Exclusive: As a plethora of London sets bump rookie barrister pay
Commercial and common law specialist Henderson Chambers has increased its pupillage award to £70,000, Legal Cheek can reveal.
Up from £50,000, the major money move — which sees the Temple-based set become the joint second-highest pupillage payer in the country — equates to an increase of £20,000 or 40%. According to Legal Cheek’s 2017-18 Chambers Most List, Henderson takes on two pupils each year and now joins commercially-geared duo 2 Temple Gardens and 4 Pump Court in dishing out the impressive £70,000 figure.
The top pupillage award continues to be provided by construction law specialist Atkin Chambers, which bumped rookie barrister remuneration by 20% to £72,500 back in 2015.
By way of a cross-profession comparison, the highest salary currently offered to aspiring City lawyers sits at £55,000, courtesy of US threesome Davis Polk & Wardwell, Kirkland & Ellis and Sullivan & Cromwell.
The large award uplift comes as Henderson reveals a new international secondment, a training tool normally reserved for trainees at large corporate law firms. The set has confirmed its pupils will have an opportunity to hone their barrister skills in the sun soaked British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
“We have decided to refresh our pupillage offering, with an increase in our award and a new secondment to the Caribbean,” a spokesperson for Henderson told Legal Cheek. He continued:
We have always offered an overseas secondment but this year decided to change tack to Griffiths and Partners in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Conrad Griffiths QC is a former member of chambers and pupils will spend four weeks with him and his partners during their second six. The idea is for our pupils to be exposed to different ways of working in another jurisdiction, in order to broaden their professional outlook and the service we can provide to our clients in the future.
Henderson has confirmed that pupils’ flights and accommodation are covered by chambers.
Elsewhere at the bar, a plethora of other sets have upped pupillage awards.
First up, Francis Taylor Building. The planning law set has upped pupil pay by £15,000 to £60,000, a rise of 33%. The Temple-based chambers offers two training positions each year, according to its Most List profile.
Meanwhile, awards at 39 Essex Chambers are up by 14% to £60,000. The commercially-focused set — which has outposts in Manchester, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur — offers three pupillages annually. Finally, pupil wedge at both 7 Bedford Row and No5 Chambers is up by £10,000 (25%), taking final awards to £50,000. Each set currently takes on two pupils a year.
For all the latest commercial awareness info, and advance notification of Legal Cheek’s careers events, sign up to the Legal Cheek Hub.