7 King’s Bench Walk

The set offers a maximum four pupillages a year and new pupils say they “get a varied diet. It can be the red meat of heavy arbitration one day and the rarefied manna of an appeal to the Supreme Court the next”. Recent appearances at the country’s highest court include the Ocean Victory shipping dispute and the OW Bunker test case (both big in shipping). The training gets an A*: one tenant says that it’s “unbelievably tough, but by the end you’ll be able to conquer any commercial problem”.

7KBW stresses that “the vast majority of our work is in the commercial courts and in commercial arbitrations in London” (Lord Mance, fresh from the Supreme Court, is an arbitrator here). In the past few months, Commercial Court cases have included arguing Greek shipping law on behalf of HSBC and litigation over “luxury superyacht” Palladium – note, again, the strong nautical tang. Back on dry land, 7KBW boasts of its successful defence of Abdourahman Boreh against fraud charges brought by the government of his native Djibouti, as well as involvement in the long-running RBS rights issue litigation.

A maximum of four pupillages a year are up for grab. Barristers-in-training can expect several different pupil supervisors over the course of the year, with chambers reckoning that it’s “important that you work for as many members of Chambers as possible during your pupillage”. The historic digs are “more charming than swish” and there’s no organised fun outside of work, although there are “plenty of events and I have made some of my closest friends in Chambers”, one insider says. Note the top-of-the-range BPTC drawdown: £25,000 of the already impressive £65,000 a year pupillage award is available in advance to cover bar training.