Serle Court – 12 Months – October 2024

About AETO and Structure of Pupillage

Described by Citywealth as “the Chambers of the future”, Serle Court is recognised as “probably the best of the commercial Chancery sets” (Legal 500), and as offering “a variety of skill sets that others just can’t provide, and housing some of the biggest names at the Bar” (Chambers UK).

Serle Court has 74 barristers including 27 silks and is recommended as a set in 11 areas of practice by Chambers & Partners and has 20 set rankings from Legal 500. The work environment is stimulating and inclusive and benefits from a modern approach.

The main areas of practice are: Civil Fraud, Commercial Litigation, Company, Insolvency, International & Offshore, Partnership & LLP, Private Client Trusts & Probate, Property, and Mediation and Arbitration.

Serle Court is interested in recruiting well-rounded candidates from all backgrounds. Chambers looks for highly motivated individuals with outstanding intellectual ability who display a practical approach, sound judgment, the potential to become excellent advocates and develop a successful practice. Chambers has a reputation for “consistent high quality” and members who are “highly intelligent, user-friendly, approachable and supportive” and therefore seeks these characteristics in its pupils and future tenants.

Serle Court has been authorised as an Authorised Education and Training Organisation by the BSB without conditions. This assures candidates that Serle Court’s pupillage scheme is designed to meet in its entirety the 4 qualities sought under the Authorisation Framework, namely Flexibility, Accessibility, Affordability, and High Standards, and that Serle Court will be monitored by the BSB in its performance as an AETO.

During pupillage, a pupil is assigned to 4 supervisors, each with a different area of practice, over the course of their 12 months of training. There will be a gender balance across the first three supervisors. Pupils spend the whole of the year shadowing their supervisor, or other members of chambers if agreed, rather than taking on work in their own name, to ensure they are as well qualified for starting in practice as possible, as quickly as possible. The supervisors together ensure that the Chancery Bar Association pupillage checklist is satisfied for each pupil through the training year. However, we do not approach this as a tickbox exercise - supervisors provide frequent feedback and monitor their pupils’ progress to ensure that the work they are given fulfils their true training needs.

Although pupils do not get an opportunity to practise advocacy in court, we ensure that advocacy exercises, conducted in front of a senior member of chambers, and other assessments designed to improve practical skills, take place. These are not approached from a competitive standpoint, but a collaborative one. Pupils are not competing against one another, and are evaluated on their own merits in a warm and supportive environment.

Pupillage Vacancy Information

Funding for your legal training and pupillage can come from two main sources: a Pupillage Award from Chambers, and scholarships from the Inns of Court.

Most Inns of Court scholarships are means-tested, so that the largest scholarships go to those in the greatest financial need. More detail on the Inns scholarships can be found on the Bar Council website. There are scholarships to cover both the PGDL and the Bar Course. For example, Lincoln’s Inn now awards up to £12,000 for the PGDL and up to £25,000 for the Bar Course.

The Serle Court Pupillage Award is £75,000, and up to £25,000 of that can be drawn down during the preceding year, in addition to any Inns scholarship you may receive. Thus, an incoming Serle Court pupil who also receives an Inns scholarship will receive funding comparable to that offered by City law firms for the vocational year. A Pupillage Award is tax-free in respect of the first six months, making the post-tax value of the Pupillage Award substantially higher than an equivalent salary.

Equality Diversity and Inclusion

Serle Court encourages and welcomes applications from women, people from minority ethnic groups, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, and candidates from other groups which are underrepresented in the legal sector.

Our recruitment process and the remuneration package we offer are intended to ensure that we attract the best pupils in each year. We welcome applications from non-law graduates, and our application form and interviews have been carefully designed to ensure that they are at no disadvantage; and also, that women, ethnic minority applicants, disabled persons or those from other underrepresented groups are not disadvantaged either. In particular, in recent months we have been doing a great deal of work on auditing our application and recruitment processes and working with the Workplace Psychology Group to ensure these processes are as likely as possible to produce a diverse intake of pupils. We are wholeheartedly committed to the Bar Council’s Equality and Diversity Code and the principles behind them.

Chambers itself is similarly committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in its workplace – this is enshrined in the Chambers’ constitution and we have a robust and busy programme of outreach to back it up. More details may be found on our website.

How to Apply

Aspiring barristers are invited to apply to Chambers between Wednesday 4 January 2023 and Wednesday 8 February 2023 using the Pupillage Gateway application system to search for the relevant Pupillage Vacancy and selecting ‘Apply for this pupillage’.

In addition to the standardised Bar Council questionnaire, candidates will be asked to respond to the following questions from Chambers:

1. [Note: the principal purpose of this question is to test written advocacy and logical reasoning ability]
"Fair recruitment is more important in regulated professions (such as the Bar) than other careers". Do you agree? In no more than 500 words, identify some of the arguments in favour of and against this position. (3300 character limit)

2. [Note: the principal purpose of this question is to test verbal reasoning and analytical skill]
A clause in a commercial (business to business) contract provides:"The seller's maximum aggregate liability to the buyer under or in connection with the contract, including any liability arising out of or relating to the performance and/or breach and/or termination of the contract, shall in no case exceed £1 million."
The clause is expressly stated not to apply to claims for personal injury or death caused by the seller's negligence or breach of statutory duty. Assume that the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 does not apply.
In your view, does this clause cap liability for a negligent misrepresentation made by the seller that induced the buyer to contract? Please explain the basis for your view in no more than 500 words. (3300 character limit)

3. [Note: the principal purpose of this question is to test judgment and potential as an oral advocate]
Identify a piece of exceptional oral advocacy that you have seen in a non-legal context. Please choose a piece of advocacy that is widely known, and from the last decade. In no more than 500 words, please explain what you consider made it stand out, and how it could have been improved.​ (3300 character limit)