Pupils
Once you have been offered a pupillage it is important that you register your pupillage with the Bar Standards Board. The forms can be downloaded from the Bar Standards Board’s website. You are not required to submit a copy of this form to Lincoln’s Inn unless you have a shortened pupillage. If you have any concerns or queries regarding your pupillage please contact the Education team.
Pupils are required by the Bar Standards Board to satisfactorily complete a minimum of twelve hours of advocacy training within their first six months of pupillage. Lincoln’s Inn provides these courses for all pupils, however, pupils outside of London and the South East Circuit are recommended to approach their circuit directly as training is offered on circuit. Pupils on circuit or from other Inns are very welcome to attend the courses run by the Inn should they prefer.
Pupils who started vocational Bar training from 2020 onwards are also required to complete ‘The Assessment of Professional Ethics’, which is a compulsory open book examination, before the end of your pupillage. 3 months of pupillage must be completed before the date of your exam. All information about the materials for the ethics exams and instructions on how to access them can be found here.
At Lincoln’s Inn, we will be holding a Pupils’ Ethics Evening, whereby Pupils will have a chance to explore ethical scenarios with tutors, in a group setting. This will be an in-person event that will be taking place on the evening of Thursday 7 December 2023. Bookings for this event has now closed.
The Courses
Pupils’ Advocacy Training
You must complete an advocacy training course within your non-practicing period, which is usually the first six months of your pupillage.
This course is run over a residential weekend at an external venue. Pupils arrive on the Friday evening and the course finishes on Sunday afternoon. This course includes one civil and one criminal case for all participants. Pupils are able to select either civil or criminal law for a submission exercise, which includes producing a skeleton argument which must be submitted one week before the course begins.
Pupils are also required to attend a case analysis session in advance of the course. This is held during the evening at the Inn approximately ten days in advance of the course.
The teaching style used throughout the course is the Hampel Method, which pupils may be familiar with from the BPTC. The following is included during the weekend:
- Witness handling
- Narrative advocacy
- Case theory
- Video reviews of performances
- Opening and closing speeches
The course you are booked onto is dependent upon when you undertake your ‘first six’/non-practicing period.
Dates & Locations
Dates and Locations of the course can be found below.
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Course |
Date |
Location |
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Pupils’ Advocacy Course
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November 2024 Dates TBC |
|
|
Pupils’ Advocacy Course
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February 2025 Dates TBC |
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|
Pupils Advocacy Course |
March 2025 Dates TBC
|
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Fees
The pupils’ training is offered free of charge to all Lincoln’s Inn members on a pupillage required to undertake the course. If you are on a pupillage and have received a dispensation from the BSB and are not required to complete the pupils’ advocacy training, you are still able to attend the course by paying a fee. Please contact Tasnima Akther for more information.
How to Apply
When you receive your BSB email confirming your registration of pupillage, you must pass it on to the Inn.
You will not be able to book onto a course without your BSB confirmation. It is your responsibility to contact the Inn to book yourself onto a Pupils’ Advocacy Course.
If you have not yet received your Pupillage confirmation, and are waiting to hear back from the BSB, please email Tasnima Akther, Post-Call Training coordinator.
The booking form will be made available to fill out in Summer (for Lincoln’s Inn’s members only). Members of other Inns will need to be referred by their own Inn. Please note that we cannot guarantee availabilities on your first choices of dates. We will try our best to accommodate your preferred dates as much as we can. Allocations for February will be out in early December.