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Leah Arthur, a pupil, and her second seat supervisor, John Goss, share their perspectives on building a productive pupil-supervisor relationship
Pupil supervisors may differ in their practices and working styles but one factor that remains constant is the extent to which the pupil-supervisor relationship can define, for better or worse, your pupillage experience.
While chambers and supervisors should aim to create the optimal learning environment, pupils are not passive participants. Building a productive relationship is very much a two-way street. There is no definitive handbook for getting it right and I would never claim to have cracked the pupillage code, but having reflected on my three seats, these are some of the lessons I found most useful in building a strong working relationship with my supervisors:
Like any professional relationship, first impressions matter. Before you even meet your supervisor, spend some time finding out about them. Read their chambers profile, have a look at the type of work they do and any recently reported cases or articles they’ve been involved in. When your supervisor begins by explaining their practice, that background knowledge means you can ask informed questions as you’ll already have an idea of the aspects of their practice that particularly interest you and what you hope to learn from them during your time together.
Equally important is learning how your supervisor operates at the outset. An initial conversation about expectations, communication preferences and feedback styles can help to establish a smooth working relationship from day one.
Clear communication should not stop after those initial conversations. Every new piece of work or task deserves the same clarity. If you’re asked to attend court, make sure you know when and where you’re meeting, whether there is any pre-reading to be done, and if your supervisor would need any assistance on the day. If you’re given written work, confirm the deadline and the scope of the task and if possible, ask for previous examples you can review to get an idea of their style. The more uncertainty you remove, the better it will be for both of you.
Transparency is also essential. Whether you’re falling behind with a deadline, having a difficult time understanding a new area of law or other inevitable issues arise, let them know and don’t be afraid to ask for help! Most supervisors would much rather have an honest conversation early on than discover at the eleventh hour that you have been suffering in silence.
That being said, there is a balance to strike. While you should never be afraid to ask questions, pupillage is not about being spoon-fed answers. Supervisors are generally far more receptive to discussing a problem you’ve genuinely wrestled with than one you’ve made no attempt to understand.
One of the themes that emerged from the Bar Council’s 2025 Pupil Survey was the inconsistency of supervision and feedback, with pupils reporting varying levels of support, guidance and reviews of their work. While supervisors should be inherently committed to moulding you into a well-rounded practitioner, closed mouths don’t get fed. If you need clearer guidance, detailed feedback or more frequent supervision, raise this with your supervisor. Be open about the areas where you’d like more exposure and the skills you’re hoping to develop. This isn’t about trying to dictate your pupillage. It’s about demonstrating that you’re actively reflecting on your own development and what you need to thrive.
Viewed through the lens of pupillage, it can be easy to forget that your supervisor is also balancing the demands of their busy practice. A little consideration can go a long way. I always found it helpful to ask about my supervisor’s plans for the day or to check whether they had time to speak before launching into a series of questions. Looking for ways to make yourself useful, whether by taking notes of hearings or conferences, researching discrete issues or preparing chronologies, can also be invaluable. Not only does it ease your supervisor’s workload, but it also demonstrates initiative and often opens the door to further learning opportunities.
Beyond the work itself, remember that your supervisor is a person, not just a walking source of knowledge. Some of the strongest professional relationships develop through ordinary conversation while travelling to court together or during a quiet moment in chambers. An awareness of your audience and respect for professional boundaries should go without saying, but showing personality, warmth and a genuine interest towards the person that has volunteered their time to prepare you for the career can make pupillage far more enjoyable for everyone.
Though pupils may well find moving to a new supervisor challenging, they should not underestimate how daunting it can be for the supervisor too! Pupil supervising is not easy, but done well it is rewarding, and makes a real contribution to the future of the profession and of chambers.
An effective supervision relationship should be deliberate. It is easy to focus on your own cases, passing bits to your pupil as convenient. But a proper plan for their development should let them demonstrate what they know and also stretch their drafting, research or advocacy skills. Remember they are not the finished article (which of us are?) and need exposure to a range of work. Equally, work that is too easy, or simply repeats what they’ve done before, serves little purpose.
