Applications Open!

If you are reading this you probably know that there are three paid work placements on offer with myself, Nicholas Clarke QC and Chloe Ashley. Myself and Nick are at 9 St John Street in Manchester whilst Chloe practises at No5 in Birmingham. The remuneration is a bursary of £700 for the two weeks plus up to £300 towards your expenses. It is hoped that this will be more than just an extended mini-pupillage following people to court but will include marshalling and other experiences of life as a barrister.

This is the process by which all three placements will be selected. The initial application is by email and ten candidates will be selected for an interview by Skype/FaceTime. The ten on the shortlist will receive a signed copy of The Secret Barrister’s book and a copy of Rumpole of the Bailey.

I am afraid I am not going to be able to provide feedback to those unsuccessful and I am afraid only those invited for interview will be notified directly of the outcome. I will announce the names of the final ten on my blog and my Twitter account, so you will be able to check there. Once I know how many applications I am dealing with I will announce the date by which the successful candidates will be notified.

The initial stage will be an application by email to internship@9sjs.com. This email account will only be used for the purpose of this application and will be disabled once the shortlist is announced. Please only use this email address, do not contact my chambers as this is a personal arrangement and not something that my clerks or others at chambers have any role in organising.

The initial application should include the following details in the body of your email;

1. Full name
2. DOB (the placement is open to those who are 17 years or older on 31/07/19)
3. Postal address (if you are a student it may be best to use an address from which you can collect your post outside of term time)
4. Email address
5. Contact telephone number
6. Educational history (A-Level or equivalent onwards, just let me know what you studied and where, I don’t need grades)
7. Previous legal work experience
8. Please indicate which three of these areas you would like to have some experience of in the course of the placement Crime; Family; Employment; Civil PI; Civil Commercial.
9. Preferred location Manchester or Birmingham

None of that information will be used to decide to who is placed on the shortlist. Some of the information may become relevant at the next stage but will be explored at interview. All of that information should be provided in the body of the email. Then you need to attach a separate document to the email, either in Word, PDF or Pages format, which is a written piece by you which answers the question “Why you should be offered the placement”. The STRICT word count is 750 words. For the shortlist I will be looking at the reasons you give why it should be you AND the manner in which you seek to persuade me.

I am going to give you one or two hints and tips. This is not the X-Factor. I do not need to know the incredible journey you have been on. I want to be persuaded with reason, not with adjectives. I will take it as a given that all of you that have applied really, really want this opportunity! Stick to the word limit – concise arguments are key to the successful barrister.

My aim is to provide these placements to candidates with real potential for a career at the Bar but for whom work experience opportunities are limited.

The closing date for applications is 4pm on 17th June 2019. The dates of the placements are flexible to suit the candidates and the availability of the three of us supervising. I cannot thank Nick and Chloe enough for joining me in this enterprise. I also have to thank an anonymous individual who has provided the funding for the placement with Chloe. I also have to thank the Judges and solicitors who have assisted so far and Tim Collins, a legal recruitment consultant.

I look forward to reading your persuasive pieces of written advocacy. Good luck!