‘I’ve secured pupillage, but I’m unsure about the set. Should I accept or reapply?’

Take the pupillage. It is so hard to get an offer – even if you’re in the top 10% it’s still very random. If the city doesn’t work for you (and it may well be better than you expect), you can look into moving once pupillage is complete.

Offer day is 9th May, so I am going to assume this career conundrum took place last year, and that it’s for the benefit of discussion. Nevertheless, I find it quite outrageous to apply to sets in towns or cities you have no interest in living in. There are people who would kill for an offer of pupillage at Unidentified Chambers. That being said, if the candidate thinks they can secure pupillage at a more preferable set the following year, that is their gamble to take – and a blessing for the reserve candidate.

Grab it with two hands, make the most of it and then, as you say “jump ship” in two years. I believe you’d be in a better position accepting the offer than you would taking another (third and uncertain year) to apply again ‘hoping’ for something better.

They want you enough to give you the offer, and you’ve earned it. Go with it and move forward instead of hanging in the balance.

It would, in my view, be foolish to turn down such a pupillage offer. Granted, it’s in a City you’d rather not live in and you aren’t entirely sure about how you’d fit in there. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that many pupils will be entering pupillage without having in-person experience of the Set beyond pupillage interviews, so it’s not uncommon to feel at first like you may not fit in. In the second instance, pupillage is only one year in duration, with building your practice to a reasonable size taking a few years thereafter. At such a point, you’re able to ‘jump ship’ to another Set, should it transpire that you still aren’t keen on them or the City. As we are well aware, being offered pupillage in the first place is somewhat of a rarity (especially at the Commercial/Chancery Bar), with only a minute fraction of applicants being offered such. It is also the case that despite academics being very important, it’s also a game of luck to a great extent. It therefore is a reasonable observation to make that you may well not be offered pupillage at all in future application rounds, especially if you cannot answer the corresponding application questions as persuasively as you must have in this round. Therefore, for the sake of a few years of potentially not being entirely happy with your career (and that’s only in the worst case scenario), it strikes me that it is very much so worthwhile accepting the offer and completing pupillage. You will then be fully qualified, practising and building a reputation, and then decide your next career move accordingly. Not accepting the offer risks becoming a sitting duck, potentially waiting for another opportunity which may never come again.

Given that the BSB requires that all chambers make pupillage offers this year on Friday 9 May 2025 (and even says not before 9:30am!), is this question (a) a fake; (b) the result of a set in breach of the rules.

Answers on a postcard…