3 Hare Court

It’s fair to say there’s been no exaggeration here. Tenants have recently been involved in everything from mandatory injunctions in the High Court and judicial reviews in the Court of Appeal to wrestling with Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code in the Commercial Court. It’s hard to imagine how they find time for all this domestic work, especially when it seems almost every Privy Council case features at least one member of 3 Hare Court. Anguilla, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Bahamas are just some of the tropical locations where they’ve been instructed. Not too shabby!

In order to reach these heights, rookies receive nothing but the best training. “Pupillage at 3 Hare Court affords you exposure to a wide variety of commercial and civil practice areas. Unlike many sets, you also get the opportunity to develop your own practice in the second six. I found myself in court two or three times a week and was able to complete my own written work while also working on matters for my supervisor and other members of Chambers. The combination of broad practice exposure and early advocacy opportunities makes for a busy but hugely rewarding pupillage year.” Does any more need saying? Just in case you’re not already sold, you may want to note that “chambers’ pupillage programme sees pupils sit with up to six supervisors to ensure that they see the full range of work undertaken in chambers. I think this is unique and a real selling point.”

If that wasn’t enough, we’re also told that the 3 Hare Court bunch are a very supportive lot. “Senior members are always available for guidance and assistance” notes one. Another proudly states that “All my supervisors were extremely supportive and exposed me to the full gamut of Chambers’ practice areas. I had six supervisors over the course of the year, and this meant that I got to see a wide range of advocacy styles and ways of developing a successful career at the bar.” Pretty handy when you practice in a set which covers nearly the whole spectrum of public and civil law. Glowing with further positivity, recruits rave about the “open-door policy” where “there is always someone on hand to offer advice and/or answer a question.”

Surely there is some downside to this set? There must be some kind of negative somewhere? Well, not according to the rookies, or their seniors. “One of the many charms of 3 Hare Court is its friendliness, a feature which is aided by it being a relatively small set. There is a genuinely supportive and collegiate culture which runs through every area of Chambers’ life, from the clerks and the staff to the members and the pupils. People actively go out of their way to make themselves available to others.” It seems, then, that even those who are seasoned veterans at the chambers are happy right where they are. “Silks and juniors alike are extremely approachable and very happy to chat through any tricky questions. My colleagues are super smart, kind, and very sociable. Whether I have a knotty legal question or just need a good old moan, there is always someone at hand who is more than willing to listen and think through problems with me.”

This utopic scene certainly isn’t left at the temple door. We hear that the members are a sociable sort, in and out of work. “There is a Thursday lunch club in Inner Temple Hall and the juniors organise regular dinners together” notes one, another emphasising that “chambers parties are great fun and only wind down in the very early hours of the morning.” But, you say, surely such hard-working and high-achieving professionals don’t have time for this kind of enjoyment? Apparently, they do. Juniors note how the clerks are always understanding and supportive when it comes to dishing out work. One rookie praises that “there is a good parental leave policy in place”, where “members and staff are mindful that in order to get the most out you have to have a good work-life balance.”

As for the technical side of the set, junior clerk and admin assistant Scott receives high praise, juniors commenting that “he is amazing and provides brilliant IT support.” Others speak more generally of the “24/7 IT support complimented by our always accessible chambers manager” and the recent tech advancements to allow the set to operate seamlessly in an online world.

For those now desperate to throw in a (carefully prepared) pupillage application, look out for the chambers on Pupillage Gateway. On offer is a £80,000 award (with the potential for additional receipts), as well as a training structure which includes six supervisors, rotated on a bimonthly basis. As for the work, pupils will initially shadow their supervisors, completing written work for their cases, before moving in their second six to take on their own clients and cases. During this time, rookies are given various advocacy exercises, judged by members of chambers, and are encouraged to engage in chambers promotion and networking events. Whilst pupils undergo a series of assessments throughout the pupillage year and ahead of tenancy decisions, the set is clear that pupils are not in competition with each other, and 3 Hare Court’s goal is to take all pupils on as tenants. The set also emphasises the ongoing support they offer after completing pupillage during the first years of practice, including additional business support, and a favourable rent structure.

