Social media posts come as Gateway reopens today
Excitable baby barristers have taken to Twitter to mark their first day of pupillage as the Gateway reopens for a fresh round of applications.
“Definite night before first day of big school vibes”, wrote Ben Hammersley, a pupil barrister at Crown Chambers. Hammersley received words of encouragement from bar veterans The Secret Barrister, Adam Wagner and Joanna Hardy, and revealed he had his “bag packed, shoes polished, and laptop charged”.
But not all rookies are having to sharpen up for their first day. As coronavirus cases continue to spiral out of control and the nation looks set to enter a third lockdown, Danae Larham tweeted that she was prepping for pupillage by charging up her laptop, setting up Zoom and donning her slippers!
“When I thought of what my first day of pupillage would be like, I never envisaged I’d be in self-isolation in the middle of a pandemic,” wrote fellow pupil barrister Jazmine Lee. “Nonetheless, this is a big day and I’m raring to go!”
Other rookies were restless and couldn’t wait to start their first day. Hannah Turner, a pupil barrister, sensed a “restless” night ahead as she “checked whether [her] laptop is definitely on charge at least 10 times”. Meanwhile, Anoushka Twining was ready for bed six hours earlier than normal in anticipation for “tomorrow to start”. “I did not realise how amazing it would feel to remove the word ‘future’ from my Twitter/LinkedIn bio!” she added.
First day of #Pupillage… mince pie for breakfast, wearing all my Xmas presents and up at 5.30am…. I feel like a child on Christmas day.
— Rosanna Martin (@Rosanna_Martin) January 4, 2021
Elsewhere, Ella Embleton, a pupil barrister at Broadway House Chambers, shared a snap of a “goody bag” created for her by her parents. A hair brush, insoles, car de-icer and painkillers were among some of the contents. Fellow Twitter users and barristers further advised she pack a spare pair of tights, a filled stapler, and snacks which are “an absolute essential”.
My parents are so cute 🥰 First day of pupillage tomorrow and they have made me a “Goody Bag”. Not seen in the picture is the copious amount of dried fruit/nuts bags and cereal bars (mum was clearly concerned when I said grabbing lunch some days would be difficult)! pic.twitter.com/6ND18C6WIf
— Ella Embleton (@EmbletonElla) January 3, 2021
Today also marks the day the Bar Council’s Pupillage Gateway, the online application portal for pupillage, reopens. Get ahead and find out about the leading chambers operating in the UK, including gender diversity stats, pupillage awards and the proportion of Oxbridge-educated new tenants, with the Legal Cheek 2021 Chambers Most List.
Good luck to everyone starting pupillage or putting in applications today!
