One Essex Court - True Picture

One Essex Court pupillage review 2026

The Chambers  

For most of the top sets, specialisation is a key strategy for setting themselves apart, but One Essex Court flips the script somewhat. Though commercial litigation is the set’s bread and butter, its practice is still markedly broad. Clerk team leader, David Amdor, explains that: “we’ve wanted to enjoy the whole commercial spectrum of work,” so the set is focused on being “calibre-led” as opposed to industry-led. For most people starting at the Bar, “you don’t want to be curtailed by the range of work you can do, so if you can be at the sharp end of talent, the really interesting work can come about in all sorts of industries.”

“…the really interesting work can come about in all sorts of industries.”

Being at the “sharp end of talent,” One Essex Court finds itself also at the sharp end of industry, with top-tier rankings in the Chambers UK Bar guide in banking and finance, commercial dispute resolution, energy and natural resources and civil fraud. In the banking and finance space, one recent case saw Lord Grabiner KC represent Boohoo founder and CEO Mike Ashley in a boardroom dispute between Frasers Group (a 27% shareholder in Boohoo) and Boohoo over the composition of its board of directors.

Elsewhere, on the civil fraud side, Sonia Tolaney KC acted for Deutsche Bank in a long-running litigation concerning enforcement of a $340 million judgment debt. “We’re fortunate to see most major commercial disputes at some stage (whether in litigation or arbitration), often at a later stage in the process as the stakes get higher,” Amdor adds, “whether that might be IP or in other commercial areas, we’ll see the key disputes.”

Which sectors or industries crop up most is a difficult thing to pin down, as Amdor explains: “Over some periods of time you’ll see a lot of commercial contract law, which might span the industries, but as the economic barometer turns or drops, banking and finance instruments are tested, you’ll see insolvencies, large civil fraud claims and the like.” As a result, “it’s quite difficult in any one period to identify, but our most consistently active areas are probably banking and finance, company & shareholder disputes, energy and natural resources and civil fraud (whether in litigation or arbitration).”

Interestingly, Amdor adds that when a set’s sector focus is a moving target, “being able to field work from the whole spectrum of the commercial industry will insulate you as a barrister. The ability to move as the barometer moves is key to being busy.” Amdor explains, “when you’re taking the best laterals, you’re bringing people with pre-existing and often heavily committed diaries who also generate opportunities for others, which is great but doesn’t necessarily resolve capacity issues.”

The solution? “Organic growth will always remain a key focus,” Amdor grins – the set has just taken on six pupils and has another five coming in. “We are lucky we can afford to offer a market-leading pupillage and we’re not constrained by volume, so chambers is growing and will continue to grow at an organic level.”

The Pupillage Experience  

Pupils sit with three supervisors over the course of their pupillage, with the first two seats lasting three months each, and the final seat lasting six months. Head of pupillage Camilla Bingham tells us that this is because “three months is a good period in which to soak up what you can from one teacher,” but it also allows pupils to be exposed to a variety of styles.

“We’re not very keen on people arriving with preconceived notions of what they are going to specialise in,” Bingham explains, “you can’t really know which area will excite you until you’ve tried it!” With a practicing second six and assessments in the second half of the year, “pupils spend less time working on their third supervisor’s caseload as they are also running their own cases during the practising period, so six months makes more sense.”

“We’re not very keen on people arriving with preconceived notions of what they are going to specialise in. You can’t really know which area will excite you until you’ve tried it!”

We heard that, as a general rule, the set tries to assign pupils exclusively live work: “We want our pupils learning case management skills, being exposed to court work and not being cocooned away working for one big case.” This also means working with other members of chambers as well as supervisors: “You are involved in your pupil supervisor’s day to day practice,” one pupil told us.

Because supervisors have very busy blue-chip practices, “you get very good exposure, so it’s an easy bridge to get to know silks and seniors who see the quality of your work.”

The first seat is understood to be introductory, with newbies essentially getting work from just their supervisor, but this develops into a pupil’s second seat and work for other members becomes more common.

“In the second six, I started taking on small matters of my own,” one former pupil told us, mainly in the county court, as well as instructions in some cases their supervisors were already working on. In a practising second six, pupils become acquainted with the clerking room well before tenancy, but for clerk team leader Amdor, “the real point of work in the second six is to allow very junior individuals to start to develop their own advocacy, drafting and advisory skills in an environment in which they are directly responsible for strategy to the instructing lawyer or client.” Particularly at the start, pupils are given small claims work “to achieve that vital development before qualification.”

