Pupil Barrister - 12 Month FTC - Nationwide
Job Introduction
8 DAC Beachcroft Buildings (“8DB”) and DAC Beachcroft take pride in offering an innovative pupillage experience with the development, growth and wellbeing of pupils at the heart of our pupillage program.
Pupils can expect to work alongside experienced practitioners across multiple practice areas. Working in association with a leading international law firm, 8DB provides pupils with unparalleled access to market leaders and litigation specialists to provide a challenging and rewarding opportunity for personal and professional growth.
This collaborative approach ensures that pupils are supported at every stage of their pupillage. This support is both emotional and professional, with pupils having the benefit of the facilities and resources available to the DAC Beachcroft LLP Group as well as the collegiate atmosphere engendered by the 8DB team.
We are looking for three Pupil Barristers to be based out of our Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, London or Manchester offices. The salary for this role will be £35,000 per annum and the deadline for applications is 23.59pm on the 6th February 2024.
8DB is committed to fair and open recruitment and has committed to anonymised recruitment. Diversity data will also be retained for Pupils and reviewed periodically, and a record kept of any action taken following such review.
Areas of Practice
Personal Injury and Civil Litigation, Inquests and Public Law, Costs and Litigation Funding, Property Litigation, and Regulatory.
The Application Process
Prospective pupils are invited to complete and return the attached application form which is at the bottom of this page. On the next page when you apply please upload your application form, we do not need to see a copy of your CV. Also attached is the Pupillage policy, please refer to this document for further information on this process and to assist you with your application.
The initial application is drafted by the Pupillage Committee and seeks to test applicants in the following areas:
- Academic ability. Whilst there is no minimum requirement for either undergraduate degree or Bar Professional Training Course (“BPTC”) classification, applicants with either a 2:2 or below (or equivalent) at undergraduate level or a Competent or below at BPTC level will only be considered for the next stage of recruitment in exceptional circumstances;
- Professional / legal / advocacy experience;
- Interest in and commitment to the pupillage on offer, with specific reference to the nature of pupillage at the employed Bar; the awareness and understanding of the work undertaken by 8DB, DACB Claims, DAC Beachcroft LLP and the DACB Group; and the practice areas in which the pupillage will be focussed;
- Written advocacy;
- An aptitude for introspection. 8DB firmly believes that the best pupillage candidates are those who are able to reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses and address each in their behaviours
Civil Advocacy Exercise (1st Round)
The advocacy exercise is designed to test applicants’ awareness and understanding of legal issues relevant to their proposed pupillage, as well as their oral and written advocacy skills. A civil procedure exercise is prepared by the Pupillage Committee – ordinarily an application e.g. to set aside default judgment or for relief from sanctions. The exercise will contain mock court papers and these materials are sent to applicants at least one week prior to their interview.
Applicants are required to draft a skeleton argument in support of the application. This must be sent to the interviewing panel no later than 24 hours before their interview. The skeleton argument will be marked and discussed with the applicant as part of the interview.
The advocacy exercise will take place remotely, before a two-person interviewing panel comprised of at least one of the Pupillage Committee along with other colleagues from 8DB. The applicant will present their legal arguments in a mock courtroom exercise, with intervention from the interviewing panel who will collectively play a judicial role. No judgment or determination will be given on the mock exercise.
We will hold our first round interviews during the week commencing 03 March 2025. These interviews will be held remotely.
Final Interview (2nd Round)
The interview is the final stage of the recruitment process. It takes place approximately 4-6 weeks after the Civil Advocacy Exercise stage. The interview will take place in person, before a four-person interviewing panel comprised of at least two of the Pupillage Committee along with other colleagues from 8DB. All interviewing panel members will have undergone equality and diversity training and fair recruitment and selection training. Interviews typically last around one hour and comprise of three main sections:
1. Debate
2. Legal discussion
3. Application discussion
Debate
The debate is an opportunity for applicants to demonstrate their oral advocacy skills. Applicants must attend at least 20 minutes prior to their interview start time. On arrival they will be presented with a list of debate topics (to be agreed by the Pupillage Committee). Applicants will be allowed to select a debate topic of their choice and prepare a short speech on that topic to be presented to the interview panel. The debate will last for a maximum of 12 minutes, with intervention from the interviewing panel.
Legal Discussion
1 week prior to the interview, applicants will be sent two Judgments that are relevant to the practice areas of the proposed pupillage. During the interview applicants are expected to answer questions about contemporary issues relating to those raised in the Judgments and to engage in a relevant discussion about their possible effects on the legal industry.
Application Discussion
The application discussion provides 8DB with the opportunity to understand more about each applicant, and ensures applicants have the opportunity to address any strengths and weaknesses in their application. Applicants will be asked at least one question on each of their academic history, their professional experience, and their interests and may also be asked competency-based questions.
We will hold our second round interviews during the week commencing 07 April 2025. These interviews will be held in person at our Manchester office; Landmark, St Peter's Square, 1 Oxford Street, Manchester. M1 4PB.
Offers and Feedback
It is a condition of any offer for pupillage that the successful applicant provides evidence of the following: i) undergraduate degree certificate(s); ii) satisfactory completion of the vocational training component within the five-year limit; iii) Call to the Bar; iv) membership of an Inn; v) any immigration visas (where relevant); vi) any waivers from the BSB (where relevant). They will also be subject to clearing pre-employment screening.
8DB is committed to ensuring that every unsuccessful interviewee is informed as quickly as possible (typically within 7 days of offers being made) and receives bespoke feedback on their interview performance.
About DAC Beachcroft
We are a leading international legal business with over 2,900 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We have 11 offices in the UK as well as offices in Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Milan, Rome, Singapore, Argentina Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Miami. We also have associations/alliances with firms in Malaysia, Brazil, Peru, Central America, the USA, Australia and Germany.
We are a broad-based commercial firm with a strong heritage in insurance, health and real estate. This is complemented by a fast-growing Business Advisory capability. We represent a wide range of clients, from household names to government departments and NHS bodies. We act for the UK’s top-ten insurers, we are market leaders in the provision of strategic, commercial and regulatory advice to providers and commissioners in the health sector, and in real estate we advise the UK’s top-12 housebuilders.
We have an impressive legal pedigree, with 141 practice area rankings across Chambers UK 2023 and The Legal 500 2023 and over 230 individual lawyers ranked in the two guides.
Our successes have been recognised by the legal industry and the markets in which we operate. Our most recent accolades include being named the top winner at the 2022 Legal Innovation Awards with two awards, bringing home two National Insurance Awards in 2023 for ‘Insurance Law’ and ‘Innovative Product’, winning ‘Legal Adviser of the Year – Public’ at both the 2021 and 2022 HealthInvestor Awards and ‘Legal Adviser of the Year – Private’ at the 2021 awards, and being named ‘Arbitration Team of the Year’ at the 2022 British Legal Awards. Regionally in the UK, we were named ‘Law Firm of the Year – Large’ in the 2022 Yorkshire Legal Awards and ‘Innovators of the Year’ at the 2022 Bristol Law Society Awards.
Our vision is to be leading business advisers, recognised for our insight and our outstanding commitment to clients, and for being the place where talented people want to work. For further details on our work and our culture, please visit www.dacbeachcroft.com.
DAC Beachcroft
