4 New Square Chambers - True Picture

4 New Square pupillage review 2025

The Chambers 

If you’re walking around Lincoln’s Inn, chances are you’ll spot a bunch of businesses proudly signalling their longevity in the area, with antique-looking storefronts and all sorts of ‘founded in’ signs. Plenty of them have been up and running for hundreds of years, so it might come as no surprise that this inn of court is the oldest of the main four. However, it’s rather oxymoronically also home to New Square (which, admittedly, isn’t all that new itself; one lap of the grounds will give you a hint that it’s already got a few hundred years to its name). But, if you pop inside 4 New Square Chambers, you might think you’re stepping back into the 21st century. Its sleek interior is reflective of the set itself, as CEO Lizzy Stewart explains: “We’re dynamic, modern and ambitious. It’s a stimulating environment where you can chat about your ideas, and our barristers truly feel that their contributions are worthwhile.”  

“Chambers doesn’t pressure you into doing only one type of work.” 

Aside from this, Stewart also describes 4 New Square as “a purely commercial set. We do domestic and international work, but all of our work falls under that commercial umbrella.” To narrow that down, the set earns top recognition from the Chambers UK Bar guide in costs litigation and professional negligence, though its performance in insurance, professional discipline, property damage and sport is noteworthy, too. This broad range of practices means that, according to Stewart, “we’ve been lucky enough to benefit from the very high level of commercial dispute work in London.” Pupils and fresh-faced tenants will therefore get the chance to explore a massive variety of work. “Chambers doesn’t pressure you into only doing one type of work,” said a pupil. “They can nurture you here because there are so many practice areas, so you don’t have to grow your own.” 

As you might expect, 4 New Square has seen plenty of high-value commercial disputes in recent years. One of which took Daniel Saoul KC to the High Court on behalf of a number of claimants (including a Russian oligarch) in a whopping $14 billion matter, where they have alleged that a number of individuals and companies conspired to deprive of them of their assets. Kendrah Potts has also been working on the Commercial Court’s longest ever trial, defending Al Rajaan, ex-Director General of the Kuwait state entity, in claims of corruption.  

The Pupillage Experience 

4 New Square pupils complete three seats, the first two of which are three months long, while the final seat spans the entire second six. Pupils are matched with a different supervisor in each rotation to see as much work within chambers as possible. Interviewees who had been through the process got the chance to work on a massive range of practice areas, including general commercial litigation, insurance, professional negligence, construction and sports law. As such, supervisors are typically assigned with practice areas in mind, though upskilling pupils is also a top priority. As head of pupillage, Clare Dixon, tells us, “if a pupil needs more practice in, say, statements of case or particulars of claim defences, I’ll look for a supervisor whose practice involves more of that kind of work so that they can get the training that we think they need.” 

Pupils will almost always have live work throughout pupillage, but any historic work undertaken is never assigned just for the sake of keeping newbies busy. A pupil explained that “if I’m doing dead work, it’s because I really wanted to try a specific type of work but my supervisor didn’t have anything relevant going at that moment.” Otherwise, pupils will always work in tandem with their supervisors throughout their first six. One noted that “what you’re doing gets more useful as you progress through pupillage. You’ll be doing tasks first so your supervisor benefits from you having taken the first pass at something.” Pupils will typically be kept busy writing things like statements of case, advisory notes and pleadings, alongside legal research tasks, conferences and hearings. “It’s a great feeling when your supervisor uses a point you researched when advising clients in a conference, or when parts of your draft make the final cut,” a junior shared. “It’s a big moment when that happens because you feel like you’re finally getting it.” 

“I didn’t feel like it was some kind of Hunger Games-style battle with my fellow pupils.” 

Pupils also undertake written and oral assessments: four written tasks and two moots. The written assignments are typically long pieces of advice or contract interpretation set by other members of chambers with a 48-hour time limit. An interviewee who’d been through the process explained that, since these are based on real client work, “you know that the person who set the task wrote the advice themselves, so you’ll want to get the law right and come to a similar view.” The moots, on the other hand, take place in front of ex members of chambers who are now judges, or current members who sit part time as judges. Pupils moot against each other, but a junior tenant assured, “I didn’t feel like it was some kind of Hunger Games-style battle with my fellow pupils. They do require real focus, but it’s healthy competition.” So, while going up against your peers in front of real life judges might sound stressful, interviewees were keen to stress that “we all found them to be really, really relaxed. Everyone’s extremely nice and it’s not high pressure.” Moreover, these tasks are not the make or break of pupillage: “While they’re not the least important part, they’re emphatically not the most important part of pupillage. Chambers always emphasises that your work with your supervisor is the most crucial bit.” 

