3VB

Indeed, members have acted in blockbuster banking cases including the collapse of the Lehman Brothers and the Icelandic banks. More recent exciting cases include Tom Montagu-Smith KC and Phil Hinks obtaining a committal order in a cryptocurrency case, and Hinks was also recently involved in a £1 million gambling dispute concerning the National Lottery website. The figures in some of these cases are eye-watering. Whether it be Ryan Ferro and Sarah Parker securing judgement for the republic of Mozambique for over $2 billion in ‘tuna bonds’ litigation, or Tom Rainsbury successfully defending claims for judicial review proceedings in connection with investigations into suspected Cum-Ex fraud totalling £500 million, the numbers can certainly be intimidating.

On top of all of this, 3VB has its own International Advisory and Dispute Resolution Unit (IADRU), launched in 2019, to support members of chambers providing pro bono and quasi pro bono services in the international arena.

One junior notes that the work is “extremely challenging, but very diverse”. The reality for juniors, however, is that they will be taking on a variety of work, both more or less valuable, led or unled.

One junior tenant points out that how stimulating the work is depends on what sort of work you’re doing, citing “arguing a new point of law versus document review” as an example. While the big cases are appealing, a junior tells us that this valuable work, which tends to involve being led by a KC, inherently leads to the junior barristers working on the case “spending limited time on their feet”. There are, however, opportunities for advocacy at the junior end in smaller county court matters.

The quality of the work taken on by tenants at 3VB does come at a price — like most commercial sets, you can expect to work between 50-59 hours in an average week. We are told that “work is unpredictable and can be very stressful” but that there is “a huge amount of respect for holiday — if you say you are not around, that will never be called into question by practice managers”. Another insider admits that “the commercial bar is busy, but the clerks are particularly mindful in ensuring that juniors are not overworked.” Ultimately, we are told that “3VB lets you develop the style and intensity of practice that each member wants”.

The set also ensures juniors aren’t just thrown in at the deep end without armbands. Throughout pupillage, pupils receive “invaluable” and “very practical” training with “helpful feedback”. Expect “regular advocacy sessions, introductory seminars to different areas of law, and a wide variety of pupil supervisors to sit with.” And if you find yourself struggling, you can always expect support from senior silks.

The “collegiate atmosphere” and “open door policy from the top silks to the baby juniors” are praised by tenants at the set. One insider tells us an anecdote where he was pacing the 3VB halls thinking about a case one evening, when one of the set’s KCs spotted him and invited him to start chatting: “Hours later at 10pm we were in his room debating the point and pulling out authorities together. It was immeasurably helpful and hugely generous.”

Other support comes in the form of monthly one-to-one counselling/wellbeing sessions with a professional counsellor, frequent internal talks and seminars on wellbeing, and a generous flexible working policy. The set also has an extensive parental leave policy covering chambers rent, expenses, and the support available before, during, and after taking leave.

Outside of work, there is a “good rapport” among the 101 tenants at 3VB. We hear that the junior end in particular is “very collegial” with plenty of opportunities for informal coffee or drinks. There are a “reasonable amount” of larger events organised, such as the annual summer and Christmas parties, as well as cheese tastings! This is, of course, all in addition to the regular breakfasts, lunches, and afternoon teas put on for barristers by the set. One source tells us that: “The juniors organise drinks with the pupils and new tenants and this camaraderie continues up through chambers. Our CSR committee also organises regular social events (breakfasts, lunches and drinks) and some talks to bring MOCs together. In terms of support, there is an open door policy such that you can ask any MOC a question. New tenants choose a mentor to help them in the early years.”

3VB’s buildings overlook peaceful Gray’s Inn Gardens, giving tenants some of the loveliest thinking spaces in legal London. The old period buildings —currently undergoing a full refurb — provide “a modern workspace with an old-world charm”. Since the refurbishment started, the facilities available have improved. 3VB rookies highlighted the “good-sized to very large” individual rooms, which can be “decorated to personal specification”, and we’re assured that “everyone who wants one has their own room”. One tenant does however bemoan the old-fashioned layout within the building — we hear there are many staircases so you may want to leave your stilettos at home!

Tenants also praised the “excellent facilities for meetings and great support staff for IT, billing and facilities management”. The tech team is said to be “top notch” and “able to deal with everything from international calls to setting up remote hearings.” Chambers is also fully integrated so working from home is said to be “seamless”.

3VB offers up to four pupillages per year. The pupillage award is a generous £80,000. Successful applicants will receive four supervisors and sit with each for three months, as well as working for other members of chambers. Rookies sit in their supervisor’s room and help draft statements of case, complete legal research, write advice, and attend conferences, hearings and trials. One recent pupil described the year as “stressful” but said “you learn from the best”. Pupils also take part in advocacy exercises and receive feedback from the set’s KCs, who are all qualified advocacy trainers for their Inns — no pressure then. By the end of pupillage, there is some “limited amount of advocacy” untaken by pupils on their own account, allowing them to build up experience. 3VB says pupils should expect to work very hard at times, but they are not normally expected to regularly work late into the evenings or weekends.

