Our principal areas of practice include arbitration, banking and financial services, civil fraud and investigations, commercial litigation, company, insolvency and restructuring, pensions, professional liability, property, trusts, tax, probate and estates.

You should possess high intellectual ability, excellent communication skills and a strong motivation to do commercial chancery work. You need to be mature and confident, have the ability to work with others and analyse legal problems clearly, demonstrating commercial and practical good sense. We have a minimum requirement of a 2:1 degree in law or another subject, and we have a track record of taking on GDL students, as well as undergraduate law students, as pupils and as tenants.

We offer up to four 12-month pupillages. We provide an excellent pupillage and operate a well-structured programme aimed at providing you with a broad experience of commercial chancery practice. You will sit with different pupil supervisors with whom you will be able to develop your skills. A key feature of pupillage programme is that our pupils are not in competition with one another for a tenancy. We assess each pupil solely on their own abilities and performance, with a view to taking on both pupils as tenants at the end of their time with us.

Pupillage applications should be made via the Pupillage Gateway. Please refer to the Gateway for all relevant dates.

We run four mini-pupillage weeks per year. Please visit our website for an application form and further information on when to apply.

We are committed to the promotion of equality and diversity across all aspects of our practice. Equality of opportunity is essential for the maintenance of high standards and the provision of a quality service to clients. It also ensures a harmonious working environment for members of Chambers and staff. In particular we adopt best practice equality and diversity procedures in our pupillage recruitment which involves the use of application forms, a two-tier interview process and the use of objective selection criteria in accordance with the recommendations of the Equality and Diversity Rules of the Code of Conduct. Applicants with a disability are encouraged to contact the Secretary to the Pupillage Committee, in confidence if there are any reasonable adjustments that may be made in relation to their applications. Wilberforce maintains a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Through our Bar Access Programme we are actively involved in outreach and access initiatives to encourage and support people from diverse backgrounds in developing a career at the Bar. An important element of the Bar Access Programme is our on-going partnership with the Sutton Trust (the well-known charitable foundation whose aim is to promote social mobility) through which we support their various initiatives in the legal arena. For example, we continue to run mini-pupillage/placement programmes for their Pathways to Law pupils and Pathways Plus students and a number of our Members are actively involved in a mentoring programme for Sutton Trust students. We have also built strong relationships with the Legal Social Mobility Partnership, and the Pegasus and Bar Placement (Social Mobility Foundation) programmes, and provide support to the Barristers’ Benevolent Association.

A pupillage award of £75,000 is offered to all pupils. The award is payable in monthly installments and up to £30,000 of the award may be drawn down during the BPTC year.