Selection Criteria
Our Selection Criteria are set out below along with definitions of each criterion.
Pupillage Recruitment
Welcome to our guidance for those applying, or thinking of applying, to us. You have made a good decision!
Applications for pupillages commencing in September 2026 will open in January 2025 through the Pupillage Portal. Further information on the timetable and next steps can be found on the Pupillage Gateway website. To assist in any future applications, please consult our Guidance on Pupillage Assessment Process and Selection Criteria.
Keating Chambers is a leading commercial set. It is one of the two top construction chambers in the UK and worldwide. We won The Lawyer’s Chambers of the Year in 2020 and Legal Cheek’s Chambers of the Year in 2024. We have won Chambers & Partners Construction Set of the Year most years for the past 15 years (including in 2023) and we are consistently top-ranked by the directories both as a set and for individual members in construction, energy, international arbitration, professional negligence, procurement and planning.
Chambers’ area of practice is dynamic and challenging. Most of our cases are contractual disputes, but principles of tort, restitution, mistake and misrepresentation frequently arise. The cases are intellectually challenging and the complexity of the disputes requires thorough analytical skills. Cases involving members of Keating Chambers are regularly featured in The Lawyer’s “Top 20 Cases of the Year”, including in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024.
We emphasise that no specialist or technical knowledge of construction or engineering is required or assumed: no questions are asked about this at any stage of our recruitment process and it forms no part of selection for pupillage.
We carried out a comprehensive review of our Assessment Process and Selection Criteria ahead of the 2021 application process. We also reviewed the process again in 2022 and those adjustments included doubling the number of candidates who can reach a first round interview. We continue to review every year. We were very proud to be nominated for the Outstanding Set for Diversity & Inclusion award at the 2023 Chambers & Partners Awards.
Our Pupillage Resources may also be helpful when applying.
Our Head of Chambers, Alexander Nissen KC, has a personal message for those thinking about applying:
“Thank you for considering making a pupillage application to Keating Chambers. As Head of Chambers, I want to personally assure you that, whatever your race, culture, gender (if any) and socio-economic background, your application here is genuinely welcome. We are looking for those people who will make the best construction barristers and we want to include you in our searches. We are impatient for change and, in recent years, I know we have made a huge effort to prepare a fair recruitment process, by making significant improvements to our selection criteria and process and by taking the best advice from specialists. Members of Chambers are already extensively involved in many mentoring and outreach schemes, and over the coming year, we plan a whole series of initiatives to welcome diverse candidates and to assure all potential candidates that Keating Chambers is a welcoming and inclusive environment. I wish you every success.”
Alexander Nissen KC, Head of Chambers
Intellectual ability
- Academic achievement.
- The ability rapidly to analyse complex and voluminous facts and materials to identify relevant points.
- Use and application of rules to factual situations to produce accurate assessments.
- Ability to think and respond under pressure.
Ability to work in teams
- Ability to develop clear shared goals and build consensus.
- Ability to collaborate with others to plan and execute, including effective delegation and team member support.
- Ability to recognise and respect the needs and skills of other team members.
- Ability to communicate effectively, including listening and addressing conflict.
Written advocacy
- Clear, articulate, succinct, structured and accurate presentation of argument.
- Ability to anticipate and address opposing arguments.
- Presentation of documents including spelling and grammar.
Oral advocacy
- Structured, relevant and accurate argument.
- Succinct, clear and articulate presentation of argument. Ability to anticipate and address opposing arguments.
- Ability to respond to and deal with interventions, while maintaining own position as appropriate.
Guidance on Pupillage Assessment Process
We are a friendly and welcoming set. We want to ensure that we attract the best candidates, offer the best candidates a pupillage and retain them as tenants. We want our chambers to reflect the diversity of the people we serve and seek to serve. The best barristers do not all come from the same mould. They may be of any ethnicity, from any culture or race, of any gender or none, have any social background and possess a multitude of other, diverse, characteristics. To that end, we have carried out a comprehensive review of our selection process and set out below is detailed guidance as to our selection criteria, our process and what we are looking for from candidates at each stage.
Our website includes extensive additional information about life during pupillage and tenancy at Keating Chambers (via a series of videos/podcasts), Members of Chambers, the Pupillage Committee and our work in relation to Diversity and Inclusion: please do browse. We think you will like what you see.
If you need us to make a reasonable adjustment for a disability at any stage we will be happy to do so. Candidates will be invited to contact a named person at each stage of the process for this purpose.
