Why Us?
1GC Family Law is one of the foremost Family Law Chambers in the country, recognised both nationally and internationally for providing expert advice and representation, and for acting in the most high-profile, sensitive and important cases arising from family breakdown.
Our pupils are our future. For this reason, we place great emphasis on providing a friendly, supportive environment in which pupils are able to develop the skills they require for a successful career at the Family Bar. We are committed to the continuing education of pupils and ensure ongoing support and assessment throughout pupillage.
Once a tenant, our members go on to develop successful practices and to appear in some of the most significant cases in Family Law. Former members have been recruited to be High Court Judges, Circuit Judges and District Judges. Many of our current members sit as Deputy Judges at all levels.
Pupillages Offered
We offer two 12-month pupillages each year, starting in September.
Funding
Our pupillages come with an award of £32,500 for each pupil, paid in monthly instalments. At Chambers’ discretion, a proportion of the award might be available for early drawdown during the BPTC year.
Pupils can also expect to be in court regularly during their second six and, although we cannot guarantee any particular figure, recent experience suggests that our pupils can expect to earn a good additional income during these six months. Our pupils are entitled to retain all of their earnings during their second six and are not expected to pay Chambers rent.
Structure of Pupillage
Our pupillages are usually divided into three separate ‘seats’, each with a different supervisor. Although the precise order is subject to the availability of pupil supervisors, we endeavour to provide pupils with a money-focused supervisor, a children-focused supervisor and a mixed-practice supervisor. Our pupils will also gain exposure to the Court of Protection work undertaken by many members of Chambers.
Pupils will also have the opportunity of working with the majority of members of Chambers, including our many Silks. Pupils are likely to be exposed to work at all levels of court, including the High Court and Court of Appeal.
During their second six months, our pupils will have their own caseload across the range of Chambers’ specialisms, including Public Children, Private Children and Financial Remedy cases. Recent experience suggests that pupils can expect to be in court at least two or three times per week, and often more frequently.
Our pupils are asked to complete two formal written exercises during pupillage, together with an advocacy exercise shortly before they begin their 2nd six months. Pupils will also undertake written work for other members of Chambers and we place emphasis on the importance of informal feedback to enable pupils to learn and develop as barristers.
The Application Process
We recruit our pupils through the Pupillage Gateway, and our application process follows the timetable set down by the Bar Council.
Following receipt via Pupillage Gateway, your application will be considered by at least two different members of Chambers. We then shortlist those candidates whom we wish to interview.
We typically invite around 40 candidates to our first round interviews, which take the form of a number of unseen set questions that may relate to current affairs, topical legal issues, ethical issues or other competencies set out below. We then usually invite 8 to 10 candidates to a second round interview, which takes a similar format and often includes a pre-prepared presentation.
The first round of interviews are likely to take place mid-March, with the second round of interviews held mid-April.
Chambers is committed to equal opportunities for all and to promoting and improving diversity at the Bar. To this effect, we recruit our pupils through the Pupillage Gateway, and our application process follows the timetable and fair recruitment recommendations set down by the Bar Council.
What We Look For
Chambers welcomes applications from candidates of all backgrounds. We pride ourselves on the diversity of our membership and recruit for pupillage solely on the basis of merit.
Our marking of written applications is an anonymised process, and we mark all applications against the following competencies:
- Academic achievement
- Advocacy experience
- Interpersonal / communication skills
- Interest in Family Law
- Interest in 1GC Family Law
- Expression and presentation
Unfortunately, due to the volume of applications we are unable to provide individual feedback to those candidates who are not selected to attend second interview.
Click HERE to view our Equal Opportunities policy
Tenancy
Our junior tenants are recruited, with rare exceptions, from our pupils. We typically recruit two pupils with a view to recruiting two junior tenants, subject to merit and the availability of work.
Given our reputation and the quality of our pupillage training, we have found that those pupils who are not taken on as tenants usually find a third six or tenancy elsewhere.
Our current pupils are Timothy Hutchinson and Oliver Taylor. Pupils from the past two years include Monica Young and Roseanna Cawthray Stern, Sylvie Armstrong and Sapna Jain all of whom accepted tenancy on completion of their pupillage.
