Those accepted for mini-pupillage will spend one day in Chambers (usually with junior members but sometimes also with KCs) attending court and conferences, and studying sets of papers. There are a limited number of places available for mini-pupillage each year and these are confined to the court terms. They are always heavily over-subscribed, particularly between October and January. We find that mini-pupils obtain the most from the experience if they have completed at least a year of an undergraduate law degree or, for those converting to law, have started the GDL course at the point when they visit Chambers.
APPLICATIONS
In the event that there are more candidates than available places in any mini-pupillage round, each candidate is assessed by reference to their application form. Candidates will need to satisfy Chambers that they can demonstrate the key qualities we are looking for or that they have the potential to demonstrate them in the future. Our four key qualities, in order of importance, are: (1) reasoning and analytical ability, (2) aptitude for advocacy, (3) judgment and (4) interpersonal skills and temperament. There are many different ways in which candidates can provide evidence of these key qualities and we keep an open mind when reading applications. General pointers are given on our main pupillage application page, which can be found here.
Applications for mini-pupillage are considered three times a year, as follows:
- for a mini-pupillage in October or November, applications should be received between 1 April and 31 August;
- for a mini-pupillage in December or January, applications should be received between 1 September and 15 November; and
- for a mini-pupillage between May and July, applications should be received between 16 November and 31 March.
Applications must be received by 4:00pm.
The application form is browser-based and we recommend that you prepare and save a draft application in Word (or similar), before copying across to the online application form for final submission. All sections marked with an asterix are compulsory. If you have any questions or issues regarding the form, please email our Pupillage Administrator.
By submitting your application via the form below, you are agreeing to provide us with your details for the use of a mini-pupillage application and to be notified of any pupillage-related events run by Maitland. Your details will not be used for any other purpose. If you do not wish for your details to be used in this way please inform our Pupillage Administrator. For your information, a copy of our current Privacy Statement can be found here.
Maitland operates an Equality and Diversity policy, further details of which can be found by clicking here. We therefore encourage applications for mini-pupillages from people from all sections of society regardless of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, belief or age.
Our mini-pupillages are unfunded, however, mini-pupils will be able to claim reasonable travel expenses on production of proof of the expense, up to a maximum of £50. In addition, Lincoln's Inn offer a Mini Pupillage Grant Scheme and further details can be found on their website here.