It is a little cliché to say that pupillage is mentally and physically draining, challenging and rewarding all at the same time, with a steep learning curve. It is however true in my experience.

Pupillage at Ropewalk is meant to be a rigorous process and it is. From the outset it is made clear that the standard expected is a high one. There are people at Ropewalk who are the leaders in their field. It is equally clear however that everyone wants you to do well and that you will be given every opportunity to show that you are up to it.

At Ropewalk, pupillage is structured so that you spend the first three-months with your main supervisor. Pupils get the chance to spend time with their supervisor for a couple of weeks in the year prior to pupillage which means, with introductions out of the way, you can try and hit the ground running.

Thereafter you have shorter stints of around six-weeks with other members to make sure you gain experience across the whole breadth of work undertaken. This allows you to observe a variety of techniques and nuances of both oral advocacy and written work. All of this is monitored by the Pupillage Committee through quarterly review meetings and reports written by those supervisors.

There is emphasis on finding your own voice and taking that step from what you have been taught on the BVC to giving practical advice to professional and lay clients.

There is also a strong focus on paperwork, especially drafting statements of case and well structured and helpful advices. Criticism is constructive and praise genuine. You will also see a variety of work in both the County and High Courts. In my first six I was also able to observe members in both the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords.

At the beginning of the second-six you return to your main supervisor in order to smooth the transition into having your own Court work. Before that I had also accompanied junior tenants to Court to get a flavour of the sort of work I would be doing myself come April.

In the second-six, I dealt in the main with small claims, infant approvals, CMCs, applications and assorted other similar claims such as employment and mental health review tribunals.

Unlike some Chambers, you are limited to three-days a week in Court as a general rule during your second-six. This is to make sure you continue developing your written work and so you can still shadow more experienced advocates. It is also to make sure you have the ability to manage both a Court and paperwork practice.