Survey Results - Trainee feedback on Cornerstone Barristers

The lowdown - Pupils (in their own words) on Cornerstone Barristers

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

Why did you choose these chambers over any others?

‘Most enjoyable mini-pupillage; friendly and supportive members; professionally and humanely run; good balance of different kinds of work’,
‘area of work – expertise in planning and environmental law’, ‘first, chambers has a strong reputation for local government work, especially in planning and housing law. I knew that I wanted to engage with principles of administrative law, and had a background in policymaking which had included experience of planning and infrastructure issues. I did a mini-pupillage and found the culture to be friendly, welcoming and accessible. I jumped at the chance when I was offered pupillage’

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

‘My co-pupil and I seem to have a better work/life balance and be under less pressure from our supervisors than pupils elsewhere, from what I hear. We also do not have artificial assessments throughout the pupillage year. Rather, our supervisors produce feedback on each piece of work we do for them and all of those reports go before the pupillage committee at the end of the year.
My supervision was exceptional, and my former pupil supervisors remain close colleagues and instruct me regularly as a junior. I received much more formal, written feedback than pupils at other chambers’, ‘compared with some of our direct competitors, I think our pupils are in court more during their second six. Certainly, I found this to be beneficial in developing my advocacy skills at an early stage. The pupillage programme here is wide-ranging – I got to see work at all levels, and with many impressive members of chambers. The feedback is really comprehensive and constructive, and although there is a pressure that inevitably comes from the pupillage year, I found it a deeply rewarding and both professionally and personally enriching experience. I have heard of stories from other sets of a stand-offish approach to training, with limited feedback or sense of how you are doing. We received detailed written and informal oral feedback for each piece of work, and after each seat we got a progress report to give us (and the committee) an indication of how we were doing. It is very transparent.’

Best thing about chambers?

‘The friendliness of everyone including heads of chambers and other senior members, management staff, clerks and junior members. I always feel supported and free to be honest about how I am getting on. Chambers really feels like a community of friends’, ‘the genuinely collegiate atmosphere – there is a great deal of camaraderie and friendliness, and a sense of investing in the next generation of barristers’, ‘even at the start of your career, there are loads of opportunities to get involved in work that is high-profile, socially and politically important, and legally challenging. I have already worked with some brilliant lawyers at many different levels of call, and there is scope to build a practice that suits my interests and desired lifestyle’

Worst thing about chambers?

‘Hard to think of anything. Maybe that the email addresses are too long?
Too few dogs are brought regularly into Chambers!’, ‘whilst starting a junior practice inevitably has its challenges, there is little I would change. One thing that may be a remnant of the pandemic is that there are still a fair number of people who I do not see in chambers very regularly. When you’re starting out, it’s great to speak to a range of people about issues you encounter, and I think it’s important for the future of the Bar that the real-life bustle of a chambers is maintained.’

Best moment to date?

‘Receiving feedback from my supervisor that his draft skeleton argument in a judicial review, which I had substantially drafted, was praised by the KC leading him’, ‘when my co-pupil and I found out we both got tenancy, it was an immensely joyful moment’, ‘aside from fortuitous planning site visits to seaside locations in the middle of the summer, I think junioring on local government cases in the higher courts has been my favourite part of practice so far – it is great to see your name on a reported judgment for the first time! Similarly, less than a year into practice, I had the opportunity to represent an interested party at a planning inquiry (unled). Although this was inevitably a steep learning curve, it was really rewarding to hold my own against much more experienced counsel’

Worst moment to date?

‘I was locked in Bromley County Court on a Friday afternoon after my second ever hearing during my second six, because I did not realise court staff close the court building at about 16:30’, ‘there have been periods where I have been immensely busy, but I’ve sought to manage that by being communicative and open with the clerks and more senior members of chambers’

CSR/Pro bono

‘As a second-six pupil, I have been encouraged and supported to take on pro-bono work through Advocate. Further, a number of members of chambers organise or attend events relating to environmental matters and the legal profession. I think that both of these attitudes are positive’, ‘good – the nature of our work means there are lots of communities that struggle to afford representation in things like appeals against the refusal of planning permission’