Chambers’ aim is to recruit tenants from pupils in chambers, and pupillages are offered on that basis. All members of chambers but one have become tenants after completing pupillage in chambers.
Decisions regarding tenancy are made at a meeting of all members of chambers, which takes place in the last quarter of pupillage.
Life as a junior tenant
At the start of tenancy in chambers, a junior tenant can expect to be busy with work on their own account as well as devilling work for other members of chambers. In the first years of tenancy, a tenant in chambers can expect to be in court on average about once a week dealing with such things as applications for interim injunctions and other pre-trial work in larger pieces of litigation. Junior tenants also appear regularly in the UK Intellectual Property Office and the Trade Marks Registry.
From the beginning of tenancy, a new tenant will be instructed to advise clients, both in writing and in conferences, and to draft pleadings of their own.
Over time, as the tenant’s experience increases, the amount of court work also increases and with it comes the opportunity to conduct full trials, probably in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) at first. The nature of intellectual property rights means that much of the work done by members of chambers is urgent and required within a tight deadline. Accordingly members of chambers, and especially the juniors, may need to work late into the evenings and at weekends as and when the need arises.
Stuart Baran was interviewed for an article on life as a junior tenant in chambers for the Training Contract & Pupillage Handbook 2014. A copy can be found here.
Katherine Moggridge has been featured by Chambers & Partners in their “Women in Law” series. Their article “Close-Up on the UK Bar: Katherine Moggridge” can be read here.