Selection Process
The selection process consists of 5 stages:
01
Application form via the Gateway
02
Written case study
03
First Interview
04
Second Interview
05
Selection for Pupillage
At each stage, candidates are assessed against our Selection Criteria. These have been broken down into separate definitions, to provide as much clarity as possible to candidates as to what Keating Chambers is looking for when assessing applications. The Selection Criteria are very important; you should use them as a guide to every stage of our process.
More information on each of the stages is provided in the links to the left, along with our Mark Scheme which includes some specific additional guidance, particularly for the application form stage. We reviewed this mark scheme again for the 2023 application round.
We wish you all the very best of luck.
The Pupillage Committee
Our Pupillage Committee consists of the members of Chambers listed below. We’ve included their interests so that you know a little bit about them.
Piers Stansfield KC
Piers enjoys travel, food and wine, and ideally all of these together. He is making slow and intermittent progress in walking the Via Francigena with his sons and in learning the Italian language, for which he has unwisely signed up to sit the ‘A’ level this year.
Rosemary Jackson KC
Rosemary rediscovered the joys of walking during lockdown and, if not at her desk, she’s probably exploring the wetlands and waterways of North London and Hertfordshire. You can read her mini biography here.
Calum Lamont KC
Calum follows Bath Rugby and thankfully can still remember the good times. He plays in a competitive pipe band and has competed at national and international level, including the World Championships. Calum retains a strong interest in British imperial history and has completed two papers on nineteenth-century East Africa.
Tom Owen KC
Tom is a keen sportsman. He enjoys playing and watching football, rugby and cricket.
James Thompson
When allowed some spare time by his young family, James enjoys sports (in particular skiing and golf) and walking in the Kent countryside. He also likes cooking and to collect cook books, and particularly recommends those of Nigel Slater. His prized possession, however, is a First Edition copy of Fergus Henderson’s “Nose to Tail Eating”, although he is yet to attempt to cook anything from it.
Brenna Conroy
Brenna enjoys all things history related and has a particular interest in intellectual and cultural history. When not working, she can be found in the National Gallery contemplating Hogarth’s Marriage A-la-Mode or listening to a true crime podcast.
Charlie Thompson
When not digesting weighty legal tomes or drinking at the rugby club bar, you can probably find Charlie with an oat milk flat white, baby in papoose and French literature nearby.
Tom Coulson
Tom has a strong interest in history of all types and periods and also enjoys playing Sunday league football.
Elizabeth Donnelly
Elizabeth enjoys cinema, swimming, and long walks in Hyde Park. She travels to France whenever she can, to visit friends and family. Her favourite city is Madrid, where she lived when she was a student.
Isobel Kamber
Isobel loves all things fashion, art and interiors. To channel this, in her spare time she enjoys shopping and attending exhibitions. Isobel is also a keen cyclist (albeit in a spin studio) and enjoys reading.
Pupillage FAQs
If you have any further questions which aren’t answered below or elsewhere on our website, please feel free to contact the Secretary to the Pupillage Committee via email at pupillageenquiries@keatingchambers.com.
Are students without a law degree at a disadvantage?
No. We welcome applications from candidates who are studying for or who have completed a GDL. A significant number of our current members undertook a non-law degree at undergraduate level. In fact, a number also had a different career entirely before coming to the Bar (e.g. in engineering, strategy consultancy and advertising).
What sort of cases are your barristers instructed on?
Construction, technology and associated professional negligence disputes often relate to high-value and high-profile projects in the UK and overseas. We are involved in disputes of all shapes and sizes: from residential building works to multi-million pound projects for the construction of airports, dams, power stations, ships, oil rigs and bridges. Members of Chambers have also been instructed on well-known projects such as the Olympic venues, Wembley Stadium, the Pinnacle, the Shard, the Gherkin, the Millennium Bridge, the London Eye and the Channel Tunnel.
Do I need to have any construction or technological experience?
Most of our cases are contractual disputes, but principles of tort, restitution, mistake and misrepresentation frequently arise. The cases are intellectually challenging and the complexity of the disputes requires thorough analytical skills. We emphasise that no specialist or technical knowledge of construction or engineering is required or assumed: no questions are asked about this at any stage of our recruitment process and it forms no part of selection for pupillage.
Are there opportunities to work abroad?
Yes, many of our members specialise in international arbitration and this involves hearings and projects based outside of the UK but particularly in the Middle East, Far East, Africa and the Caribbean. We have been instructed on projects such the Dubai metro, airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and the Philippines, the Tsing Ma suspension bridge in Hong Kong, the Shinkansen high speed train network and cases involving mines, ships, rigs, oil wells and various types of plant (biofuel, gas turbine, nuclear etc) across the world. See James Frampton’s account of his first year in tenancy for further information: James Frampton Brief Encounters