We offer up to three 12-month pupillages per year: one property pupillage and up to two pupillages for those who have a particular interest in at least one of Landmark’s other practice areas. We offer pupillages to those applicants who we believe have a realistic prospect of achieving a tenancy with us. Importantly, our pupils are not in competition with one another for a fixed number of tenancy positions but are assessed individually on their own abilities and performance.

We offer a pupillage award of £75,000 per year per pupil, which will be paid in equal monthly instalments. This includes an optional £30,000 drawdown, which may be used during the year preceding the start of pupillage. Chambers also funds pupils’ attendance at multiple external training events throughout their pupillage year, including the compulsory courses required of pupils by the Bar Standards Board and the Inns of Court.

All pupils are supported by a supervisor, as managed by the Pupillage Committee, which is made up of a cross-section of Chambers’ membership. In addition, pupils may be assigned a Silk for more complex cases. Landmark’s independent, internal mentoring programme ensures that pupils have more informal support that covers technical, pastoral and career areas separate from their supervisor.

Members and pupils are closely supported by an experienced and professional staff team spanning administration, HR, marketing, finance, IT and practice management. Additional resources available to support pupils include access to a comprehensive library of legal texts in Chambers, as well as complimentary access to Chambers’ extensive online knowledge resources including Westlaw and LexisNexis. Pupils will also be trained to use the LEX practice management and diary system.

Landmark participates in the Bar Council’s Pupillage Gateway. All applications must be made through this online system.

Landmark is committed to the furtherance of equality and diversity at the Bar. We take great care in our selection process to identify candidates whom we believe have a realistic prospect of undertaking a successful pupillage with us that leads to tenancy.

The first selection stage involves a careful review of your application by up to three members of Chambers. Each member makes an independent assessment, having regard to our selection criteria and in line with Landmark’s Equality and Diversity Policy, to decide whether you should go through to the second stage. All application forms are redacted to remove all personally identifiable information as well as equality and diversity data (including age, gender, ethnicity, religion and disability) prior to being viewed by a marker. This policy has been introduced to remove unconscious bias and promote equality in the application process.

The second stage is a one hour written assessment. This is based on a legal problem and we provide applicants with appropriate access to research materials. 

We then select candidates for interview, which forms the final stage of the application process. There are separate interview panels for the general and property pupillages. The interview panel will comprise members of Chambers from a cross-section of seniority and one of our Practice Directors. Interviews last up to 40 minutes and are based in part on two questions that are set prior to the interview; a legal question that is provided 24 hours beforehand and a more general discussion question that requires no research, and is provided 20 minutes before the beginning of the interview. 

Offers of pupillage are made to successful candidates chosen on the basis of their application form, assessment score and performance at interview.

Overall, when considering applications we are looking for evidence of potential across a range of attributes and competencies, including academic ability, motivation, oral and written advocacy, analysis and decision-making, determination and resilience, and working with others.

The demonstration of academic ability is very important, however this forms only part of how we consider applications and it will be taken into account alongside other evidence which demonstrates:

• a commitment to understanding life at the Bar and what work in our practice areas entails;
• an ability to build strong, coherent and focused arguments orally and in writing;
• the capacity to identify key issues from extensive information and solve problems through sound judgment;
• the aptitude to adapt to changing circumstances and react positively to challenges;
• and the potential to build effective working relationships, in particular as part of a team.

We recognise that beyond the written assessment, elements of this evidence can be drawn from a variety of experiences outside the legal profession.

Our mini-pupillages are designed to provide students with valuable insight into the realities of life at the Bar and improve understanding of how our areas of expertise operate in practice. We do not assess our mini-pupils in any way and our placements do not form part of our selection process for pupillage. Further information regarding our mini-pupillage programme may be found here.

Yes. We are aware that applying for pupillage is a very competitive process and that each year the number of applications we receive from strong applicants exceeds the number of pupillages we can offer. Application forms and the written assessment are blind marked, and the assessors will therefore be unaware that you have previously applied to Chambers. However, if you have been interviewed on more than one occasion but have not made our reserve list, it is unlikely that you would be interviewed a third time absent some material change in circumstances.

We are committed to actively improving equality and diversity at all levels at the Bar. We recognise the under-representation of women, black and ethnic minority groups and the LGBTQIA+ community both in Chambers and in the Bar more widely. We wish to recruit the best people from the widest possible group of talent. Equality of opportunity is essential for the maintenance of high standards and the provision of the highest quality service to clients. We have comprehensive and robust policies and procedures in place to ensure that there is no discrimination against prospective pupils, pupils, members, clients, or staff on grounds of gender, race, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion or belief. Chambers’ full equality and diversity policy may be found here.

If you have any questions about the application process, please email: pupillage@landmarkchambers.co.uk