One Essex Court is delighted to introduce our online Race at the Commercial Bar Pupillage Workshop aimed at encouraging and supporting those from ethnic minority backgrounds in pursuing a career at the Commercial Bar.
Launched in celebration of Black History Month this October, this workshop reflects our strong, on-going commitment to equality and diversity.
Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in interactive group sessions, and to ask questions and gain insights from our practising barristers. We especially encourage those from ethnic minority backgrounds to apply. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, and candidates will either be confirmed or placed on a waiting list.
Please contact Chantal if you require any further information.
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Race at the Commercial Bar Workshop
An Introduction to Key Areas of Commercial Practice
Monday 8 December 2025, 6pm to 8pm via TeamsFollowing last year's successful Race at the Commercial Bar Programme, which was very well attended and received positive feedback, we are delighted to offer this year’s workshop, featuring a fresh format and new areas of discussion.
The workshop this year will support aspiring barristers from ethnic minority backgrounds and is aimed at anyone considering applying for pupillage at the Commercial Bar, regardless of subject of study.
The online session will provide insights into practice at the Commercial Bar, early career experiences and will cover three core practice areas.
An Introduction to Key Areas of Commercial Practice
Monday 8 December 2025, 6pm to 8pm via Teams
6pm to 7pm: Large Group Sessions
Explaining four different areas of practice at the Commercial Bar including:- Arbitration
- Civil Fraud
- Company Law
- Pupil/New Tenant Work
7pm to 8pm: Small Group Sessions with Q&A
Topics will include:- What commercial practice involves
- How to build your CV
- Choosing between different chambers
- Success in applications and interviews
We especially encourage those from ethnic minority backgrounds to apply. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, and candidates will either be confirmed or placed on a waiting list. -
Commitment to Equality and Diversity
One Essex Court is committed to affording equality of opportunity to all applicants. Chambers encourages and welcomes applications from women, people of minority ethnic origin, people with disabilities, LGBT+ people, and other groups under-represented at the Commercial Bar.
One Essex Court does not look to recruit any “type” of person. We recruit on the basis of merit alone and have a long history of offering pupillage and tenancy to individuals from a wide range of backgrounds. Moreover, we routinely welcome as members of One Essex Court individuals who have not followed what might be thought of as a “typical” career path to the Commercial Bar, including mature applicants, applicants from overseas and applicants without a law degree.
However, we recognise that Chambers, and the Commercial Bar more broadly, continue to be less diverse than we would like, particularly in respect of women and people of minority ethnic origin. We are committed to changing that. It is not only the right thing to do, but it is also in One Essex Court's best interests. Chambers’ clients come from all over the world. They often have no particular preconceived idea of what a barrister looks like, but they are extremely concerned to have the best advice and advocacy available. We do not believe that the qualities that constitute excellence at the Bar are to be found in any particular group of people, and so we expect the best potential barristers to be a diverse group. Where our recruitment falls short of that, we are concerned that we are missing out on talented applicants who would flourish at the Commercial Bar.
We therefore want to ensure that we receive applications from a wide range of potential pupils, and assess those applications fairly. The steps we are taking to do that include:
- Providing opportunities to students from groups which are underrepresented at the Commercial Bar e.g. through our Women at the Commercial Bar Programme our Race at the Commercial Bar programme (see above) and Open Days.
- Ensuring our recruitment process is fair, for example (i) by using RARE recruitment (a specialised recruitment company which offers a Contextualised Recruitment System (CRS), designed and built to enable employers to develop a calibrated and properly balanced approach to the process of evaluating pupillage applications), (ii) by fielding diverse interview panels, (iii) offering unconscious bias and race training to those involved in the recruitment process and (iv) providing feedback.
- The 10,000 Black Interns programme – One Essex Court participates in this programme, which offers Black university students and graduates a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience at the Bar. Over 6 weeks, interns will be hosted by several chambers and organisation, offering a wide-ranging insight into the profession. All internships are paid at the London Living Wage.
- Mentoring for Underrepresented Groups: a scheme run by Commercial Barristers’ Chambers - One Essex Court is pleased to be one of the founder members and now working with nine other sets of chambers in support of a mentoring scheme, which aims to support and encourage individuals from groups which are underrepresented at the Bar of England and Wales (and in particular the Commercial Bar) to pursue careers as barristers. More information can be found here.
- We have a Race Action Plan which includes a target for an average of 10% of pupillage applicants to identify as Black over the next five years.
- Providing sponsorship to a variety of university societies and initiatives which aim to promote diversity.
- Ensuring members of chambers have equal access to opportunities. More information (such as Chambers’ Parental Leave policy and diversity data) can be found here. We have launched an internal mentoring scheme, and an Equality and Diversity Officer will conduct exit interviews with any member leaving chambers.
We are proud signatories to the Women in Law Pledge created by the Bar Council of England and Wales, The Law Society, and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx). We are committed to the progress of equality, elimination of sex discrimination and pledge to make positive change for the legal profession.
