Comments on: ‘I’ve secured pupillage, but I’m unsure about the set. Should I accept or reapply?’ https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/ Legal news, insider insight and careers advice Wed, 23 Apr 2025 17:32:35 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 By: Al https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212805 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 17:32:35 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212805 Grab any pupilage, or tenancy, offer with both hands. Don’t hold out for your ‘dream’ offer. Better is the enemy of good and all that.

The simple fact is, whilst it’s a nightmare getting your feet under the table initially, once you have got pupillage/tenancy that opens all sorts of doors for you.

It’s like that general thing of it always being easier to apply for a job from a job.

But once you’ve been on your feet a few years just about everyone you meet will be saying “you should come to our chambers”.

]]> By: Curious george https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212786 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 10:08:28 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212786 In reply to incoming pupil.

Interesting, how does it work with reserves? Guessing only those actually offered are wined and dined and reserves left hanging until offer day.

]]> By: incoming pupil https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212758 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 19:33:36 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212758 In reply to anonymous.

Nope, can confirm that the practice of tipping off over fancy dinners last year was in full swing. And they certainly weren’t wining and dining all of the final round interviewees.

]]> By: barista barista GET ME A LATTE https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212756 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 19:29:55 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212756 In reply to Fake news.

Last year, a friend got sent a care package, which included muffins with chambers’ logo on lmao. Pupillage offer followed on the release date.

Expensive dinners are so 2010s. Now it’s all about muffins.

]]> By: Oh la la https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212755 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 19:26:57 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212755 In reply to BPC Grad.

Outrage! I say!

]]> By: Tom https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212746 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 14:19:39 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212746 This is the real difficulty: If they want an answer now and you seem wobbly about your decision, that offer will likely be made to someone else who will definitely say yes and then come May, the set and other sets that you were waiting on may not have an offer for you. Best thing to do is say yes immediately and hope you can back out post May 9. Then come May 9, see how you fared with other sets. High risk for candidates, but it’s unfortunate sets put them in this position. In addition to the BSB stopping things like this, candidates need to start matching their energy tbh. But there will be someone that will take that offer and would be happy not waiting till May 9. Like I said though, high risk all round.

]]> By: Roe Cade https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212744 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 14:11:06 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212744 I’ve been there. The answer?
Take the offer. However, when you receive it, do not rest on your backside. Work hard and make the most of it – but, about 6 months in / just as you enter your second six, look to getting as much advocacy experience as possible and then try and move to your desired career position. Plan your next move. Do not sit back and chill, as the Bar can be quite overwhelming, managing your professional and personal affairs, to the point where you feel you do not have the sufficient time or energy to devote to your career plans. I will say, some career directions at the Bar are quite pointed – if you, for example, do a pupillage in pure crime, it might be difficult to branch out into a pure commercial practice later, or vice versa. As long as your offer has a broad, mixed exposure, you will be ok.

]]> By: anonymous https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212741 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 14:01:26 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212741 In reply to Michael.

This certainly used to be the case (I am ~15 years’ call so a bit out of it) but, at least as I understand it, the risk of being caught out/generally embarrassed nowadays means that so far as this is done it is on all ‘all or nothing’ basis re: whomever has been interviewed for the final round under the rubric of ‘get to know us’, (albeit certain candidates might meet a more likeable set of members then others!)

]]> By: Scouser of Counsel https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212738 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 12:38:29 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212738 If this is real, best grab it with both hands.

Any pupillage is better than no pupillage.

If the set has tipped you off in advance and want an answer now, however, it may be that they are worried that they are going to lose you to a better offer, in which case you might want to wait until 9th May and see what happens…

]]> By: Michael https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212734 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 11:12:00 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212734 It is probably an offer received last year but it is not unheard of for commercial sets to tip off candidates before the BSB offer date out of fear of missing out on their preferred ones. I have heard of sets taking potential pupils out for fancy dinners or lunches just before offer date….

]]> By: A regulator https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212732 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 10:08:57 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212732 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…

]]> By: Fake news https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212731 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 09:54:53 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212731 Nobody receives an offer before 9 May. So this is either a made up story or the set has tipped-off this person (which would be a much more interesting topic to discuss). People, please reply with all the subtle and not so subtle ways you have heard of sets revealing the big news before the big day.

]]> By: Anonymous https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212730 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 09:51:02 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212730 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.

]]> By: Jolly Roger https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212729 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 09:44:40 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212729 Do the pupillage, then jump ship within a year or two of tenancy.

]]> By: Iam Reallya KC https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212728 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 09:42:14 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212728 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.

]]> By: Confused https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212726 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 09:32:04 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212726 Don’t AETOs have to wait until 6 May to communicate an offer, whether on Gateway or off?

]]> By: BPC Grad https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212724 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 09:26:16 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212724 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.

]]> By: Emma F (barrister in crime) https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212723 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 09:15:54 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212723 It would be a big risk to turn down a pupillage without another offer or prospect – once you have qualified it’s going to be easier to then move chambers as there will be a smaller pool. However if you accept the offer you have to be willing to live and work in that city at least for the duration of your pupillage – if you’re not prepared to do that then it’s probably a better idea for you to wait for an offer in a city where you wish to practice.

]]> By: Anon https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212722 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 09:09:38 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212722 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.

]]> By: DWF Trainee https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/ive-secured-pupillage-but-im-unsure-about-the-set-should-i-accept-or-reapply/#comment-1212720 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 08:52:22 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=218490#comment-1212720 More info needed on pros and cons; but if the only concern about the set is the city it is in, I would be very tempted to complete pupillage given how difficult these are to secure.

]]>