Applicants will be pleased to hear that the set are committed to diversity at the bar, and especially encourage and welcome applications from women, individuals with Black, Asian, and ethnic minority backgrounds, those with disabilities, and those who are LGBTQ+, as well as those from other groups that tend to be underrepresented in the legal profession.

I remained at City Law School for my Bar Course, supported by scholarships from Gray’s Inn and City University. Although my Bar Course was delivered entirely online during the Covid-19 pandemic, I was fortunate to live at Gray’s Inn as a residential scholar. This enabled me to play an active role in the life of the Inn, including serving as President of the Students’ Association and representing the Inn at the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot, where my teammates and I won the UK National Championship and reached the Global Octofinal.

It was during my Bar Course that I obtained pupillage at 3 Hare Court. Having the additional mooting experience under my belt and experience of the interview process helped me greatly. I also made full use of Gray’s Inn’s mentoring scheme, receiving invaluable advice on applications from established practitioners.

Before starting pupillage, I studied for an LLM in Commercial Law at the University of Cambridge, funded by a scholarship from One Essex Court. My subjects included Advanced Private Law (Commercial Remedies), International Commercial Litigation (Conflict of Laws), International Financial Law, and Legal History. The last of these gave me the opportunity to revisit my historical research through a legal lens, culminating in a thesis on the history of claims involving enslaved people under English law between 1569 and 1772.

The LLM was a rewarding experience, and I would recommend further legal study to anyone who took the GDL and wants to explore areas of the law in greater depth – though it is by no means an essential. Alongside my studies, I taught law to undergraduates at the City Law School as a Visiting Lecturer and founded the Young Bar Mentoring scheme, designed to connect prospective scholarship and pupillage applicants received guidance with those who had recently been successful in the same application process. In the summer, I attended The Hague Academy’s private international law course before taking a short break ahead of pupillage (something I would recommend to every pupil). I began pupillage in October 2022.

The pupillage experience

Pupillage at 3 Hare Court was a varied and rewarding experience. I had the opportunity to sample several areas of law, assist every KC in Chambers, and begin building my own practice. I expected pupillage to be busy, but I could not have imagined the breadth of experiences I would gain — from being instructed as a junior in a High Court misfeasance case to twice sitting in the front row before Supreme Court Justices during Privy Council appeals from Trinidad and Tobago and Saint Lucia.

I was supervised by six experienced practitioners in two-month seats, each covering different areas of Chambers’ specialisms, from travel and aviation law to public, commercial, insolvency, and property law. The breadth of exposure was invaluable. It has given me a clearer idea of the practice I want to develop – something only possible through experiencing such variety. Before pupillage, when writing applications, I felt as though I was choosing a meal from a picture on a menu; pupillage gave me the chance to “taste” the practice areas and make a more informed choice.

In the first six months, I observed my supervisors’ work, assisting with pleadings, opinions, skeleton arguments, and research on complex legal issues for silks. Those early months passed quickly but provided ample time for learning and reflection, supported by detailed feedback on each piece of work. I found the supervisor reports at the end of each seat especially useful, as they assessed my performance across five key areas and allowed me to track my progress.

The year grew progressively busier as I prepared for the BSB ethics exam and took on more assessed work, which proved excellent preparation for second six. By the time I got on my feet, I felt ready to balance written work for my supervisor with my own caseload. I found myself in court roughly three times a week (sometimes more), instructed on a range of interim hearings, bespoke applications, and fast-track trials across three or four areas of law. Alongside my courtroom advocacy and written work, Chambers arranged for me to shadow Dingemans LJ, a former Head of Chambers. Observing appellate advocacy first-hand and discussing submissions with judges of the Court of Appeal was a particular highlight.

