XXIV Old Buildings - True Picture

XXIV Old Buildings pupillage review 2026

The Chambers

From its name, you’d be forgiven for assuming that XXIV Old Buildings keeps things traditional – it has ‘old’ and Roman numerals in its name, after all – but XXIV is by no means a set that rests on its laurels. However, laurels it has indeed; our colleagues over at Chambers UK Bar have bestowed especially high praise upon XXIV for its offshore and traditional chancery practices, and the set earns additional recognition in aviation, commercial chancery and partnership. Senior clerk Paul Horsfield places the work into four distinct focuses, with “commercial work (including shareholder disputes and civil fraud), a good chunk of trusts and estates work, pensions and regulatory, and aviation.”

The geographic scale of the work is equally broad, and Horsfield details, “We have a very strong UK presence, but we also work in the Caribbean, Channel Islands and Middle East.” Despite such range, XXIV is a relatively cosy set, which is “one of our unique strengths,” according to Horsfield. “We’re probably about half the size of some commercial sets, which means we can get a better grasp and feel for things. – if someone has an idea, we can see whether it’s viable, rationalise it and implement it quickly.”

“We’re probably about half the size of some commercial sets…”

With such an international practice, it’s only natural that XXIV’s practices have been influenced by global trends. As an example, Horsfield points to digital assets, where “the crypto market is so volatile, we’re looking forward to an uptick in that space soon.” He also notes that “when there’s a big political issue, that definitely filters into our world.”

On the traditional chancery side of the work, Stephen Moverley Smith KC defended a life insurance subsidiary of Credit Suisse against a $1 billion trust and civil fraud claim brought by the former prime minister of Georgia. In keeping with the international theme, Edward Cumming KC has also been representing the defendants in a commercial shareholder dispute relating to a major bitcoin mining project in Kazakhstan. Elspeth Talbot Rice KC recently acted for Yuntian 10 Leasing Company in a $40 million suit against a member of the Saudi Royal Family (and Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the UK) over missed payments on a private jet.

The Pupillage Experience

“I’d do a probate case with lots of emotional tension and drama between family members one week, and an enormous trust litigation worth hundreds of millions the next.”

Pupillage at XXIV consists of four three-month seats across chambers’ practice areas. “They carefully rotated me through supervisors so I could see the full range of commercial chancery that XXIV covers,” a junior tenant explained. This includes practices such as fraud, trusts, probate, commercial and financial services, to name a few. Unsurprisingly, the variety stood out to pupils, one of whom mentioned, “I’d do a probate case with lots of emotional tension and drama between family members one week, and an enormous trust litigation worth hundreds of millions the next.”

Pupils can also sink their teeth into a mix of live and dead work. For one, “I did almost entirely dead work in my first seat, just to get to grips with the basic elements of the profession. My supervisor impressed upon me from the outset that it’s about developing patterns of thoroughness rather than working to time constraints or deadlines.” So, whether current or historic, pupils will typically try drafting a range of pleadings, skeletons arguments, particulars of claim and opinions.

Pupils receive feedback on all pieces of work so they can right any mistakes as they come. “We treat it very much as a training process, not a test,” pupillage coordinator Erin Hitchens tells us. “It’s not three strikes and you’re out. It’s a learning curve, so you’ll learn from mistakes and do things differently next time.” Supervisors provide feedback with pupils on an ongoing basis and there are formal reviews every six weeks – i.e., one in the middle and at the end of each seat – when supervisors submit a report to members of the pupillage committee, who meet with the pupil to monitor progress.

Hitchens explains how there is in-house training in place to make sure that all supervisors are meeting these requirements, adding, “We expect all members to be pupil supervisors after seven years in practice. We take the view that they learned from their supervisors when they were pupils, so it’s something you give back when you get to the appropriate stage.”

It’s worth mentioning that although there is no official practising second six at XXIV, some pupils may get on their feet here and there if the opportunity arises, and all get to observe plenty of trials in court. There are also no formal assessments, which our more junior interviewees appreciated as “it’s a holistic assessment of pupils over the whole nine months as opposed to short, punctuated tasks which they may not have done their best on. It’s as rigorous as it can be without making people feel like they’re being constantly watched.” Still, insiders noted that the level of expectation increases as pupillage continues, with faster deadlines to check that they can keep up with the pace that would be expected of them as tenants.

The pupillage committee uses this feedback to make a recommendation to chambers on the tenancy decision, which is ultimately decided following a chambers vote. By this stage, however, pupils reportedly have a good sense of what the outcome will be thanks to transparent feedback. Those who are taken on prepare for tenancy by crossing any final things off their pupillage checklist.

In their earlier days of practice, Horsfield explains, juniors will typically start off “doing some winders, regular court work, and advisory pieces on smaller, lower-value disputes, which could be fraud, commercial, wills or estates work, as well as led-work on bigger cases.” There’s still a support system in place at this stage, and a junior tenant was pleased to tell us, “One of my pupil supervisors still checks in on me now, and post-pupillage you get a mentor to guide you through the early stages.”

“Even if it’s someone I don’t necessarily know that well but is a specialist in their area, I feel completely comfortable going to them for help.”

That’s just one part of the XXIV culture that interviewees were keen to discuss. A pupil was especially struck by how: “they pay so much attention to how people are really doing. Everyone understands it’s a stressful job, but one thing that stands out is people’s awareness of your mental wellbeing at different stages of the pupillage process.”

The strict 9am to 6pm pupil workday is part of this, but a junior tenant mentioned how, more broadly, “people genuinely like each other here. We go to each other’s rooms for general chats about the universe or legal problems, and people are open to helping each other out. Even if it’s someone I don’t necessarily know that well but is a specialist in their area, I feel completely comfortable going to them for help.”

The Application Process

Although XXIV uses the same timeline as the Gateway, it recruits pupils via an external application form.This form is completely anonymised and assesses candidates’ academic achievement, commitment to the bar and XXIV’s areas of practice, public speaking experience and advocacy. “I liked that it wasn’t on the Gateway,” a pupil reminisced, “It let me write what I wanted without being too constrained to a more formulaic list of questions.”

Around 40 to 50 applicants are invited to a first-round interview but, before this stage, they are asked to submit a covering letter and CV. As such, first-stage interviewers ask about candidates’ CVs and also pose a problem question. This is typically a construction question, and candidates have 20 minutes to think about their answers before discussing it with the panel. “We are very careful about what we choose to make sure it’s a level playing field between those who have and haven’t studied law,” Hitchens adds.

Around twelve people make it to the next round, which is an all-day event. Three assessments take place on the day: an advocacy exercise, a written exercise and a group exercise. “Here, we test oral and written advocacy and public speaking,” says Hitchens, “The group exercise is a discussion which will test their negotiation and listening skills.” There is also a Q&A session where applicants can ask current pupils questions in a confidential setting.

“You will end up experiencing all the areas of law we do, so it’s best to be willing to try everything.”

It’s always good to have a clear idea of why you want to join a specific set of chambers, and XXIV is no different. “Learn as much as you can about what areas of law you want to specialise in and why you want to do that here,” is Hitchens’ advice, and a pupil added: “It wouldn’t go amiss to read up on a couple of cases you find interesting and be ready to talk about them.” Our interviewees were also keen to emphasise the importance of keeping an open mind. “During pupillage, you will end up experiencing all the areas of law we practice, so it’s best to be willing to try everything,” Hitchens suggests, while Horsfield advises, “When you start your career, say yes to most things but don’t overdo it. You need to grow by having time to just take stock.”