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When I commenced my pupillage on the Northern Circuit in 1994, I found not only my professional home but also a new, wider family.
I met the same fellow barristers day in day out and formed friendships that have endured for three decades. I was provided with training within chambers where the focus was on producing the best barrister I could be, with the promise of a place in chambers at the end of it all.
Today the Circuit offers attendance at Mess for free to pupils and those below three years’ call (there are four to seven Mess events each term). There are opportunities to participate in sporting teams and other social events, such as ‘Meet the Circuit’ drinks where the pupils can meet with the Circuit Exec, Circuit Officers and, importantly, each other.
Mess is an important component of life on the Northern Circuit. They are dinners which are held in Liverpool, Manchester, Carlisle, Preston and, occasionally, in Chester in combination with the Wales and Chester Circuit. The numbers in attendance range from 20 to 140 and the local judiciary are invited to some but not all of the events.
In recent years we have sought to foster an inclusive atmosphere at Mess. The focus is on people being able to meet their fellow Circuit members. We use the events to congratulate those that have achieved some personal or professional milestone.
The evenings can be formal or informal. A Mess recently held on Circuit involved about 18 of us in a room above an Indian restaurant having an informal dinner, which happened about four weeks after we welcomed the Lady Chief Justice to a black tie dinner at one of Manchester’s big hotels.
Not that you should think of pupillage on Circuit as purely a social opportunity...
Circuit provides all of your training needs in those early years of pupillage and then as new practitioners. Not only do we provide both pupillage and new practitioner advocacy training, but we also run a residential Expert Witness advocacy training weekend. We have a host of other training opportunities with advice sessions on practice; sessions on resilience/wellbeing; advocacy talks; and equality and diversity training.
A pupillage in chambers on the Northern Circuit provides you with all the professional opportunities that you can find elsewhere. Not only is there a thriving criminal, family and personal injury Bar that are renowned for their advocacy and good sense, but there are extensive opportunities in commercial practice, immigration, employment, planning, costs…
The list goes on. I am not sure that there is much work undertaken in admiralty but with the Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal I am sure there are opportunities for the enterprising barrister! There are practitioners who began their careers in Burnley that have appeared in the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
The close-knit nature of Circuit does not just provide you with friendships but also means that the Circuit is a place where talent is nurtured and also where reputations are hard won and keenly protected. One of the joys of my working life has been to walk into a robing room, meet my opponent and know that I was going to be against someone competent and fair because I had been against them countless times before.
Life is not grim up North, it is great. I see people I met when they were in their pupillage now joining me in silk. Every single day of my career, I have considered myself lucky to have had a pupillage on the Northern Circuit. Come join us.
Jaime Hamilton KC is a criminal silk at Nine Chambers in Manchester. He was called to the Bar in 1993, took silk in 2019 and was Leader of the Northern Circuit 2023-25.
When I commenced my pupillage on the Northern Circuit in 1994, I found not only my professional home but also a new, wider family.
I met the same fellow barristers day in day out and formed friendships that have endured for three decades. I was provided with training within chambers where the focus was on producing the best barrister I could be, with the promise of a place in chambers at the end of it all.
Today the Circuit offers attendance at Mess for free to pupils and those below three years’ call (there are four to seven Mess events each term). There are opportunities to participate in sporting teams and other social events, such as ‘Meet the Circuit’ drinks where the pupils can meet with the Circuit Exec, Circuit Officers and, importantly, each other.
Mess is an important component of life on the Northern Circuit. They are dinners which are held in Liverpool, Manchester, Carlisle, Preston and, occasionally, in Chester in combination with the Wales and Chester Circuit. The numbers in attendance range from 20 to 140 and the local judiciary are invited to some but not all of the events.
In recent years we have sought to foster an inclusive atmosphere at Mess. The focus is on people being able to meet their fellow Circuit members. We use the events to congratulate those that have achieved some personal or professional milestone.
The evenings can be formal or informal. A Mess recently held on Circuit involved about 18 of us in a room above an Indian restaurant having an informal dinner, which happened about four weeks after we welcomed the Lady Chief Justice to a black tie dinner at one of Manchester’s big hotels.
Not that you should think of pupillage on Circuit as purely a social opportunity...
Circuit provides all of your training needs in those early years of pupillage and then as new practitioners. Not only do we provide both pupillage and new practitioner advocacy training, but we also run a residential Expert Witness advocacy training weekend. We have a host of other training opportunities with advice sessions on practice; sessions on resilience/wellbeing; advocacy talks; and equality and diversity training.
A pupillage in chambers on the Northern Circuit provides you with all the professional opportunities that you can find elsewhere. Not only is there a thriving criminal, family and personal injury Bar that are renowned for their advocacy and good sense, but there are extensive opportunities in commercial practice, immigration, employment, planning, costs…
The list goes on. I am not sure that there is much work undertaken in admiralty but with the Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal I am sure there are opportunities for the enterprising barrister! There are practitioners who began their careers in Burnley that have appeared in the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
The close-knit nature of Circuit does not just provide you with friendships but also means that the Circuit is a place where talent is nurtured and also where reputations are hard won and keenly protected. One of the joys of my working life has been to walk into a robing room, meet my opponent and know that I was going to be against someone competent and fair because I had been against them countless times before.
Life is not grim up North, it is great. I see people I met when they were in their pupillage now joining me in silk. Every single day of my career, I have considered myself lucky to have had a pupillage on the Northern Circuit. Come join us.
The Chair of the Bar reports back
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Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, examines the forensic science underpinning hair drug testing, its evidential scope and limitations, and why it remains the gold standard for evidencing patterns of drug use in family proceedings
Developing a tech start-up demands a different definition of excellence to the Bar, says Saara Idelbi. The co-creator of Advocatr on entrepreneurship, AI advocacy training, and matching the thrill of a killer cross-examination
At the start of her term, Chair of the Bar 2026 Kirsty Brimelow KC set out a series of priorities for the year ahead. One of those priorities was children in the justice system
As the world becomes more digital, Barbara Vinagre Mota examines international research into the mental health consequences of judges’ exposure to graphic and immersive evidence, highlighting the importance of support systems
Reviewed by Daniel Barnett
James McNeill Whistler at Tate Britain until 27 September Rothko in Florence at Palazzo Strozzi until 23 August Reviewed by Stephen Cragg KC
