Exclusive: Technical glitch leaves bar hopefuls “gutted”
A number of wannabe barristers have been left disappointed after London’s 5 Essex Court chambers invited them to attend pupillage interviews by “mistake”.
Renowned for its work within police law, 5 Essex Court currently offers two pupillage positions annually via the ‘Gateway’ with a financial award of £25,000 each.
Unfortunately, due to a “glitch”, a number of candidates who had applied to the set were incorrectly informed that they had been invited for an interview.
5 Essex Court — which receives in excess of 300 pupillage applications each season — sent out an initial email (pictured below) to a number of aspiring barristers on Monday evening, confirming that they were one of the lucky 31 selected for interview.
Fast forward two hours and ‘successful’ candidates received a second email, this time explaining that due to a technical “glitch” they had been invited by mistake. Lawkward.
To add insult to injury, a third email was fired off to candidates — the one they should have received in the first place — confirming that they definitely did not have an interview.
One student, who was affected by the email cock-up, told Legal Cheek:
I just find it extremely disappointing that such a huge chambers can make such a poor error. Understandably I was absolutely gutted when I got the follow up emails, and it’s actually deterred me from applying again next year.
5 Essex Court did not respond to Legal Cheek’s request for comment.
