Bar Council’s Pupillage Fair Goes Virtual for 2020

The official Bar Council Pupillage Fair has been given the green light for 2020 and is set to go entirely online this year with more students than ever expected to attend as a result of the move to a virtual format.

The Fair, now in its fifth year, looked set to be cancelled, denying hundreds of students the chance to find out more about a career as a barrister from chambers and specialist associations. However, the Bar Council plans to put the whole fair online on Saturday 17 October 2020 to give exhibitors and students access to the event.

The Bar Council’s Pupillage Fair is the only recruitment fair run by the Bar, for the Bar of the future. Over the past five years, it has grown significantly in size and become a key fixture in the profession’s calendar. At last year’s Pupillage Fair, the Bar Council welcomed over 800 aspiring barristers from throughout England and Wales, 80 exhibitors and hundreds of volunteers from across the Bar.

Malcolm Cree CBE, Chief Executive, said: “The Pupillage Fair is part of the Bar Council’s wider commitment to ensuring fair access to the Bar, regardless of background, and provides chambers and other organisations an opportunity to invest in the future of the profession. Now, more than ever, it is essential to demonstrate to aspiring barristers that the profession is committed to providing opportunities for pupillage, and that they will be able to build a career at the Bar in the post-coronavirus era.

“It’s essential to embrace technology and modern ways of working in the current crisis. By going entirely online we can diversify what we can offer to both students and exhibitors and open the Fair to more students than ever. ”