Combar runs a number of schemes which aim to assist those who are considering a career at the Commercial Bar and those who are already established members of Combar.

COMBAR Student Mentoring Scheme – Apply here.

The Combar Student Mentoring scheme aims to support and encourage individuals from groups which are underrepresented at the Bar of England and Wales (and in particular the Commercial Bar) to pursue careers as barristers. Applicants who are considered to have realistic prospects of obtaining a pupillage at the Commercial Bar will be assessed by reference to need for mentoring and potential to pursue a career at the Bar.  Equal weighting is given to both of these criteria to help ensure that the scheme reaches talented applicants from the most under-represented communities who would benefit most from mentoring and guidance.  Successful applicants are paired with practitioners from Combar member sets for a series of one-to-one mentoring sessions.

As we move into the third year of this successful scheme, COMBAR is delighted to announce that its mentoring scheme for applicants from groups who are under-represented at the Bar (and the Commercial Bar in particular) is now open for applications for the 2024 – 2025 cycle.  The scheme is an important part of COMBAR’s commitment to improving access and diversity in the legal profession.

The scheme pairs successful eligible candidates with practitioners from COMBAR member sets for a series of one-to-one mentoring sessions.  Mentees and their mentors are also invited to a pupillage interview and application workshop and social event, which is planned for 14 January 2025.  An equivalent event for this year’s scheme was held in January 2024 at Gray’s Inn, with over 130 mentees attending in person and remotely, and a keynote introductory speech by Mr Justice Foxton, the Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court.

There has been an excellent uptake of the scheme by COMBAR member sets.  A record 25 sets have agreed to provide mentors and it is expected that there will be places for at least 250 mentees on the scheme across those participating sets.  All participating sets have also agreed to cover reasonable travel expenses for mentees allocated to them.

In order to ensure that as diverse a pool of potential applicants is reached as possible, COMBAR intends to advertise the scheme through the careers departments of all English and Welsh universities with a law department, together with a number of universities in Scotland and Ireland, third sector organisations such as HerBar, FreeBar, InterLaw, the Social Mobility Foundation and Sutton Trust.  COMBAR is also pleased to have renewed its arrangement with Legal Cheek, which remains the official partner for the scheme.

Applicants who are considered to have realistic prospects of obtaining a pupillage at the Commercial Bar will be assessed by reference to their need for mentoring and their potential to pursue a career at the Bar.  A deliberate decision has been taken to give equal weighting to both of these criteria to help ensure that the scheme reaches talented applicants from the most under-represented communities who would benefit most from mentoring and guidance.

Applicants wishing to participate in the scheme are requested to download and complete the application form which can be found here.  Completed application forms must be saved as a PDF with the naming convention “First Name – Surname” and emailed to socialmobility@combar.com by Friday 20 September 2024.  COMBAR hopes that applicants will be informed as to whether or not they have been accepted onto the scheme within October 2024.  Due to the number of applicants applying for the scheme, it will unfortunately not be possible to give individual feedback as to why an application may have been unsuccessful, though unsuccessful applicants are welcome to re-apply in subsequent years.

Full details of the scheme can be found at the Scheme Guidelines which can be found here.  Any other questions should be directed to the following email address: socialmobility@combar.com

Mentoring Workshop and Reception 2023-24

A mentoring workshop was held on 16 January 2024 in the Large Pension Room at Gray’s Inn. The event was hybrid for those mentees who were unable to attend in person. Introductory remarks were made by Mr Justice Foxton, the Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court, followed by a series of talks and panel discussions from commercial barristers covering everything from CVs to pupillage applications and interviews. The workshop was followed by a drink’s reception in the Hall with COMBAR mentors.  This was an invaluable opportunity for mentees to meet with barristers working at the Commercial Bar and with other mentees to share experiences. Details of the 2024 programme may be found below:

A recording of the workshop is available here. The password will be sent to mentees who are participating in the 2023-4 scheme.

