Life as a barrister
What's a career as a barrister really like? All you need to know.
Being a barrister offers a cerebral and stimulating career in the legal profession. If you’re looking to take a step towards the Bar, you should certainly consider the training and work that it requires.
What does a barrister do?
As a barrister, you will be trained to provide specialist legal advice in conference and in writing, as well as represent your clients in courts and tribunals. Most barristers’ careers evolve to a position where they focus on practising in a limited number of specialised areas of the law.
Some of the typical duties as a barrister include:
Oral and written advocacy
Preparation of legal opinion, arguments, and court documents
Understanding and interpreting the law
Negotiating settlements
The type of clients and people you could be dealing with depends on the area(s) of law you choose to specialise in. Barristers are frequently instructed by solicitors to represent a client in court or to provide expert advice in a similar way to how a GP refers a patient to a specialist. However, clients and businesses do employ barristers directly for both personal and commercial work.
Some of the areas you could specialise in, include:
Commercial law
Chancery law (estates and trusts)
Common law (e.g., family, housing, and personal injury law)
Criminal law
Entertainment law
Environmental law
Sports law
How to become a barrister
There are five main steps towards qualification:
Firstly, you need a law degree in England and Wales or a non-law degree plus a pass in a validated law conversion course such as the GDL, PGDL, CPE or Law Foundations Course.
Before you move onto a validated Bar course, you need to pass the Bar Course Aptitude Test (BCAT). This is a multiple-choice test of verbal reasoning, logic, comprehension and other core skills which a successful barrister needs to have. In the words of the Bar Standards Board (BSB), “the aim of the test is to ensure that those undertaking the Bar Training Course have the aptitude to succeed on the course”. Because of the nature of the BCAT, there is only very limited preparation you can do for it.
You’ll also need to join one of the four Inns of Court, which are professional membership associations for barristers in England and Wales.
Once you’ve passed the BCAT and joined one of the Inns Court, you will be permitted to progress onto the final stage of your formal academic training and study for the Bar at a provider authorised by the Bar Standards Board. The name of the course varies between providers: at BPP our Bar course is the ‘Barrister Training Course’. Once you have passed this course, you can be called to the Bar.
The final stage of your training involves a practical work-based element, known as pupillage, which normally last for one year. This features a practising and non-practising period, both of which normally last six months under the supervision of a qualified barrister.
Training for barristers can be done on either a full or part-time basis, but it will depend on where you go.
How many hours do barristers work?
A barrister’s workload in chambers can be very unpredictable, which may vary extremely between one period to the next. As barristers who work in chambers are self-employed, there is no minimum requirement to work a set number of hours. But during busy periods and especially during a trial, working 50+ hours per week would not be unusual. This is partly because court proceedings take place during traditional ‘office hours’, so any preparation, research or additional work is likely to take place beyond the regular ‘9-5’.
Where does a barrister work?
The majority of qualified barristers will end up working in ‘chambers’. This is known as a ‘tenancy’. A ‘set’ of barristers’ chambers is a group of barristers, all of whom operate from a designated set of offices, usually within the same building. Their specialist fields are often complimentary within one of the broad practice areas of the Bar, such as Chancery or Common Law. As part of their tenancy, barristers will pay towards the upkeep of the offices, clerical and administrative support and marketing the tenants and chambers itself.
Barristers who don’t work in chambers can go on to work for a law firm, business or other organisation as ‘in house counsel’, including roles at local and central government, the CPS, and in industry. These roles tend to be salaried, rather than the self-employed approach of chambers.
How do you secure a role as a pupil barrister in pupillage?
There are more candidates looking to secure pupillage and a career as a barrister than there are roles available. While having qualifications and work experience, such as a mini pupillage, is advantageous, knowing how to approach applications, assessments and interviews will give you a better chance of securing a pupillage – with many chambers beginning the hiring process a year in advance.
Vacancies for pupillage can be found on the pupillage gateway here.
How much does a barrister earn?
From January 2021, the minimum award set by the BSB is £18,960 for pupillages in London and £16,601 for everywhere else – both based on 12-month pupillages.
Once you are qualified, earnings will largely be influenced by the chambers and specialist areas you choose to work in. Commercial law barristers can potentially earn in excess of £70k upwards in their first year, with other areas of practice offering between £20-55k after pupillage.
Legal careers advice to get started
If you’re looking to pursue a successful career as a barrister, we recommend getting advice from a dedicated law careers service and networking with members of the profession by attending events online and those organised by your university Bar Society. With a number of options available for both work and training, defining a plan to help you get started and reviewing your training options is a useful place to begin.
Visit our BTC page to see where you could potentially start your legal career.
