4 New Square Chambers - True Picture

4 New Square pupillage review 2023

The Chambers

Variety is the spice of life, they say. 4 New Square is a set that adheres to this philosophy: pupillage is peppered with different practice areas. Known historically for its professional negligence and costs offering, the last ten years has seen commercial work develop into a bigger portion of the practice at 4 New Square: “We are a set who specialise in commercial disputes,” senior clerk and CEO Lizzy Stewart explains, “and the majority of our key areas fall under that broad discipline." Accounting for the remainder of the set's practice,professional liability work "accounts for about 30% of the instructions coming into chambers.”

As Lizzy Stewart emphasizes however, this is painting the set in broad stokes: “Under the commercial 'umbrella', we would consider international arbitration, professional liability, insurance, civil fraud, offshore, construction as well as several others."  International arbitration too has been something of a focus for the set in recent months: “We have a particular recruitment drive at present in international arbitration and commercial law where we are seeing real growth in the volume of work we are receiving." 

Our sister guide, Chambers UK Bar, recognises 4 New Square for its professional negligence; insurance, construction, product liability, professional discipline and commercial dispute resolution work, in addition to more niche areas like property damage, costs litigation and sport: “Sports law isn’t something you would expect to come across when you’re studying, but it’s one of the areas of commercial law that 4 New Square excels in.” The set alsoreceives top-tier rankings in professional negligence and costs litigation.

In terms of specific cases, Graeme McPherson KC defended former England rugby captain Chris Robshaw against three charges brought against him and other players selected for the Barbarians over alleged COVID-19 breaches that led to the abandonment of the scheduled England vs Barbarians match in October 2020. Where construction is concerned, Paul Cowan has been retained by the government’s legal department to address claims made by bereaved relatives and survivors of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

The Pupillage Experience

Pupillage at 4 New Square is split into three seats: “You sit with your first two supervisors for three months, and then your final supervisor for six months,” one pupil told us. The idea is for pupils to get exposure to a little bit of everything: “You’ll have a different focus each based on your supervisor’s main practice area,” a former pupil explained, “you might start in professional liability, before moving onto some straight up commercial stuff, followed by insurance, or something like that.” For Miles Harris, who sits on the pupillage committee at 4 New Square, selecting supervisors is a carefully thought-out process: “We try to make sure that they’re relatively junior, but with busy practices where they're doing some lead work,” Miles Harris tells us. “The most important thing is that they get a broad spread of chambers’ work through three people. That's the bedrock of training and assessment with the supervisor.”

“…you get a chance to work on things as they're happening.”

As you might expect, tasks in your first six will depend on what your supervisor is working on at the time: “It will be a mix of live work, so you get a chance to work on things as they're happening,” one pupil told us,“or you may do some drafting for an older case.” Bread and butter drafting ranges from defences to particulars of claims. But work in your first six isn’t restricted to this alone, as one pupil was quick to add: “If for example you have a trial coming up, there may be an opportunity to practice drafting cross examination notes.”

The second six at 4 New Square is practicing, and both current and former pupils at the set were keen to flaunt the opportunities they had to get on their feet: “Probably once a week, or once every two weeks, I’d do something like a small claims hearing,” one former pupil recalled, “I also spent quite a long time in the county court doing road traffic accident claims. They might only be worth a few hundred pounds, but you get to do some proper cross-examination.”

By way of formal assessments, there are four written exercises and two moots – mock hearings where participants argue against one another to test their advocacy skills. “The written assessments are spaced throughout the year, and chambers tries to make sure that all of the assessments are done by April or May,” one pupil explained, “In other words, most of it is front-loaded in your first six. That gives chambers an opportunity to have that information about how you’re doing as early as possible.” For the written portion, pupils receive papers and are given two days to produce a piece of advice, for example, which is then assessed by a member of chambers. They are judged by former members of 4 New Square who now sit in the Court of Appeal or High Court. As intimidating as it might sound, the current crop were more positive than you might expect: “When you first hear about it, you might think that it's going to be challenging, and it is challenging,” one pupil recalled, “but it's also fun, and it's a chance to actually put into practice all of the things that you've been learning about in the day-to-day.”

Pupils go through an informal review process with their supervisors halfway through each seat, before a more formal review at the end of the seat where they are given a grade: “Almost every piece of work a pupil does is graded,” Miles Harris tells us. “During those review stages, pupils clearly know where they're going and if they're satisfying the objective marking criteria of those assessments.” The final end-of-seat review carries the greatest weighting, but is also the most demanding: “What gets an A grade in week eight won't get an A grade in month eight.” Come the final assessment at month nine, “if they've met the standard, then the pupillage committee will inevitably recommend we offer tenancy,” saysMiles Harris, “It’s still formally something which chambers votes on, but in practice, it's something that’s simply dealt with by the way pupils perform.” In 2023, the set's pupil didn't gain tenancy.

The Application Process

Like most sets, 4 New Square asks candidates to apply for pupillage at 4 New Square via Pupillage Gateway, which is followed by a paper sift of applications. As one pupil put it: “In broad terms, you've got two rounds, an informal interview and a more formal assessment day.” The first round comprises 15 minutes of general questioning about why the candidate is interested in the bar, and 4 New Square I particular: “We’re not just testing aptitude.”

Successful candidates are then invited to a more formal interview, with 45 minutes dedicated to three or four set questions (often with an ethical dimension): “The questions form a platform for debate,” Miles Harris tells us, “There's no requirement for any legal knowledge, it's about giving the candidate the room to adopt a position and argue persuasively on that. It’s about testing out analysis, and presentation.” The final component of the second stage is a piece of written work, marked anonymously: “The written exercise is simply a test of written advocacy. We include a set of instructions with a letter of claim or something of that sort,” says Miles Harris. While greater weight is given to the interview, a candidate’s performance in these two components is combined before a decision is made.

The main advice from our interviewees was to tailor your application: “Really get to know the sets that you're applying to,” one pupil advised, “Obviously there are lots of commercial sets out there, but many sets have got a slightly different flavour to the practice areas that they cover, so be as specific as possible in your application. A generic application just isn't as persuasive.”

“…it's a relationship where both parties are respected for what they're bringing.”

So, for those trying their hand at a coveted pupillage at 4 New Square, what is it that you’re buying into? “The larger the set is, the harder it is to say that there’s one thing that links us all,” Miles Harris remarks, “but one thing we all like to say describes our environment is unstuffy excellence. We want to be doing the best work, but without any pomposity.” Indeed, as Lizzy Stewart puts it: “We very much see our operation as a joint endeavour. When you're a clerk, you're the agent. You're supporting members to be as successful as they can be. But it's a relationship where both parties are respected for what they're bringing.” For pupils at the set, this translates to an environment that immediately puts you at ease: “Even in the conference rooms and reception, it feels more modern in both its outlook and its layout.”