18th January 2024 – Recording of the Online Pupillage Panel Jointly hosted by the Chancery Bar Association, COMBAR and TECBAR

On the 18^th January 2024, the Chancery Bar Association, COMBAR and TECBAR, jointly hosted a pupillage panel which was followed by a CV workshop for those interested in pupillage at the commercial and chancery bar.

The panel was chaired by Zulfikar Khayum (Atkin Chambers) and include Lucy Garret KC (head of the pupillage committee at Keating Chambers), Michael Walsh (Secretary to the pupillage committee at Serle Court Chambers) and recent tenants Neil Dowers (4 Pump Court) and Sheriar Khan (Atkin Chambers). The panel discussed and provided guidance in relation to the pupillage application process in general.  This recording covers the panel session, the CV workshops were not recorded.  The recording is password protected and will be made available to all those people who registered for the event. You can access the recording here.

Mentoring Workshop and Reception 2022-23

A mentoring workshop was held on 24 January 2023 in the Large Pension Room at Gray’s Inn.  The event was very well attended, with about 120 mentees in person and more than 50 further mentees remotely.  Introductory remarks were made by Mr Justice Foxton, the Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court, followed by a series of talks and a panel discussion from commercial barristers which covered everything from CVs to pupillage applications and interviews.  This was followed by a drink’s reception in the Hall which saw about a further 50 barristers join and informally speak with the mentees. It was an invaluable opportunity for mentees to meet with barristers working at the Commercial Bar and with other mentees to share experiences. A recording of the event was taken, and it is hoped that this will be made available to mentees.  Combar would like to reiterate its thanks to all of the speakers at the workshop and to all of the barristers who were able to come to the reception and speak to the mentees. A similar event will be held for the 2023-24 scheme.

The audio recording of the workshop is available here. This is password protected to allow mentees from the scheme to listen to the recording

Substantial financial support to cover training

Financial support is also available from the Inns of Court (which are essentially professional associations for barristers in England and Wales).  The Inns offer financial support and guidance to aspiring barristers. Scholarships are available for a number of stages of the training, including for the Graduate Diploma in Law and (in particular) the Bar Professional Training Course. The largest scholarships are over £20,000 and are enough to cover academic fees and living expenses, but there is a wide range of awards available.

Most Combar sets offer pupillage awards which are on a par with starting salaries for other city lawyers, and some are more generous than that. Many sets allow a proportion of that award to be drawn down early to help defray course fees for the vocational stage.

Other types of help

There are many other sorts of support available to those embarking on a career as a barrister.

The first port of call for these is the Inns of Court. In addition to financial support for vocational training (described above), the Inns of Court operate various scholarship schemes for aspiring barristers. They also offer open days and other information events, mentoring (or ‘sponsorship’) schemes which connect students with an individual barristers who can offer advice and support, and mock interviews and workshops to assist with the pupillage applications process. See:

• https://www.innertemple.org.uk/becoming-a-barrister/how-to-get-involved/
• https://www.middletemple.org.uk/joining-the-inn/access-and-outreach
• https://www.graysinn.org.uk/scholarships
• https://www.lincolnsinn.org.uk/scholarships-prizes/

In addition, many Combar sets participate in the following schemes:

• • Bridging the Bar is a student-led initiative through which candidates from underrepresented groups are able to apply for mini-pupillages in chambers https://bridgingthebar.org/our-programmes/ Mini-Pupillage Programme
  • The Pathways to Law scheme, operated by the Sutton Trust, offers eligible secondary students an opportunity to explore options available within the legal services profession. Participating chambers offers students the opportunity to spend time shadowing barristers in chambers and attending court. https://www.suttontrust.com/our-programmes/pathways-to-law/
  • The Social Mobility Foundation helps students from non-traditional backgrounds to focus on thinking about careers and university choices whilst at school. It provides tailored practical support across 11 career sectors, including law. https://www.socialmobility.org.uk/about-us/
  • The 10,000 Black Interns Programme offers six-week internships to candidates who are Black African, Black Caribbean and/or Black British): https://www.10000blackinterns.com/