical negligence, employment, commercial and chancery. We will seek to adapt the pupillage depending on the interests of the pupil and Chambers’ work at the time.
A family pupillage is likely to mean exposure to all aspects of family law including public and private child work, matrimonial law & finance including divorce and ancillary relief, cohabitation disputes and Inheritance Act applications as well as to our expanding area of practice within the Court of Protection. Members of Chambers regularly represent local authorities, parents, children’s guardians, CAFCASS Legal, the Official Solicitor as well as private clients.
A commercial/chancery pupillage will include exposure to commercial and chancery litigation. This will include general commercial litigation, banking and finance, partnership disputes, insolvency work, probate work, claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 and property litigation.
Becoming a Pupil at Parklane Plowden Chambers
We are looking to recruit exceptional candidates who are able to demonstrate high level competencies and attributes in a number of different areas, including:
- Academic Background: we generally expect candidates to have, or be predicted, at least a 2:1 university degree, although we will consider all applications on their merits, particularly if there are exceptional circumstances;
- Oral advocacy/communication skills;
- Written communication skills;
- Interpersonal skills;
- Analytical thinking;
- Drive and determination;
- Sound judgment;
- Resilience and the ability to work under pressure;
- Dedication to our core practice areas.
For pupillage starting October 2020, we are likely to offer at least:
- Two 12-month civil pupillages, one based in Leeds, one based in Newcastle;
- One 12-month family pupillage, based primarily in Leeds.
- One 12-month commercial/chancery pupillage, based primarily in Leeds.
Civil Pupillage
Applications must be made by completing our application form.
It would be of great assistance if you could also complete the separate Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form. This is used for monitoring purposes only and is not used as part of the selection process.
Please send both your Application Form and Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form as separate attachments to pupillagecivil@parklaneplowden.co.uk with “Civil Pupillage Application” in the subject line.
Applications must be received by noon on Sunday 13th January 2019.
First round interviews are likely to be held in Leeds or Newcastle on 9th February 2019.
Second round interviews are likely to be held in Leeds or Newcastle on 2nd March 2019.
Family Pupillage
The family pupillage commencing October 2020 is a specialist family property & finance pupillage. You will have exposure to all aspects of family law, including public and private children proceedings, but there will be a focus on the law relating to the financial consequences of relationship breakdown (whether marriage or cohabitation). This includes divorce and financial remedies, cohabitation disputes and Inheritance Act applications. It is likely the successful applicant will practice in all areas of family law in the early years of practice. However, there will be a strong emphasis on and expectation that the pupil will become a specialist family finance practitioner in due course.
Applications must be made by completing our application form.
It would be of great assistance if you could also complete the separate Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form. This is used for monitoring purposes only and is not used as part of the selection process.
Please send both your Application Form and Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form as separate attachments to pupillagefamily@parklaneplowden.co.uk with “Family Pupillage Application” in the subject line.
Commercial/Chancery Pupillage
Applications must be made by completing our application form.
It would be of great assistance if you could also complete the separate Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form. This is used for monitoring purposes only and is not used as part of the selection process.
Please send both your Application Form and Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form as separate attachments to Stephen.Render@parklaneplowden.co.uk with “Commercial/Chancery Pupillage Application” in the subject line.
Applications must be received by noon on Sunday 13th January 2019.
First round interviews are likely to be held in Leeds or Newcastle on 9th February 2019.
Second round interviews are likely to be held in Leeds or Newcastle on 2nd March 2019.
Pupillage Awards
All of our pupillages are funded by an overall package worth at least £27,500 over the 12 months made up as follows:
- An award of £10,000 for the first six months to be paid pro rata at the end of each month;
- Guaranteed receipts of at least £17,500 for the second six months.
In fact, we expect our pupils to generate income significantly in excess of this in their 2nd six.
Based on experience, we anticipate billing in the first full year of fee generating practice to comfortably exceed £50,000.
