Erskine Chambers - True Picture

Erskine Chambers pupillage review 2026

The Chambers 

Whether it’s traditional or commercial Chancery law or family, the Bar is by its very nature a specialist profession. At Erskine however, the sights are very much set on company law and related insolvency, which for pupils means that “from day one you’re getting the most interesting stuff to work on!” According to senior clerk Michael Shillingford, the set covers corporate and commercial litigation and arbitration, restructuring and insolvency, financial services and offshore work: “Our offshore practice continues to grow and makes up 20% of chambers’ work, but company law is what we are truly renowned for, and are often instructed on some of the most high-profile cases in this area. We also tend to be instructed at the appeal stage where crucial company law points, which can be at the heart of a case, have been missed at first-instance hearings.” 

“We find that on big commercial cases, company law tends to be at the heart.” 

At Erskine, “we are in that band of not just being general commercial or Chancery, it’s a specialist set,” one pupil told us. That expertise is reflected in Erskine’s numerous acknowledgements in the Chambers UK Bar guide, including strong nods in restructuring and insolvency and commercial Chancery, alongside a top-tier company ranking in London. While specialists the folks at Erskine may be, “for more general commercial work I wouldn’t worry about it feeling restrictive,” one junior reassured us, though applicants are expected to show more than a passing interest in company law. More on that later… 

As a top company law chambers, Erskine often attracts work from the magic circle firms. In one recent case, Anna Scharnetzky recently acted in the multi-million-pound litigation arising from the alleged unfair dismissal of Otmar Szafnauer, former team principal of the Formula One racing team, Aston Martin Racing. Elsewhere, David Chivers KC and Jack Rivett acted for the joint liquidators in the collapse of cryptocurrency fund Three Arrows Capital, where they have recently obtained court approval for a USD100 million interim distribution. The big benefit of this kind of volume, of course, is that “we have busy KCs, so there is a demand for juniors to be involved in a variety of cases as soon as they join,” Shillingford explains, “we are also keen to get juniors on their feet as much as possible.” 

The Pupillage Experience 

Pupillage is split into three months seats, each with a different supervisor. As pupillage committee member Matthew Parfitt explains, this is done not only to expose pupils to different kinds of work, but also to ensure that pupils see different approaches: “The more variety they see, the more they pick up.” Supervision at Erskine, Parfitt highlights, is not simply about giving pupils work, but also ensuring that pupils are supported throughout their pupillage: “The supervisor’s role is to manage the diary, workload, and psychological load. It’s a stressful time – people need to be told not to overwork because you can blow yourself out the water, and then the quality of the work suffers.” During a pupil’s first seat, they tend to work solely with their supervisor, with the focus being on bringing the pupil up to speed with being a company and insolvency specialist. For pupils from a non-law background, “that’s particularly important,” and one junior underscored Erskine’s efforts to make sure newbies build a firm foundation by giving them an unassessed settling in period. 

“For every piece of work I’ve done, within a few days the person I’ve done it for has sat down with me.” 

From January onwards, pupils start to do work for other members. Although it’s not a practising second six, “the closer you get to tenancy, the more the pupil is ready to be shown off and exposed to other members of chambers,” Parfitt tells us, and that means being gradually introduced to more difficult work from more senior people. “Doing work for everyone, you are exposed to all of chambers,” one junior told us, with the work shifting between live and dead work. Contrary to what you might think, the work starts out as predominantly live and shifts to more dead work in the second six, “purely for your benefit, for you to see stuff you haven’t seen before that it would be helpful to see.” The work itself is varied, and includes the likes of drafting witness statements, writing opinions and research notes, and drafting skeleton arguments, “all on company or company insolvency law.” Feedback can take written or oral form, but with “every piece of work I’ve done, within a few days the person I’ve done it for has sat down with me.If it’s live work and I’m writing a skeleton, they might use it for themselves or show the version they’ve done so I can compare and contrast.”  

Those we spoke to never lost sight of the fact that pupillage is a year-long assessment, despite the fact that “not every piece of work is formally assessed.” In the second six, “people are paying more attention to what you’re doing. The assessment is based on reports from supervisors on the work we do and our advocacy skills.” The formal assessment is an advocacy exercise which pupils have a mock for earlier in the year, with the actual examination happening after Easter. The test consists of an advocacy exercise complete with a skeleton argument and mock hearing in front of three senior members acting as judges. 

The tenancy decision is made by a members’ vote on the pupillage committee’s recommendation, something that typically happens in June or July. Those that are successful, from that point on, “spend more time with junior members, getting to know the ropes.” Interestingly, we heard that new tenants often go on secondment for anywhere from three to six months. Parfitt tells us that this is because “for a place with a narrow practice area you might end up disappearing into an ivory tower, not seeing how the people who send us the work actually work themselves!” New tenants usually spend the first six months of tenancy seconded to the corporate and litigation departments of big city firms or, more recently, the London office of an offshore firm.  

“You are in chambers every day, but it has that self-employment feel – there is freedom to it.” 

We heard that pupils are expected to treat a day in chambers like a typical weekday - 9am to 6pm. Though the expectation is for newbies to go into chambers Monday to Friday, “I wasn’t expected to be contactable outside of those hours. You are in chambers every day, but it has that self-employment feel – there is freedom to it.” Interviewees raved about Erskine’s culture, which is “unique in how supportive it is in every layer of chambers.” We were told that here “you’re never alone, you know who you can go to.” The daily chamber’s tea was highlighted as “quite a big part” of the culture, which you’re encouraged to go to from the outset because “you can go and bounce ideas off each other.”  

The Application Process 

Applicants apply for pupillage at Erskine via the Pupillage Gateway. Initially, it’s “all the things you’d expect. In short, why do you want to pursue a career at the company law Bar?” One piece of advice from insiders is to “be as precise as you can. If the question is, ‘why company law?’ that’s the question you need to answer; if you put in vague stuff about commercial law that’s not going to cut it.” This is particularly important given that roughly 250 people apply each year, which is whittled down to 12 for the final sift – for the pupillage committee “we want to get people through the door who really want to do our work.” To further emphasise this point, the set often asks applicants to talk about a recent company law case that has caught their eye. 

The interview stage is composed of two rounds in person at chambers. The first round is formed of a 30-minute discussion around a case. The second follows a similar structure but, rather than speaking with two members of chambers, candidates are faced with a panel of around five members. The process is designed to ensure that those with less legal experience are not disadvantaged. The intention, we heard, is “to really test someone at the limit of their intellectual abilities,” rather than their knowledge of the law. Parfitt explains: “It’s one of the things we all exhibit at this set – it is an intellectual place, it’s pretty hardcore! So, you can’t be intimidated by that. If you enjoy having that tested, you will enjoy somewhere like this – if you thrive on that pressure and energy, it’s a great place to work.”  

So, how can candidates stand out? Experience of course helps, including the typical mooting, debating, mini pupillages, pro bono, or perhaps a scheme with judges or some marshalling. Ultimately though, applicants should really try to include features on their CV that make it clear they are interested in company law in particular. “Have they been on our mini pupillage? It’s not a requirement,” Parfitt notes, “but it’s a step in the right direction.” Something for law students specifically to pay attention to are opportunities to study company law as an optional module: “If they had the opportunity to study company law at university but haven’t done so, that may call for an explanation…”