8 New Square’s pupillage award is set at £75,000, consisting of £37,500 pupillage award and £37,500 guaranteed earnings.
8 New Square is the largest, specialist, intellectual property Chambers in the United Kingdom, and has a depth of knowledge and breadth of experience in all areas of intellectual property law, media and entertainment and IT law. Pupillage at 8 New Square therefore provides an opportunity to work with many of the leading practitioners in intellectual property law and to be exposed to a wide range of interesting and often ground-breaking cases in this field. For example, members of Chambers have appeared in the most significant patent and telecoms licensing cases of recent years (including in the Supreme Court cases Actavis v Lilly, Warner Lambert v Generics and Unwired Planet v Huawei) and have appeared in most of the major copyright and media cases, e.g., representing Sir Bob Geldof, Rihanna, and Ed Sheeran. Members of Chambers are also frequently involved in significant trade mark and passing off disputes, including, for example, in the European Court of Justice in the L’Oreal v Bellure case. Chambers also acts in all areas of design rights.
Generally, pupils will sit with one or two members of Chambers for a two or three month period, before moving to new pupil supervisor(s) (although there is a facility to move to other members of Chambers who have particularly interesting cases). Pupils will also, in the later stages of their pupillage, have opportunities to work with members of Chambers other than their pupil supervisors.
A pupil will be immersed in all aspects of their supervisors’ practises and see a wide range of intellectual property and related work during their time with each supervisor. They will be given many opportunities to get hands-on experience of the work of a barrister, including legal research, drafting pleadings and skeleton arguments, and assisting in preparation for conferences and hearings. Pupils are treated as members of the team on the cases in which they are involved and? are encouraged to think critically about their cases and to discuss their thoughts with their supervisors.
Pupils will be asked to conduct a formal advocacy exercise approximately halfway through their pupillage year which will be assessed by the Head of Chambers and at least two other members of Chambers.
Pupils will be provided with regular feedback on their work throughout their pupillage and will have formal feedback sessions at the end of their time with each supervisor. Pupils will also have the opportunity to provide their own feedback on their pupillage during the year.
Chambers takes the wellbeing of its pupils, as well as its staff and barristers, very seriously and has systems in place to provide wellbeing support to its pupils. Chambers has a dedicated Wellbeing Officer (Charlotte May KC) who is available to provide (confidential) wellbeing support. Pupils are also assigned a mentor (a junior tenant) from whom they can seek advice and support throughout their pupillage.
Our aim is to recruit pupils of the very best calibre who will stand an excellent chance of being offered tenancy. Given the nature of our work, applicants will need to demonstrate strong academic ability, including an aptitude for and interest in dealing with technical/scientific subject matter (although a science degree is not a mandatory requirement). Candidates will also need to be able to demonstrate strong analytical and advocacy skills and an interest in intellectual property.
Applicants should be able to demonstrate:
- Academic qualifications of at least a 2:1 (or equivalent) degree from any recognised university (unless there are extenuating circumstances).
- Law degree or GDL (or equivalent) and accepted an application to undertake the BPTC or completed the BPTC.
- Proof or other explanation of technical/scientific aptitude.
- An interest in intellectual property.
Chambers is committed to fostering and encouraging greater diversity at the IP Bar and is actively involved in a wide range of initiatives to support that goal including being a sponsor and partner of the Bridging the Bar scheme, participant in the 10,000 Black Interns Programme, a member of IP Inclusive and providing sponsorship to a variety of academic institutions that share the goal of improving Equality and Diversity. In addition, individual members undertake a variety of initiatives like mentoring and school outreach work.
Chambers has an active Equality, Diversity and Wellbeing Committee and barristers and applicable staff undertake Equality and Diversity, Fair Recruitment and Race Awareness training. Members of Chambers come from a wide range of backgrounds and we welcome applicants for pupillage from all backgrounds. Additionally, Chambers’ Accessibility Officer (Ms Harri Gibson) is available to assist with any accessibility questions or requests. Please contact her to enquire about any accessibility needs that you may have prior to making your pupillage application.
All pupillage recruitment is via the Pupillage Gateway. Aspiring barristers are invited to apply to chambers using the Pupillage Gateway application system to search for the relevant Pupillage Vacancy and selecting ‘Apply for this pupillage’. Chambers select pupils through a process of reviewing the Pupillage Gateway application forms and conducting interviews with those who meet the criteria for interview. First round interviews last approximately 25 minutes. Applicants will be interviewed by a panel of approximately four barristers and the Chambers Director. The interview will be a relaxed question and answer discussion. Second round interviews will last approximately one hour, consisting of half an hour to study a legal problem with the remaining time to present the answers before an interview panel. The panel will again be approximately 4 barristers (different from first round interviews) and the Chambers Director. The problem does not assume or require any prior IP knowledge. In the rare event that we require third round interviews, it will similarly consist of the study of a legal problem followed by the presentation of the solution. This problem will be more technical in nature. Chambers’ Pupillage Policy can be found here.