I switched to the law from a background in economics and finance and am currently doing the Bar Vocational Course. I'm interested in commercial law and have done a few mini-pupillages at predominantly commercial sets.
However, I realise it is extremely competitive to get a pupillage with the sets that I am interested in. Should I make a long-term investment (two years, say) in trying to obtain a pupillage or should I already be considering other careers within the law? Ideally I want to become a barrister but am also interested in arbitration and ADR - is there any way I could follow up this interest outside the Bar?
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I saw lots of people at law school - on both the LPC and BVC - who were clearly never going to get a training contract or pupillage. However, the fact that you are being so realistic and are carefully considering the options indicates that you may be one of the people who should persevere. Look at your experience, your CV and your talents and try and be really critical of yourself, ignoring for a moment the difficulties of getting a place. Are you up to the task of being a barrister at a leading commercial set? If the answer is yes, go for it despite the odds. If you don't think you are up to the challenge intellectually (and have the CV to prove it), then research the other options (hopefully some of the other respondents may have some suggestions on this).
You'll probably need a first to get a good commercial pupillage. You'll definitley need one if you're aiming for the very top commercial sets, preferably from Oxbridge unless you can show you are a star in some other way.
You won't need a first if you aim for no-commercial sets (though it'll help!) but then you need to decide if you want to do commercial law or be a barrister more.
Once you've completed the BVC you can, I believe, qualify as a solicitor if you work as a paralegal or equivalent in 2 or 3 areas of law for 2 years without having to do the LPC or a training contract. I think there are some QLTT requirements, but they could change soon anyway. So, whilst working towards getting a pupillage, you can actually qualify as a solicitor, which would allow you to apply to law firms for ADR, arbitration or litigation NQ positions (though you would need to have the experience to back justify applying as an NQ). In certain firms, associates in litigation-based firms are strongly encouraged to train as solicitor-advocates.
Unless you are upper middle class and an Oxbridge graduate, forget the commercial bar. Irrespective of your talents, skills and ambitions, the commercial bar is just not dynamic or forward thinking enough to give anybody but those who fit the opportunity.
Best advice is to take the QLTT and cross-qualify as a Solicitor. The opportunities in your preferred area will increase enormously thereafter.
I can't speak for your chosen practice area, but you are obviously aware that the odds are hugely stacked against first pupillage, then tenancy (and more so in top sets), so the answer really depends on your CV (is it basically similar to those of the tenants in the chambers you aspire to join) luck, and your tolerance threshold (how long you are prepared to wait and how you can support yourself during that time).
I agree with the poster who said the bar is unprogressive and unless you have a plum name and Oxbridge, fogeddaboutit (per Donnie Brasco)- certainly my experience.
Wish you the best of luck whatever you choose.
Yep - far less risky to qualify as a solicitor in a good commercial firm then convert. You get good commercial experience, skip the poverty of being a pupil and you don't need to fit the stereotype once you've proved yourself as a Solicitor. If you become a Solicitor-Advocate, you might not even want to bother.
If you are not successful in obtaining a pupillage for when you complete the BVC then you can keep your options open as suggested by doing paralegal work and continuing to apply for pupillage and if you're not successful then take the QLTT - a colleague of mine did this and he didn't have the hassle of applying for TCs and went straight in as an NQ solicitor after a couple of years as a paralegal. For other opportunities in ADR you can always take arbitration and/or mediation qualifications whether or not you are a qualified solicitor/barrister. However these qualifications tend to be expensive and there are too many qualified arbitrators/mediators for the amount of work available. Generally it is difficult to build up your experience and be referred work if you are young/junior and not established in your field. However your background in another area may help as mediations are tending to become more specialist. Gaining mediation qualifications may also be an advantage for pupillage interviews. There are also schemes whereby you can get experience through pro-bono mediations once you are qualified e.g. LawWorks. Best of luck - and don't give up on the pupillage applications - you have been successful in getting mini pupillages so you must be getting something right!