“The whole point is that it’s a year of training, not a year’s worth of assessment.” 

Thanks to regular feedback from supervisors, pupils have a pretty good idea of how things are going. This did not go unappreciated by our more junior interviewees, who gushed about how transparent the whole process is: “They try to grade your work throughout your whole seat so you don’t have to guess.” There’s also a more structured process in place, with more informal mid-seat reviews and formal end-of-seat reviews where supervisors write up a report. Pupils also get to see and comment on this report, and meet with Dixon and Stewart to discuss their progress. Dixon tells us that the team is conscious that “they’re not going to arrive as the finished product. The whole point is that it’s a year of training, not a year’s worth of assessment.”  

By the time the nine-month mark rolls around, pupils will have completed their assessments and will be halfway through their final seat. This is when tenancy is decided by the pupillage committee and member votes, based on supervisor reports and results from written and oral assessments. However, Dixon explains that it’s quite rare for pupils to not be taken on as “we make pupillage offers because we think those candidates are good enough to be tenants here.” Pupils will also have had the opportunity to get on their feet ahead of the decision, thanks to the set's practising second six. Cases for pupils are usually shorter, smaller matters “where you’ve got a chance to go and be an advocate, practise on your feet and develop your skills, but you’re not being thrown into the High Court for some huge case straightaway.” So, these might include road traffic accidents, disposal hearings and costs disputes. While it’s not always common to get on your feet during pupillage at commercial sets, it means that you can start practising “while you’re still being supported by your supervisor. You have a space to ask all of your dumb questions.” 

Sources told us that this focus on support is reflective of the general culture across levels at the set. In particular, newbies regularly catch up with the clerks, who are “very receptive” of what they want their careers to look like. Stewart notes that this speaks to the broader, “very inclusive culture between the staff and the barristers. We never have social events that everyone isn’t invited to.” Such events include drinks and a big client party around summertime, as well as regular chambers teas and informal goings on. For one junior tenant, this meant that, “I have friends all up the ladder of chambers! I feel close to both very senior and more junior people.”  

The Application Process 

The set’s application starts on the Gateway and is followed by two interviews and a written assessment. The first interview focuses on applicants’ CVs, and leads to a discussion on their motivation to practise at the set. One thing to bear in mind at this stage is that, as the set has such a broad practice, you’ll have plenty of options to pick from if you want to show your keenness to join. So, one pupil advised “prepping a few cases that chambers has worked on and looking through what tenants under five years’ call are currently doing. Express an interest in those areas in your application!” 

The written assessment takes place in the week leading up to the next interview stage, and tests candidates’ written advocacy. “Whilst the headlines might tell you that being a barrister is all about oral advocacy, written advocacy is a big part of what we do,” Dixon tells us. “We need to be able to test candidates’ aptitude for that, rather than their legal knowledge.” So, candidates visit the set and will be asked to write something like a persuasive letter to the other side in litigation and, according to a pupil, “it doesn’t require reading loads of papers. It’s short-ish and pretty relaxed.” 

The second interview is a discussion that will put candidates’ advocacy skills to the test. Questions typically focus on a topic “where somebody can take a stance one way or the other,” says Dixon. “We’re absolutely not judging them for which stance they take. It’s about whether they can take a position and deal with being put under pressure with questions.” Crucially, these questions don’t require specific legal knowledge but might be morally tricky. Dixon also acknowledges that “it’s nerve-wracking; you’re in front of people who are going to pepper you with questions designed to test you. But, part of the job is being able to get a hold of those nerves and channel them because that’s what you’re going to have to do when you get to court.” 

“We’ve got members of chambers who were in the army, or qualified as vets, or previous IT consultants.” 

Each of our interviewees shared their own advice for prospective candidates, but one overwhelming sentiment was that you should “have confidence in yourself. The bar can feel intimidating from the outside looking in, but someone’s got to do the job and it might be you!” In fact, 4 New Square is home to a range of characters as broad as its selection of practices, as evidenced by a junior tenant: “What’s really struck me is how different everyone is. We’ve got members of chambers who were in the army, or qualified as vets, or previous IT consultants. I feel quite lucky to get to work with so many people from such a range of backgrounds, and it’s those differences that seem to link us together.”