Blackstone Chambers – 12 months – September 2025

Pupillage Vacancy Information

About AETO and Structure of Pupillage

Chambers occupies modern premises and offers a friendly and supportive environment in which to undertake pupillage. The range of work undertaken is wide ranging and clients may include individuals, small businesses, large corporations or government and regulatory bodies. Principal practice areas cover:

Commercial: financial/business law, international trade, banking, regulatory, insurance, media and entertainment, sport, intellectual property and professional negligence. Also conflicts of laws and jurisdiction/cross border issues.

Public law: incorporates all areas of administrative law and judicial review, acting both for and against central and local government agencies and other regulatory authorities and including commercial judicial review, together with a very broad range of human rights issues.

European & Competition law: forms an integral part of the specialist practices of individual barristers and includes the full range of EU specialisms in the UK and the EU courts post Brexit. A strong competition law specialism offers insight into regulatory enforcement and private damages actions.

Further information about our practice areas is available on our Pupillage Guide.

We are looking to recruit pupils of exceptionally high academic ability who can demonstrate an interest in and aptitude for a successful career at Blackstone Chambers. Successful candidates will have demonstrated high intellectual ability and will usually have at least a 2.1 honours degree, although not necessarily in law.

The first week of pupillage at Blackstone Chambers is an induction week. Thereafter pupils see the varied practices of members of Chambers including commercial, employment, public law, competition law, and financial regulation through pupillage. Blackstone Chambers offers up to four 12-month pupillages. Pupils have four supervisors during pupillage and because pupils are exposed to such a wide range of legal areas, the 12-month pupillage is non-practising. Pupils are provided with comprehensive advocacy training throughout pupillage to ensure advocacy experience.

Financial and Other Support Available

We currently offer a pupillage award of £75,000 for pupillage commencing in 2025. Pupils may apply to draw down up to £22,500 during their BPC year. These figures are not affected if, like many of our pupils, you are successful in obtaining further financial assistance from your Inn. Our award may be reviewed during the currency of the application process.

We also offer financial assistance of up to £250 in respect of travel and/or out of pocket accommodation expenses incurred by candidates undertaking a mini-pupillage with us. In exceptional circumstances additional funding may be available. Please contact our Pupillage Manager, Carla Rodriguez, for information.

Equality Diversity and Inclusion

All barristers, clerks and staff are fully committed to diversity and inclusion within Blackstone Chambers and the Bar generally, and to equality of opportunity for all. It is Chambers’ policy to treat everyone fairly and equally. Candidates for pupillage and tenancy are assessed, and offers of pupillage made, solely on merit.

We are taking proactive steps to review and continually improve all aspects of the administration and life in Chambers, and to ensure and improve equality of access to pupillage, training and practice development, and employment opportunities within our organisation.

Any request for reasonable adjustments should be made in the first instance to the Pupillage Manager, Carla, and will be considered by the Pupillage Committee in conjunction with Chambers Equality and Diversity Officers as appropriate.

How to Apply

We have made some changes to our application procedure this year, following a review of our process.

From 2023, we will no longer be inviting applications for mini-pupillage before the Pupillage Gateway opens. Instead, all applications for pupillage commencing in September 2025 will be made through the Pupillage Gateway, which will open for applications on 3 January 2024 and close on 7 February 2024.  

The other main change to our procedure is that there will no longer be any interviews for mini-pupillage. Additional competency-based questions on our Pupillage Gateway application form will now provide candidates with the opportunity to demonstrate their aptitude for a pupillage with us.

For information about the application process and timetable, please visit our Website www.blackstonechambers.com, or please contact pupillage@blackstonechambers.com

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

1. Please explain to us persuasively why you want to be a barrister at Blackstone Chambers. Please refer to any work and other experience (legal and non-legal) that you think provides evidence of your motivation to join our chambers (300 words)
2. Tell us about a legal rule or provision (either caselaw or statute) relevant to our Chambers that you think is unsatisfactory and how you think it should be changed (500 words)
3. Tell us what you think demonstrates that you will be a good oral and written advocate. This could include advocacy experience at work, in volunteer positions, achieving a sought-after outcome, as well success in mooting, public speaking, debating, etc. Your answer will be assessed for evidence of effective advocacy (300 words)
4. Tell us how you have demonstrated resilience and determination to achieve goals, in the face of difficulty, pressure or conflict. Please make sure your answer focuses on one or more specific examples of your experience which demonstrate (s) this. These example (s) could be drawn from a wide range of activities – such as legal, non-legal, academic, employment, voluntary work etc (300 words).
5. Please list (if not already specified) subjects, final grades, a breakdown of results and your overall degree class of undergraduate and post graduate degrees undertaken, including predicted degree class for studies currently in progress.  If your degree is from a non-UK university, please indicate whether the grade is equivalent to a 1st, 2:1 or 2:2 and explain the reasons for this. If you have a post graduate degree which is awarded on a pass/fail basis, please indicate whether your overall performance was equivalent to a pass/merit or distinction and explain the reasons why this is so (300 words).
6. Is there any other information which you wish to bring to Blackstone Chambers' attention in connection with your application?  This may be any information that you think relevant that you have not provided elsewhere (300 words).
7. If you have applied to Blackstone Chambers previously and done an assessed mini-pupillage with us, please explain by reference to the criteria set out in our guidance how you consider that your application has improved since then? (300 words)

We will not take up references or require university certificates or transcripts until a candidate’s application has progressed through to offer of a mini pupillage. We will contact you at the relevant time to make this request. References do not form part of the mini-pupillage assessment process and will only be considered by the Pupillage Committee if you are offered a final pupillage interview.

When requested, we will require at least two academic references and a copy of your university official documents sent direct to pupillage@blackstonechambers.com

We strongly advise that you have contacted your referees and your universities well in advance of these possible requirements so that these supporting documents can be submitted by 14 April 2024 at the latest. Any delay may prejudice the processing of your application.

After all mini-pupillages have been completed the Pupillage Committee will select a small group of around 10 candidates to be invited to a final pupillage interview.  Final interviews will take place in late April 2024.

We will offer pupillages to 4 candidates, and one reserve candidate, on 10 May 2024.

Any Other Relevant Information

Blackstone Chambers will be using the Rare Contextual Recruitment System (CRS) when processing applications this year again. This allows us to understand each applicant’s achievements in the context in which they have been gained. We understand that not every candidate’s achievements look the same on paper and we want to recruit the best people, from every background. You will receive an email inviting you to participate on submission of your application through the Pupillage Gateway.

We ask you to share this information so that your application can be reviewed in the context of your socio-economic background (e.g. so we can consider whether you overachieved in light of your wider personal circumstances). It’s important to note that the CRS is a screen in tool, not a screen out tool, and under no circumstances are candidates ever marked down for supplying or not supplying this information. While participation is entirely voluntary, we use the CRS in order to help us level the playing field and identify potential in candidates from less advantaged backgrounds. If you do not provide the contextual information requested and provide consent for it to be shared with the CRS, we may not be able to take that information into account in assessing your application.

For more information, please visit www.contextualrecruitment.co.uk