Two features make pupillage at 3 Hare Court distinctive: the breadth of practice areas available and the opportunity to practise in them after only six months. By the end of pupillage, I had drafted dozens of pleadings and opinions, attended a wide variety of hearings, and conducted fast-track trials in far-flung courts across the country — even as far as Truro.

Although these experiences were initially daunting, the variety and pace are precisely what make the job of a pupil — and of a barrister — so exciting. Throughout pupillage, I was supported by supervisors and junior tenants who had themselves been through the same process only a few years earlier. I was also encouraged by Chambers’ excellent track record of retaining pupils: although we only take two pupils a year, every pupil has been offered tenancy for at least the past decade. In other words, the pupillage process is designed to prepare you for tenancy, not to trip you up along the way.

The transition from pupil to tenant

The transition from pupil to tenant at 3 Hare Court is straightforward and carefully managed. The practising second six made it easier to hit the ground running in developing a practice than it might otherwise be, as I already had exposure to a wide variety of clients. By the end of second six, I was almost exclusively managing my own caseload, so the step up to unsupervised work was not a particularly significant one.

I had a “practice review” as soon as I became a tenant, which allowed me to have a productive discussion with two practice managers about my areas of interest and the balance between written work and courtroom advocacy. The advantage of the practising second six is that the practice managers already had a clear sense of my appetite and capacity for certain types of work, as well as knowledge of the client relationships I had been developing.

From the outset, I benefited from the guidance of other junior members of Chambers, who generously offered advice and practical assistance whenever I needed it. A particularly nice feature of 3 Hare Court is the many junior WhatsApp groups, designed as forums for legal and practical questions, however simple.

What is your practice like now?

Almost two years on from taking tenancy, my practice has evolved significantly—a testament to the breadth of opportunity at 3 Hare Court and the ability to tailor your practice accordingly. When I began tenancy, I maintained a broad practice covering travel and aviation work alongside commercial, insolvency, and property matters. I was in court approximately three or four times a week, supplemented by a steady flow of pleadings and advisory work. Within a few months, I began undertaking led work on larger cases, as well as a project drafting a multi-lateral contract in the cryptoassets space, which necessitated reducing the number of days I could be available in court.

Within about a year to eighteen months, I decided to focus on developing the commercial side of my practice. I now have a busy commercial and commercial chancery practice, with particular specialisms in commercial litigation and international arbitration, civil fraud, insolvency, and cryptoasset disputes. The transition from a broad common law practice to a commercial one has been smooth, supported by the practice managers and encouraged through attendance at conferences to build my network. For example, I have attended conferences with other members of Chambers or practice managers in Dublin and Malta, and other members have connected me with some of their own contacts.

My practice maintains a healthy balance between led and unled work. In addition to working as part of counsel teams in complex, high-value disputes, I regularly appear as sole counsel in trials, interim application hearings, and costs and case management conferences. I have appeared as sole counsel in reported decisions before the High Court on multiple occasions, and against opponents many years more senior.

No week is ever the same. On average, I now spend one or two days a week in court, with the remainder of my time dedicated to written work. I balance my own written work as sole counsel with larger, multi-million-pound disputes for leaders, which require close collaboration with different counsel, solicitors, and insolvency practitioners. The silks and senior juniors at 3 Hare Court are keen to provide juniors with advocacy roles in complex applications, trials, and appeals. A particular highlight was appearing before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in an appeal concerning the interpretation of a clause in a standard form construction contract, where my leader allowed me to address the justices on two distinct points — an opportunity rarely afforded to juniors at my level.

I have also begun developing an offshore branch of my practice. I was called to the Bar of Gibraltar in October 2024 for a dual application for an anti-suit injunction by one party and a stay on forum non conveniens grounds by the other. More recently, in June 2025, I travelled to Mauritius for a case involving a large African internet company in receivership. One of the advantages of 3 Hare Court is its strong reputation for commercial and civil work across Commonwealth jurisdictions, and I am particularly keen to build a busy and varied international and offshore practice.

