3 Verulam Buildings - True Picture

3 Verulam Buildings pupillage review 2024

The Chambers

3 Verulam Buildings is no new kid on the block, but even with its top-notch commercial credentials, the set is still “ambitious” to grow. “We are historically known for our banking and finance practice,” says senior clerk Stephen Penson, who adds that this makes up around one fifth of the set’s work. “We’ve consolidated ourselves in dispute resolution, and that involves a lot of fraud and international arbitration.” This is all reflected in the set’s performance in Chambers UK Bar,which bestows top marks for its banking & finance, financial services and civil fraud expertise, along with respectable rankings in international arbitration and group litigation.

“We’re a natural place for existing clients to seek advice from in the crypto space.”

3VB’s approach to growth is tied to its hiring strategy. Not only is it now taking up to five pupils a year, but “we’re aggressive in lateral hiring at the junior silk and junior tenant levels,” says Penson. One example of a recent joiner is member Chloe Bell, who specialises in digital assets and smart contracts – a growing area for the set. “As a set steeped in regulation experience, we’re a natural place for existing clients to seek advice from in the cryptospace,” says Penson. In one recent case, Bell defended a claim against cryptocurrency exchange Kraken for breach of FCA regulations. Elsewhere, David Quest KC got a discharge of injunction against cryptocurrency exchange Binance. By the by, Quest and Bell are both among the few barristers that are top-ranked in cryptoassets by Chambers UK Bar.

Of course, this is one sliver of what you’ll find at 3VB. As businesses emerge in the post-Covid era, Penson points to an increase in business interruption cases, telling us “we’re seeing insolvency advice, banking disputes and unpaid loans as a result” of the challenges from lockdown. “There’s also a general focus on growing all of our areas in an international space, where we’re seeing different centres opening in places like Singapore, and more recently, Abu Dhabi,” says Penson. By way of example, Ewan McQuater KC recently led the team representing Dubai Islamic Bank and Noor Bank in litigation with the administrators of NMC (a private healthcare provider) in the Abu Dhabi Global Markets Court.

The Pupillage Experience

3VB’s pupils sit in four three-monthseats. “It’s four seats in four different commercial practices,” head of pupillage David Head KC outlines, “so there’s different emphasis and we make sure they see that variety.” Pupils sit with supervisors in their offices, and the “supervisors are drawn from senior juniors,” one pupil told us, explaining that, “they’re people on the cusp of KC, so they have that time and attention to give to you.”

Head tells us that while there is an effort to make sure newcomers sit with people whose specialisms match their particular interests, the set sees variety as integral to pupils’ growth – “we’ll make sure you learn the White Nook even if you’re not a litigator!” So newbies can expect to work on anything from court and fraud, to financial services regulation, to “huge” international arbitrations.

In the first six, pupils do live work, “assisting the supervisor with every aspect: legal research, drafting, sitting in with clients, and attending court,” Head explains. This is when pupils gets the opportunity to work on “bigger scale” matters, a junior tenant explained. “Most of the work you do as a pupil is with bigger clients,” like banks.

“My supervisor came along to my first hearing and he was my biggest supporter.”

Pupils can take on their own work in the second six with smaller clients. “There are opportunities to be sole counsel, so there’s a focus on advocacy and building that confidence on your own cases,” one pupil told us. This is when their practice starts to take shape of what they can expect to build up to after pupillage. A junior tenant told us, “I’m doing a couple of group actions for around 90 different clients who are all investors in two companies who didn’t publish their information.” As a pupil, “I could go to County Court and resist an application myself.” Along the way, they still have their supervisors for support: “My supervisor came along to my first hearing and he was my biggest supporter – he even went around the clerks’ room saying how marvellously it had gone!”

Interviewees praised the level of support they received across pupillage. “Supervisors have always offered their time and been so approachable – one KC spent an hour talking to us about how to build your practice!” we heard. This carried through to their hours. “My supervisor was strict in saying that you show up at 9am and leave at 6pm. If they saw me taking a book home, they’d want to know why!” While days inevitably get longer after tenancy, we were told that pupils’ hours were “so protected from the get-go. People want you to deliver your best work, and you can’t do that working all hours of the day.”

At the six-month mark, Head tells us: “I will sit down with the pupils and say, ‘This is a summary of things you’re doing well and things to improve on.’ We tell them if they’re on target for tenancy.” Alongside this check-in, pupils undergo four advocacy exercises through the year, the first of which is unassessed. “They were typical applications you do at the junior end in a commercial dispute, with two KCs that played judge,” one pupil explained. “It’s always daunting, but they were useful for cutting your teeth on!”

The tenancy decision is made in July based on “evidence from the supervisors – at the end of every seat the supervisor will write a detailed report,” says Head. “We also receive reports from all of the people you do work for and pull together all that evidence.” The set did not disclose its 2023 retention figures.

“I thought it was a hazing trick when I started, but it actually is true!”

At a glance, one might have preconceptions of 3VB’s culture given its position in the commercial world, but one junior reassured us that “it’s quite unstuffy and everyone’s really straightforward.” Another shared that “unless someone has ‘engaged’ on their door, you’re encouraged to open it up if you have a question. I thought it was a hazing trick when I started, but it actually is true!” As for the social scene, “there are real friendships in the set – even as a pupil there are juniors I regularly go for coffee with.” And there’s afternoon tea “every couple of months or so with everything from Pimms to cups of tea and scones.”

The Application Process

Applications go through the Pupillage Gateway, and have reached as many as 200 in recent years – “scary numbers,” says Head. As such, he says, “we are university blind, and we anonymise all applications” to ensure that unconscious bias doesn’t play a part. The application itself covers what you can expect to see on the Pupillage Gateway form and a writing exercise. “I think mine was an essay on the definition of ‘integrity’,” one junior recalled. “So it’s something you can engage with no matter your knowledge of the law.”

In the first round, “we whittle the 200-odd applicants down to a cohort of 45 to 50 people who each face two panels with three barristers in each,” outlines Head.Candidates are sent a simple legal problem a week or two ahead of the interview, but again, there’s no need for detailed knowledge of the law because “everything you need is on those sheets of paper,” says Head. “You don’t need to get the right answer; you just talk about the issues and then we have a wider discussion which will last around 25 minutes.” The interview panel also typically asks applicants about their CV at this stage: your past studies, mooting experience, and student body memberships are all up for discussion.

“They were just seeing how I would cope with the pressure!”

Up to 20 candidates are then invited to the second-round interview, where they’re faced with “a slightly trickier problem,” says Head, “but it’s something GDL students should be able to deal with.” Here the panel is composed of four barristers who grill candidates for 30 to 40 minutes. “We ask candidates to pretend we’re a firm of solicitors, so they can show evidence of their ability,” Head reveals.One pupil we spoke with emphasised that it really was “just a case of applying principles to facts and questioning my take.” Ultimately, the process was understandably daunting, but those who had been through it could attest that “they were just seeing how I would cope with the pressure! I really got the sense that it was about the raw materials as opposed to the finished product.”