How to Secure Pupillage at a Commercial Chambers: Part One
Introduction Application season is fast approaching for pupillage starting in 2025/2026. A successful application depends on early planning and thorough preparation. This two-part series of articles will explain how to effectively prepare your pupillage applications to commercial chancery sets. This article will focus on the written portion of the application process. About me This year, I accepted an offer of pupillage at one of my top-choice sets. It was my third round of applications, so I am well-versed in this competitive and gruelling process. I have interviewed at commercial and chancery sets around the country, and have been on the receiving end of both rejections and offers. Step 1: scope your experience The first thing you should do before the Gateway opens (both metaphorically and literally) is to map out all your relevant work experience on a piece of paper or Word document. I prefer the old-school method of creating a bubble diagram on A3 with coloured pens. This will hel