Towards the end of pupillage, it’s “not uncommon for pupils to start work on substantive cases with their pupil supervisor or other members of chambers in the tail end of pupillage, such that they’ll often emerge into tenancy with pre-existing commitments.” With regular clerk meetings integrated into pupillage, pupils do get some say over what kind of work they want, but the decision ultimately depends on the supervisor: “They will have a dialogue with us at each point that we offer work in the second six,” Amdor explains, but “the central goal is to successfully transfer to tenancy.” 

Feedback is seen as a priority, with a mix of formal and more informal feedback on a pupil’s work: “From each supervisor I had time set aside for feedback and comments, so you would always get advice about what you could do more of.” There is a formal structure in place whereby every two months a supervisor and a pupil will have a meeting to discuss what is going well and what could be improved, all with a view to ensuring that there are no surprises come the tenancy decision.

This is on top of “big feedback sessions at the three, six and nine-month marks,” together with reports on a candidate’s progress that is compiled by their supervisor at the end of each seat. “That gets sent to me and the head clerk,” Bingham continues, “and at the nine-month mark the matter goes to chambers, where supervisors present their assessments.” There are no formal assessments but “the work we do is obviously assessed – they make a judgement based on your reports.”

Our interviewees highlighted individuality and informality as also being central to One Essex Court’s identity. “As a pupil you do wear a suit,” one pupil admitted, “but we don’t stand on ceremony.” Once a member, “nobody is going to make an issue of how you choose to dress or what hours work, so long as you consistently produce excellent work.” For those who want to dig into the social side, “clerks regularly organise diners with solicitors, and even at the junior end you are invited.” There’s also a chambers-wide weekly breakfast and a bi-weekly tea.

The Application Process  

Applicants to One Essex Court apply via the Pupillage Gateway. The set probes an applicant’s specific interest in commercial law, asking them to write a roughly 300-word paragraph on a commercial case that they found interesting, and whether it was decided rightly or wrongly. Candidates that make it through the paper sift download a judgement, which they are given two hours to read, and then must submit a three-minute presentation of the facts of the case. “We want to see if they can distil and marshal facts and present them in a good way,” Camilla Bingham explains, because “sometimes, candidates look amazing on paper but let themselves down with the simple tasks.”

“They didn’t ask abstract questions about issues of the day – I’m applying to be a barrister not a politician! I valued that they gave us a fictional scenario that put us all on an even playing field.”

Around 50 people make it to interview, where candidates are given 90 minutes with a legal problem focused on contractual and tortious concepts. This is followed by a conversation about it with a panel of members: “We focus on the basics of contracts and torts, so the final interview is designed to create a level playing field between people doing their GDL and people who have more experience.” Bingham tells us: “we liaise with City Law School in London so we know what stage they’ve reached in their lectures – as a result we find that GDL candidates often out-perform the law graduates because newcomers have the rudiments of contract and tort fresh in their minds!”

The question is a practical problem where some level of legal knowledge is assumed, but ultimately in the answer: “we are looking for commercial instincts. Unless you can apply knowledge of the law in a practical and commercial way, it may not be for you.” One candidate who recently went through the process particularly appreciated the fact that: “they didn’t ask abstract questions about issues of the day – I’m applying to be a barrister, not a politician! I valued that they gave us a fictional scenario that put us all on an even playing field.”

So, what can applicants do to maximise their prospects at interview? Well, firstly it’s important to note that: “it’s designed to be a platform for candidates to show themselves at their best,” Bingham underlines. This is something that was reiterated by a current pupil: “Keep calm, read carefully, and think about the potential problems that might arise from the scenarios, because those will probably be the things you are asked about. There is a balance to be struck between sticking to your guns and elegantly resigning from your wrong position when it is evident you are wrong.”

Although the set has scrapped mini-pupillages, they hold open days both online and in-person (open to everyone), and there are schemes to support underrepresented groups. Bingham references sessions open to women to discuss the written side and interviewing technique as examples of the set’s “particular drive to encourage female applicants, because historically they have been underrepresented.” The set uses Rare data and participates in the 10,000 Black Interns programme, along with offering adjustments for those with disabilities.