As the poster who advised you to consider whether you want to be a non-commercial barrister, I'd point out that solicitor-advocacy doesn't amount to much in a City firm. Many City firms get all their litigators to take the qualification and then they never use it - the big City firms mainly use the top commercial sets. If you want to be an advocate, don't go to a City law firm - at least try and become a barrister.
I don't believe your class background matters much at all for getting into the Bar these days and the leading commercial sets are pretty modern - but the fact is that they want flawless academic achievement - and that tends to mean an Oxbridge first. It may be that most people with Oxbridge firsts are upper middle-class hence the misconception that the Bar is driven by class snobbery.
But as I said, you may care more about practising commercial law than advocacy in which roll on the City.
As previous posters have suggested it's all about your background. I was in a similar position doing the BVC with a good 2.1 from top 10 (but not Oxbridge) uni, and while I had no problem getting mini-pupillages at the Brick Courts of this world, pupillage itself was much harder. I did two rounds of applications to top sets only before realising that it wasn't going to happen, and I eventually decided I'd rather be a solicitor in a top firm than a barrister in a not-so-good chambers. A magic circle firm snapped me up for a TC and, while when I joined I was fixed on being a litigator, I ended up qualifying in derivatives and am now working in-house, with no regrets about leaving the bar. So do keep your options open - the commercial bar is not the be-all and end-all. One important thing to think about is the attitude of your inn: in my day Middle made you commit to try for pupillages for 3 years otherwise you had to pay back any scholarships. My inn (Lincolns) was much more understanding and said that provided I genuinely intended to become a barrister when I took the money I didn't have to pay it back.
There is probably a bit too much emphasis here on all the class stuff. It is hard to get a place in chambers as the supply of hopefuls far exceeds the number of places on offer. It is like the position with training contracts magnified tenfold. I went to bar school and only just managed to get a decent pupillage (having received countless rejections) and then failed to get offered a tenancy at the set I did my initial pupillage and also where I did my third six. I am middle class and have a first from Oxbridge with scholarships from the Inns and all sorts of prizes. My point is that it is tough for everyone and you have to have a fair amount of luck. Most of my friends have a similar profile to me (oxbridge first or 2:1, inn scholarships, posh accents, know how to hold a knife and fork) and barely any of them got tenancy. You have to accept that going for the bar is a gamble. Looking on the bright side, law firms tend to be pretty welcoming and that is where I and most of my friends ended up. Although I was heartbroken at the time about not getting tenancy I don't regret it these days as life in a law firm probably suits me much better than life at the bar would have done. Good luck.
Do the CEDR or another Mediation Training Course with pupillages.
The calibre of the commercial bar is high, with commensurate rewards going by the brief fees and retainers I have paid to Juniors in top sets. Without exception they all have the same CV: Oxbridge 1st, LLM in the US, a year doing a Judicial Clerkship or an impressive internship - all topped with various academic awards and scholarships! Then they need to compete to get tenancy. If they fail to do this they still have options of private practice litigation or a lesser commercial set.
Since you're already at Bar school you may as well follow through with your pupillage applications this year. Re applying for training contracts I don't think it's a good idea to risk the situation whereby you may be offered a TC and a pupillage if you're going to turn down the TC. Pupillage is no guarantee of tenancy and if you do a pupillage, don't get tenancy and want to go and practice arbitration at a firm that you've already applied to (and possibly turned down), you don't know what bearing that may have on re-applying; I can't imagine it would be a positive one.
If you don't get a pupillage this year (for the second time i'm guessing?) then unless you're going to change your target sets next year or you know that they'll be a substantial addition to your CV then I can't see much point in holding out and applying again next year.
Just a few pointers. As a solicitor-advocate you will get to do some advocacy, but it will mostly be pretrial applications and the like. You won't be trying cases or arguing appeals. Having said that, if it's advocacy that attracts you to the Bar, then perhaps you should set your sights on those public, common law, or criminal law sets. These don't usually demand Oxbridge 1sts, and the works involves much more advocacy than that at the commercial bar.
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