Pupillage to be more richly rewarded

The minimum annual award for pupillage should be raised from £10,000 to £12,000.

The pupillage review report—part of a wider three-part Bar review into education for practice at the Bar—found the existing minimum award is too low.  The report, published last week, is the culmination of a review process which began in October 2008. It made 95 conclusions and recommendations.These include that regulations and guidance regarding pupillage be clarified in a new handbook, that each approved training organisation should appoint a director of pupil training to oversee pupillage, and that training supervisors should attend a refresher training course every five years. Procedures for dealing with complaints should be more widely publicised.

However, the review found that pupillage is the best way to train for the Bar, and there are no plans to change its fundamental nature. The report acknowledged that some adaptation may be necessary to take account of the new ways in which barristers may practise as a result of the Legal Services Act, but emphasised that quality need not suffer.
Derek Wood QC, who led the review, says: “It is essential that the Bar modernises its approach to pupillage.

“While there is a lot to be commended in the present system, it also presents challenges in the extent to which it meets modern expectations for a properly supervised system of vocational training and preparation for practice.”