Gatehouse Chambers - True Picture

Gatehouse Chambers pupillage review 2024

The Chambers

“We’re a modern set of chambers, who synergize quite well with solicitors who have a similar outlook in terms of what they’re looking to do in their business and in particular, corporate social responsibility,” Gatehouse practice director James Duncan-Hartill proudly tells us. Indeed, following an overhaul of their branding over the past couple of years, Gatehouse has continued to build on its reputation as a progressive set.

“We’re all singing from the same hymn sheet, and we want to see changes to society as a whole.”

This is very much the initial impression we get when we step into the trendy and modern office space in Gray’s Inn, greeted by the modern architecture and funky artwork on the walls. Gatehouse also “have a once-a-month regular Wednesday hangout and if it's sunny, we have it on the roof terrace so that people can socialise together, and it fosters a really good atmosphere” pupillage coordinator Aileen McErlean notes. This is all designed to distance itself from any stuffy stereotypes that may or may not come with a barrister’s chambers. Duncan-Hartill adds that, “we’re all singing from the same hymn sheet, and we want to see changes to society as a whole. Making the decision to change was unanimous and easily made.”

What didn’t need sprucing up, however, was the quality of the work the set produces. A junior barrister tells us that the work focus is “split evenly between construction, property, insurance, commercial litigation.”Chambers UK Bar can vouch for this, as Gatehouse excels in commercial dispute resolution, construction, professional negligence in tech and construction and real estate litigation. This broad array is open to all pupils, as Gatehouse allows everyone joining the set to try their hand at a variety of departments, which is exactly what one pupil did: “I could do one piece of work on something specific and go ‘It's not what I want to do in the long run, but now I have an understanding of how it works’, so if it comes up in a case I can do it, but equally I could have done it and gone ‘this is amazing.’”

As Gatehouse continues to grow and expand, the work they’re involved with also reaches new public heights. Most recently, Emma Zeb was one of the counsel team instructed on behalf of the Cabinet Office for the Covid-19 inquiry. Additionally, one of the sets leading silks, Brie Stevens-Hoare, was instructed to advise and act in relation to an application by Blacks Outdoor Retail for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court in a case that concerned a dispute of service charges. The set is driven to foster home-grown talent and they’re clearly doing something right as a junior tenant tells us that “the service they offer to clients is very good and the quality of it is so high. I have exactly the kind of practice I wanted to at this stage in my career, if not better.”

The Pupillage Experience

Gatehouse recently adapted its pupillage structure, and there are now five ‘wingers’ for the entirety of the pupillage. The set’s junior tenant explained that “it’s far easier to tell if there’s an upward progression rather than different wingers assessing you at different points of the year. It’s completely invaluable, I don’t know anywhere else that does that.” The five wingers are selected based on the areas of work you have an interest in practicing, allowing for a more catered pupillage experience and pupils do three pieces of work for each.

In your first six, it’s common for pupils to do a mixture of live and dead cases, focusing on drafting skeleton arguments and advices in a variety of sectors. A current pupil explained that they were “effectively being used as a junior for a trial and the practice is quite broad, so things like charity law disputes, chancery disputes involving trusts. Insurance disputes. I also worked on a case in the court of appeal.” A junior barrister told us that generally they got involved with research tasks and assisting with whatever their supervisor wanted.

"You know how to handle witnesses and also judges. "

In the second six, we were told by one pupil that “you continue doing that kind of work as well as practising.” During this time, they also outlined that “you can learn on the job on smaller cases. You’re better at advocacy, you learn key things. There’s less pressure and it’s a really valuable experience.” The junior tenant agreed, citing that they “really valued it because you feel comfortable. You know how to handle witnesses and also judges. The practice team are sensitive to ensuring you’re not overburdened but still getting enough work, balancing your workload.” And if you noticed the reference to the practice team instead of clerks, at Gatehouse that’s the general rule rather than an exception in an effort to highlight the ‘symbiotic relationship’ between the practice team and barristers. Equality amongst all members of chambers is one of the set’s main driving attempts at pushing Gatehouse forward in an ambitious way. Duncan-Hartill talked about the broader initiative in that “there’s something to be said when you get on our website and it’s not a sea of white old men.”

When it comes to the tenancy decision, McErlean notes that this is “typically in the middle of July, and is a competency based decision. As long as they meet the standard, both will be taken on.” There is regular feedback from the wingers and supervisors, who prepare a report which the management committee review and make a decision.

The Application Process

All Gatehouse Chambers’ applications begin with the Pupillage Gateway. “There are the standard gateway questions and then chambers has the option to select five questions of its own that are particular to the chambers. We adopt a competencies-based assessment criteria against those,” explains Pupillage Coordinator Aileen McErlean. This year is the first time Gatehouse is implementing the rare recruitment criteria in its application process. Rare is a system designed to enrich the diversity of your recruits’ backgrounds by giving supplemental points for those who received free school meals or first-generation university students. These would be added to the scores of their questionnaires (a maximum of five.)

For those who reach the interview stage, they will answer five questions over a 30-minute period in front of a panel of five. If the candidate is then lucky enough to land a second stage interview, there will also be some kind of advocacy style question. “They will then be given a question or an advocacy exercise to sort of prepare while they're waiting, and that can be things like an application before the court or it can be an example of conducting a conference or to present on a particular point,” McErlean tells us. Gatehouse also adheres to the guidance of the Judicial Appointments Committee, which ensures unbiased and fair marking of applications.

“If you have skills you perhaps developed not through meeting or debating but from experience in customer service or in waitressing, we're interested in the skill.”

McErlean also stressed that when assessing applications, Gatehouse is looking for talent over legal experience: “If you have skills you perhaps developed not through meeting or debating but from experience in customer service or in waitressing, we're interested in the skill. Not so much about how you’ve acquired the skill, so feel like you can talk authentically about what skills and interests you have and why you have them.”