Survey Results - Trainee feedback on 39 Essex Chambers

The lowdown - Pupils (in their own words) on 39 Essex Chambers

We sent The Legal 500 Future Lawyers Pupil and Junior Barrister survey to pupils and juniors up to two years in tenancy at 39 Essex Chambers. Here is what they had to say:

Why did you choose these chambers over any others?

‘Quality of work, and the modernity, transparency and fairness of pupillage/tenancy selection process’, ‘the diversity of practice areas and quality of members’, ‘the breadth of work available’

How does your training compare with what you hear from pupils/juniors at other chambers?

‘One of the best at the bar for modernity, transparency and fairness of tenancy selection process. Issues with Covid-influenced remote/hybrid working models  and impact on quality of pupillage, but presumably this is similar to many places at the bar’, ‘Good. We are actively encouraged to only work 9am to 6pm, unless there is an urgent matter. We are prohibited from working into the night’, ‘Very well! A lot of thought and effort is put into our training, and the transparency of the training and assessment process is excellent, meaning that we always know how we’re doing and how to improve’

Best thing about chambers?

‘Interesting work and nice people’, ‘the friendliness of its members and that all staff are treated equally’, ‘how friendly everybody is’

Worst thing about chambers?

‘Post-Covid remote working means that it is much less busy in chambers and there is therefore a lack of ability to form connections’, ‘we are somewhat restricted to 9am to 6pm working hours’, ‘the physical building is quite corporate and soulless, without spaces to chill or chat to other people’

Best moment to date?

‘Scoring very highly against all six assessed criteria in my favourite pupillage seat’, ‘being presented with the ‘Special Award’ whilst representing chambers in an arbitration competition’, ‘the mock trial that chambers ran for us as training. We received invaluable feedback from four barristers each on our performance’

Worst moment to date?

‘Lack of supervisor attendance in chambers for substantial parts of pupillage (for my specific year this was influenced by lockdown, but I gather supervisor attendance remains an issue)’, ‘a bad piece of work I did’, ‘receiving very harsh feedback on one of my earliest pieces of work while I was still finding my feet, which was a real confidence knock. The expectations are high, right from the start’