Pupillages Commencing October 2021 and October 2022
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:
“Parklane Plowden Chambers is regarded amongst lawyers and legal commentators as the pre-eminent set on the North Eastern Circuit”
“They are a very forward thinking set…evidenced by its unique structure that embraces modern business practices”
“…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.”
“…the clerking is excellent”
“Outstanding and by the far best in the North of England”
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.
Within Chambers, we have the following core teams:
- Civil: Personal Injury, Clinical and Professional Negligence, Inquests, Industrial Disease, Civil Fraud, Insurance, Costs
- Employment
- Family
- Commercial and Chancery
During the current Pupillage Gateway process, we intend to offer up to 4 pupillages within our Civil/Employment and Family teams:
- October 2021 commencement:
o A combined civil/employment pupillage based in Newcastle
- October 2022 commencement:
o Two combined civil/employment pupillages: one based in Newcastle, one based in Leeds
o One specialist family pupillage primarily based in Leeds
A civil / employment pupillage is likely to mean exposure primarily to personal injury, clinical negligence and employment work, with opportunities to experience some of our other civil practice areas too. We will seek to adapt the pupillages according to the interests of the pupil and having regard to 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, applications under Part IV Family Law Act 1996, matrimonial finance, financial provision for children under Schedule 1, 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, the Official Solicitor, as well as private clients.
Following significant recent recruitment of tenants from other sets of chambers, we will not be offering any specialist commercial/chancery pupillages in the 2022-23 year.
Equality and Diversity
Chambers is committed to equal opportunities for all no matter what their background and to promoting and improving diversity at the Bar. We particularly encourage applications from those in underrepresented groups.
Chambers is a supporter and partner of Bridging the Bar: https://bridgingthebar.org/
Pupillage applications are anonymised to reduce the possibility of any unconscious bias at the sifting stage.
We monitor diversity by way of our Equal Opportunities Monitoring Forms which candidates are invited to also complete with their applications. These forms are used only for monitoring purposes, they are kept separate from the application forms and are not used as part of the selection process.
How to Apply
Applications need to be made on Chambers’ Application Forms which can be found here:
Civil and Employment Application Form.
Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form.
The applications window runs from 11am on Monday 4th January 2021 to 11am on Monday 8th February 2021. All applications must be received during this period.
The Application Form and Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form should be sent as separate attachments to
- pupillagecivil@parklaneplowden.co.uk with “Civil Pupillage Application” in the subject line; or
- pupillagefamily@parklaneplowden.co.uk with “Family Pupillage Application” in the subject line.
For civil / employment pupillages, first round interviews are likely to be held in Leeds or Newcastle on 6th March 2021. Second round interviews are likely to be held in Leeds or Newcastle on 27th March 2021.
For the family pupillage, first round interviews are likely to be held in Leeds on 20th March 2021. Second round interviews are likely to be held in Leeds on 10th April 2021.
Pupillage Awards
The civil / employment pupillage commencing October 2021 based in Newcastle is 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.
The pupillages commencing in October 2022 are funded by an overall package worth at least £30,000 over the 12 months made up as follows:
- An award of £12,500 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 the guaranteed receipts in their 2nd six. Based on past experience, we anticipate billing in the first full year of fee generating practice to comfortably exceed £50,000.
Selection Criteria
We will be 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 and commitment to being based in the North East.
Candidates should bear in mind these criteria when completing their Application Forms.
