4 New Square Chambers |

4 New Square is a leading commercial set of barristers comprising 88 members of whom 33 are King’s Counsel. Its members are recognised as leading practitioners in a wide range of fields including commercial law, professional liability, international arbitration, insurance and reinsurance, commercial chancery, construction and engineering, public law, financial services, costs, public international law and sports law. Chambers attracts a large amount of junior advocacy work in a wide range of fields and junior tenants are regularly involved in high profile cases which reflect chambers’ emphasis on developing pupils and junior tenants into experienced advocates. Where there are enough candidates of of a suitable standard, chambers will occasionally have more than 2 pupils in a year

We believe that great barristers, great clerks and great staff members can come from all walks of life. We also believe that people perform at their best when they get the support they need.

We seek to implement those values in our working lives in chambers. We respect one another. We strive, wherever we can, to make chambers a positive, inclusive and friendly place. We aim to provide mutual support to help each other whatever our backgrounds, age, gender, race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, physical abilities or gender identity.

We know that the Commercial Bar has a great deal of ground to cover in relation to equality and diversity. We seek to make up that ground wherever we can. We do so by recognising that as different individuals in chambers we need different types of support. Our goal is always to adapt and to find new ways to provide that support; and to take responsibility for promoting diversity and inclusion.

We do not discriminate on the grounds of:

• Age;
• Disability;
• Gender reassignment
• Being married or in a civil partnership
• Being pregnant or on maternity leave
• Race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin)
• Religion or belief (including political belief)
• Sex;
• Sexual orientation;
• Caring responsibilities; or
• Social or economic background.
• We are opposed to all forms of unlawful and unfair discrimination, including direct & indirect discrimination, victimisation and harassment.

Although as a set of Chambers we work together in pursuit of a common purpose, we recognise that it is the contribution which we make as individuals which creates our success. This is the reason that Chambers sets out its policy clearly and adheres to it. We recognise that the provision of equal opportunities in Chambers will help Members of Chambers, pupils and staff to develop their full potential, talent and resources and allow us as an organisation to succeed.

We have a comprehensive Equality and Diversity Policy which applies to clients, members of Chambers and members of staff, pupils, mini-pupils, pupillage and tenancy applicants, job applicants, contract workers, agency workers, trainee workers and students on work experience or placements, volunteer workers, former members of Chambers and former members of staff. It sets out the policies which we have adopted in order to comply with the obligations imposed upon us by law, the Bar Code of Conduct and the Attorney General’s Equality and Diversity Expectations Statement.

All members of Chambers and members of staff receive regular equality and diversity training and, additional relevant training is provided to members of Chambers and staff who are involved in recruitment.

We have a parenthood leave policy which gives rent and expenses free periods to primary and secondary carers. We also support flexible working. We have a Fair Access to Work Committee which monitors the allocation of work between members of Chambers.

A number of members of Chambers are actively involved with the Social Mobility Foundation, both as e-mentors and in hosting SMF candidates for placements.

What we are looking for 

Successful candidates for pupillage must demonstrate the ability and motivation to succeed in the areas of work our members specialise in.

The aim of our selection process is to allow candidates to show they meet a standard of excellence judged by our selection criteria. Our criteria are objective and we welcome applications from candidates from all backgrounds and from all universities. The process focuses on your ability and aptitude, and our experience is that this is not pre-determined by the place that you studied, or the background that you come from.

In assessing candidates against our criteria we recognise that pupillage is itself a training process and that people follow different routes to pupillage and are often at different stages of their legal education. It is the potential of candidates we are concerned with. The aim of pupillage is to develop talent so that pupils go on to succeed as tenants in our chambers.

Selection criteria

In considering prospective candidates for pupillage or mini-pupillage, we concentrate on four criteria:

• Evidence of the requisite intellectual ability, as distinct from pure legal knowledge. At this stage intellectual ability is usually measured by performance in university and school examinations and at interview and other experience. We may also require applicants to complete a piece of written work during the course of the selection process
• Potential as an advocate both in oral and written advocacy.
• Personal qualities such as self-reliance, independence, integrity, reliability and the capacity to work effectively with clients, colleagues and Chambers’ staff.
• Motivation to succeed in a career at the Bar, including the steps taken to acquire the personal qualities required of a barrister.

Equal opportunities

We observe a policy of equal opportunities and select our mini-pupils, pupils and tenants on merit alone, irrespective of race, gender, age, sexuality, religious belief, disability, marital status or background.

Tenancy offers

We cannot guarantee that any pupil will be offered a tenancy, but we recruit by objective standards, and any pupil reaching those standards will be taken on, regardless of issues such as accommodation or work available. We give every assistance to pupils who have not been offered a tenancy when seeking places in other chambers. We also find that our former pupils are sought-after by good firms of solicitors. A pupillage at 4 New Square Chambers will give you a real insight into what it is like to practise in a leading commercial set of chambers.

Funding

The total annual award is £85,000, of which £7,500 is paid immediately upon acceptance of the offer and a further £17,500 can be drawn down during the BPTC year. Pupils are allowed to keep any earnings from their second 6 months. New tenants have a guaranteed income of £250,000 over the first three years of practice. In recent years new tenants have comfortably exceeded these guaranteed sums