CHAMBERS STUDENT GUIDE - 2005
REPORT ON 2 HARE COURT
The facts:
OLPAS: summer season Pupillages: 2x12 months
Applications: 250 Mini pupillages: 70
Award: £18,000
Tenancies offered in 2004: 1
Chambers UK rankings: Crime
The site upon which 2 Hare Court is built has long been associated with crime and punishment. It was here that former Lord Chief Justice and Lord Chancellor Judge Jeffreys, otherwise known as the hanging judge of the bloody assizes, kept his chambers during the 17th century. In modern times, 2 Hare Court has also earned a reputation as a leading set for serious crime, though whilst an impressive 14 of the senior members have taken up judicial appointments, we have it on good authority that none has a penchant for hanging.
Having been invited to take a seat on the (almost too) comfortable brown leather sofa, we took the time to soak up the atmosphere in the busy reception area. It’s a well-turned-out gaff, and whoever calls the shots here is careful to ensure that the generous vases of fresh cut flowers complement the tastefully decorated interior. There are some grand finishing touches, including a marvellous fireplace in the main conference room.
Chambers style is reflected again in the design of its brochure, which closely resembles the cocktail menu of a smart hotel bar. We ordered Orlando Pownall QC followed by a sweet sherry, but unfortunately he wasn’t on the menu that day, and so we busied ourselves with interviewing the pupils instead. Definitely a mixed bag of people, all of them had gone down the CPE route and boasted first degrees that included sociology and computer sciences. As for their universities, well, all of them were well known, but there certainly wasn’t a hint of elitism. All three of the pupils we met were slightly older than the norm, which they felt gave them a distinct advantage as criminal practitioners - “It’s probably a good thing in this job to come across as being closer to 30 rather than 20. It makes dealing with clients that bit easier.”
The road to tenancy at 2 Hare Court requires pupils to complete the standard 12 months of pupillage and, in common with many criminal sets, a further third six for those that show the potential to become future tenants. Each pupil sits with three different supervisors to expose them to as much of chambers’ work as possible. As one of the supervisors told us: “The first few months of pupillage are about giving pupils a cradle-to-grave guide to criminal practice. We teach them the skills necessary to master a brief, we teach them how to get all the important issues out of their client in conference, and we try to guide them through the court process from beginning to end.” As you might expect in a busy criminal set, there will always be plenty of people looking for a spare pair of hands to help with important or time-consuming cases, and these are allocated to pupils on a rota basis to ensure that everyone gets a bite of the cherry. There is also an opportunity to shadow a judge (usually a former member of chambers) for a week.
The second six brings plenty of court work, and to smooth pupils into their new role, chambers provides advocacy training throughout the year. When the dreaded first day in court arrives, pupils have a “real support network in place.” One pupil recalled her second day in the magistrates’ court, telling us: “A senior member of chambers sat down with me beforehand and we went through the brief together, making a checklist of the most important issues.” The second six also means a good deal of travelling: though 95% of chambers’ work is in London, it is not unheard of for pupils to be sent to places as exotic as Wantage and the Isle of Wight. On the plus side, the clerks “don’t generally accept the kind of briefs that are just there to abuse pupils,” and chambers will pay pupils’ travel expenses, so that the financial return for, say, a Norwich Crown Court mention (worth about £45) is not swamped by the train fare. The second six also includes a compulsory two-week secondment to the CPS, during which pupils get a shed load of prosecution work and can expect up to three trials in an average day.
Once the official 12-month pupillage is up, chambers asks people to complete a further six months before applying for tenancy. Pupils are automatically considered for a third six “unless we don’t think that they have a hope of getting a tenancy at the end of it.” The tenancy decision is made after a lengthy consideration of written work, performance in court (yes, that man sat in the public gallery dressed as Groucho Marx was a spy!) and feedback from instructing solicitors and judges.
The three pupils we met were just coming to the end of their second six when we spoke to them. Each reflected positively on their time at 2 Hare Court, and certainly there were no horror stories of endless days of menial chores. They had been given full access to the chambers intranet and their own electronic diaries in their second six months; “we feel that we’re respected as professionals, and as part of the team,” they told us. Their early days in court had been helped along by an “approachable and practical” team of clerks, who regularly offer feedback via instructing solicitors. All up, though it was a tough year, they agreed it had not been all hard work and no play. The social scene, particularly at the junior end, is active and on most nights of the week you’ll find 2 Hare Court tenants haunting at least one of the local bars. Chambers operates an informal, but rigorously enforced, policy of never allowing a pupil to buy the drinks, and at Christmas it treats them to a slap-up meal and drinks in a swanky restaurant. Pupils also find themselves invited along to solicitors’ parties in order to do some of that all-important networking. Remarkably, given all the canapés they must have eaten, they looked in pretty good shape.
This is definitely a diverse set: there’s no particular face that fits here. What recruiters are looking for is “an appropriate level of dedication and a real determination to succeed.” The pupils’ verdict is that you would do well to reflect this in your application form and that “the more you tailor your application towards sets that specialise in crime, the better.” Importantly, your application will not be thrown in the bin if you came out of university with a 2:2, so long as you can show that you didn’t waste your academic years in the pub. As one pupil supervisor explained: “Sometimes academic high-flyers don’t make great advocates. We’re looking for people with a personality too; after all, we will be spending a substantial amount of time with them.” In the two-round interview process, the first meeting allows the panel to check that the candidate who looks brilliant on paper is right in the flesh. The second interview is more rigorous with a legal problem or two thrown in for good measure. Tips? Without giving too much away, it would be a good idea to brush up on your first-year criminal law, and keep up to date with current affairs. Couple that with “a bit of self-confidence and a bit of charm,” and don’t forget to take a look at that cocktail menu we mentioned!