A Pupil's View

By Alexander Robson

I remember clearly spending long hours looking through chambers’ websites, brochures and pupilage guides a few years ago. I, like most people, was looking for that ‘dream ticket’ combination: interesting and intellectually stimulating work, plenty of oral advocacy, lots of contact with varied clients – and all of this in a friendly, unstuffy environment where you are going to earn a healthy amount of money. All sets ticked some of the boxes. It seemed impossible to find one that ticked them all.

Littleton specialises in Employment and Commercial law. What this means for its pupils is exposure to a real variety of high quality civil work, from big money, multi-jurisdictional contractual disputes to sex discrimination – and plenty in between. Chambers is regularly instructed in the leading cases – often on both sides of the dispute.

When it comes to second six (and tenancy), these areas of specialism also mean advocacy. Chambers understands that most people do not come to the Bar with aspirations of reading papers for the first four years of their career. My pupil supervisors gave me as much responsibility as I was comfortable with. I also received a structured training, including a formal advocacy program and written exercises with lots of feedback to ensure I wasn’t thrust too far in to the deep end.

On my first day of second six I was on my feet in the Companies Court. Very quickly I was running my own cases – by the end of the first month I had acted for three Claimants in a £60,000 breach of contract claim. I had cross-examined and made impassioned speeches of dubious quality. Within 4 months Charlotte (my co-pupil) was running a five day discrimination / unfair dismissal case. By the end of her second six she had been formally instructed with her pupil supervisor in both the High Court and the Court of Appeal. I am yet to find another area of law that gives you such exposure so soon. It is thrilling and terrifying in equal measure, but it is the reason I wanted to be a barrister.

As for the atmosphere – people in Chambers are leaders in their fields, yes, but they are also friendly and down-to-earth. Modern day clients – whatever their circumstances – have no time for pomposity or self-importance, and people here realise that.

In terms of remuneration, you will earn £45k in a pupillage award and however much you can in the second six on top of that. In recent years second six pupils have typically earned in excess of £10k.

Most sets of chambers will tell you why they are good places to start your career. It’s a very difficult choice to make. But if you want high quality, challenging work, lots of advocacy, good remuneration and all in a relaxed, friendly environment then you should think seriously about applying here.

Alexander Robson was a pupil at Littleton Chambers in 2007-2008 and is the co-author of the guide The Path to Pupillage published by Sweet & Maxwell.