3 Hare Court has a mentoring scheme for juniors and encourages quarterly practice reviews with at least two practice managers, providing multiple outlets for advice and guidance on steering your practice in your chosen direction. During my time as a tenant, 3 Hare Court has restructured its practice management team into three core teams: Commercial, Common law (travel/PI) and International. The specialised practice streams has allowed me to better shape and develop my practice.

What is the culture of chambers?

There is a strong culture of collegiality in Chambers, which runs from the practice managers and staff to the junior members and the silks. We are a small and friendly set, which is one of our best features. I have made some really good friends here in just a few years. I genuinely look forward to catching up with colleagues over lunch or after work.

Members of Chambers are particularly supportive of one another. From the WhatsApp groups I mentioned earlier to the ease with which you can knock on someone’s door to ask for advice, collaboration is encouraged at every level. We have several practice groups and a central intranet that facilitates the internal sharing of information and news. There is close cooperation between practitioners of different years of call and a culture of open feedback. Every member of Chambers you work for as a pupil — not just your supervisors — will provide constructive feedback. This culture continues beyond pupillage; I have received helpful guidance on devilling work and led work I have undertaken for various members.

Our practice management team is especially friendly, which makes a big difference, particularly as a junior member. It is not unusual for members of Chambers to go for a drink with one or two practice managers after work—a form of camaraderie that, from speaking with friends at other sets, is relatively rare at the Bar.

Chambers has a lively social scene. “Thursday Lunch Club” is a regular fixture in the diary, where members meet in Middle Temple Lane and go for lunch in Inner Temple Hall. We also hold annual Christmas and summer parties, to which family members and loved ones are welcome. Junior curry nights are popular, and there are sometimes impromptu trips to a local karaoke bar on Chancery Lane if the mood strikes.

Top tips for those wanting to become a barrister/secure a pupillage at your chambers

My five top tips for those wanting to become a barrister and make a successful pupillage application are:

1. Experience: Use your time wisely to gain as much experience as possible, both law-related and otherwise. Mooting and mini-pupillages are clearly valuable ways to demonstrate interest in the Bar, but so too is volunteering, providing legal advice, or taking on other roles where you advise and work with people. The modern Bar is about more than navigating complex case law and statutes; you also need to be able to advise challenging clients in person and handle the pressures of a busy diary.

2. Preparation: Make sure you research each Chambers’ profile carefully, understanding exactly what they do and what sets them apart. Look online for the criteria by which your application will be assessed. My advice is to copy and paste each criterion into a separate document and ensure that your application demonstrates how you meet each one.

3. Evidence: Use a wide range of evidence to show your interest in the Bar, a particular Chambers, and how you meet the requisite criteria. Avoid relying on the same piece of evidence for multiple questions.

4. Style: Treat every application and interview question as an opportunity to demonstrate your advocacy skills. You need to persuade the reader or listener, which means being clear, concise, and focused so your points are effectively communicated.

5. Structure: Ensure each written application or interview answer has a clear structure. I often recommend the “rule of three” (three distinct points), but you could also use the “STAR” technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for competency-based questions.

If you are interested in pupillage at 3 Hare Court, my advice is that you need to be interested in three key aspects:

Variety: Applicants should be open-minded about the areas they want to practice. The major advantage of 3 Hare Court is the sheer breadth of practice areas undertaken by its members and the exposure pupils get to those areas.

International work: A defining feature of 3 Hare Court, whether on the common law or commercial side, is the international and/or offshore nature of the work. Members frequently handle cases arising from multiple jurisdictions, often all the way up to the Privy Council.

Advocacy: It may seem obvious, but you must truly want to be an advocate to succeed at 3 Hare Court. There are more opportunities to appear on your feet, both led and unled, than at many other commercial or civil sets.

One overriding piece of advice I would give to everyone is to get a mentor. I genuinely believe that a good mentor can make all the difference. There are many excellent schemes out there — for example, those run by the Inns of Court, COMBAR’s scheme, Bridging the Bar and my own initiative, Young Bar Mentoring.