Prospective pupils must undertake an assessed two-day mini-pupillage at 3VB prior to applying for pupillage. They should then make their application through the Pupillage Gateway. Following this, around 35-40 of the highest scoring applicants (based on their paper application and the mini) will progress to the first-round interview, which is a 15-minute discussion with a panel of interviewers. Questions will be based on the candidate’s application form, and there will also be a law-related question to test the applicant’s analytical skills, oral advocacy and ability to think on their feet. The highest scoring 15 candidates will then be invited to a second-round interview. They will attend chambers two hours before the interview and will be provided with a legal problem which they will prepare under controlled conditions. The 30-minute interview will then focus on this problem and more general questions.

3 Verulam Buildings seeks pupillage candidates with high intellectual and analytical ability, written communication skills, oral advocacy and impact, temperament, commercial sense and motivation. They state that “members of chambers come from diverse backgrounds and have taken many different routes to the Bar”. In support of its commitment to access to the legal profession, 3VB participates in COMBAR’s annual mentoring scheme for applicants from groups who are under-represented at the bar. It is also a founding partner of social mobility charity Bridging the Bar.

The pupillage experience

Pupillage at 3VB is divided into four seats, each lasting three months and with a different member of chambers as supervisor. I was given a mix of research notes, skeleton arguments and opinions and would on average do about one substantial piece of work per week. However, this often varied depending on the type of work I was doing. The type of work typically depended on your supervisor but I did find that there was a good variety in terms of the areas of law, ranging from banking to general commercial litigation to public international law. I also found that a good chunk of the work I was doing was live work, meaning as part of an ongoing matter.

My pupillage was entirely remote (and from overseas) and while that came with its own challenges, chambers in general and my supervisors in particular really helped alleviate its effects. I typically talked to my supervisors at least once a day via Teams/Zoom. All of them were very considerate of the time difference and also made sure to remind me to take the evenings/weekends off.

There are also two main feedback sessions with members of the pupillage committee after your first and second seat each. These were quite detailed and provided a good gauge as to how the pupillage year was going.

The pupillage year also has four advocacy exercises: one unassessed and three assessed. These were a great way to get in some (remote) advocacy practice and the feedback from other members of chambers was very helpful.

Overall, I found that chambers and the pupillage committee were very supportive during the pupillage year, particularly given that ours was a remote pupillage. There really isn’t a sense of having to ‘compete’ for tenancy and it was genuinely an atmosphere that was conducive to learning and growing.

The transition from pupil to tenant

The transition from pupil to tenant can be equal parts daunting and exciting. Daunting because the safety net of pupillage is no longer there but exciting because you now get to build and shape your own practice. For my cohort, given that our entire pupillage had been remote, the shift was also particularly unusual.

However, it our case, the transition was made easier by a number of factors: the chambers orientation where we sit down with our practice managers and various members of staff to discuss how chambers operates and things we need to know as new tenants, other members of chambers who will often spend a lot of time patiently answering your questions and your peer group because there is a sense of figuring it out together. The fact that we had a practicing second six months of pupillage also really helped ease us in to tenancy as we got to take on a few smaller county court matters on the side as pupils.

What is your practice like now?

A typical working week usually involves a good mix of led and unled work, working on pleadings, skeleton arguments and the occasional written advice. I am typically in court by myself once every couple of weeks, usually for smaller claims and am led on the larger, more complex commercial disputes. I have also thus far been able to see a good mix of both commercial litigation as well as arbitration. The run up to a hearing or trial does tend to get quite busy but there is usually some down time afterwards to unwind.

What is the culture of chambers?

Chambers is generally quite a warm and welcoming place. People tend to be approachable and always happy to have a chat or go for a coffee. There are also quite a few social events from dinners, drinks and the occasional barbecue.

New tenants get their own room in chambers, usually overlooking the Gray’s Inn gardens (and sometimes the occasional stray fox!) so that is a nice perk.

The practice managers are all fantastic. They are proactive, routinely check in and always lend a helpful ear when you want to sound something out.

Top tips for those wanting to become a barrister/secure a pupillage at your chambers

Some tips that I found to be generally helpful when applying for pupillage are:

(1) Research the chambers website and make a note of the criteria that they look for when assessing a pupillage application and tailor your application accordingly. The 3VB website for instance has quite a lot of information about mini-pupillages, the pupillage application process and pupillage itself. This is usually a good place to start.

(2) It is usually a good idea to treat your application like a piece of written advocacy: set out your reasons for wanting to join the bar and/or a particular set of chambers simply, clearly and concisely.

(3) Do as many minis as you can as they are probably the best way to gain insight into the Bar at that stage. Ideally if you are interested in a set of chambers, try and do a mini-pupillage there because it gives you a much better sense of what that chambers is like.

(4) Don’t hesitate to apply to any particular set of chambers if the type of work that they do interests you simply because you don’t think your profile may not be strong enough or that you may not fit in: there is really no ‘one size fits all’ and you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!