In your initial discussions, find out what they have done previously (especially if this isn’t their first seat), what they haven’t done but would like to explore, and where their gaps lie – then proactively fill them with appropriate work. That may mean mixing live work with already completed pieces where those serve a purpose. It also means thinking carefully about how to deliver feedback in a way that works for your pupil, balancing constructive criticism with the need to maintain their confidence – the Bar Council’s supervisor training package is good on this.
When your pupil starts their second six, they will need support: those first few cases, simple though they may be, will each feel like a mountain to climb. It falls to supervisors to give all the support possible for your pupil’s tricky first hearings, while allowing space to work out what suits them – how best to prepare, and how to handle not just what happens in court, but everything around it. And they need confidence that if they make a mistake, your guidance and reassurance will be there – few things cannot be fixed if raised early enough.
Finally, remember that you are on display, both at court and in chambers: pupils learn much from watching how you handle your own work, and deal with others. Your behaviour will often become the model for theirs; your values and standards may well be your most lasting impact on them.
Good supervising, in the end, is simple to describe and hard to do: plan properly, feed them work that stretches them, and never let them fear a mistake more than they fear staying still.
John Goss is a barrister and pupil supervisor at 5 Essex Chambers. He specialises in police law, data protection and information law, public law, and inquests and public inquiries.
Pupil supervisors may differ in their practices and working styles but one factor that remains constant is the extent to which the pupil-supervisor relationship can define, for better or worse, your pupillage experience.
While chambers and supervisors should aim to create the optimal learning environment, pupils are not passive participants. Building a productive relationship is very much a two-way street. There is no definitive handbook for getting it right and I would never claim to have cracked the pupillage code, but having reflected on my three seats, these are some of the lessons I found most useful in building a strong working relationship with my supervisors:
Like any professional relationship, first impressions matter. Before you even meet your supervisor, spend some time finding out about them. Read their chambers profile, have a look at the type of work they do and any recently reported cases or articles they’ve been involved in. When your supervisor begins by explaining their practice, that background knowledge means you can ask informed questions as you’ll already have an idea of the aspects of their practice that particularly interest you and what you hope to learn from them during your time together.
Equally important is learning how your supervisor operates at the outset. An initial conversation about expectations, communication preferences and feedback styles can help to establish a smooth working relationship from day one.
Clear communication should not stop after those initial conversations. Every new piece of work or task deserves the same clarity. If you’re asked to attend court, make sure you know when and where you’re meeting, whether there is any pre-reading to be done, and if your supervisor would need any assistance on the day. If you’re given written work, confirm the deadline and the scope of the task and if possible, ask for previous examples you can review to get an idea of their style. The more uncertainty you remove, the better it will be for both of you.
Transparency is also essential. Whether you’re falling behind with a deadline, having a difficult time understanding a new area of law or other inevitable issues arise, let them know and don’t be afraid to ask for help! Most supervisors would much rather have an honest conversation early on than discover at the eleventh hour that you have been suffering in silence.
That being said, there is a balance to strike. While you should never be afraid to ask questions, pupillage is not about being spoon-fed answers. Supervisors are generally far more receptive to discussing a problem you’ve genuinely wrestled with than one you’ve made no attempt to understand.
One of the themes that emerged from the Bar Council’s 2025 Pupil Survey was the inconsistency of supervision and feedback, with pupils reporting varying levels of support, guidance and reviews of their work. While supervisors should be inherently committed to moulding you into a well-rounded practitioner, closed mouths don’t get fed. If you need clearer guidance, detailed feedback or more frequent supervision, raise this with your supervisor. Be open about the areas where you’d like more exposure and the skills you’re hoping to develop. This isn’t about trying to dictate your pupillage. It’s about demonstrating that you’re actively reflecting on your own development and what you need to thrive.
Viewed through the lens of pupillage, it can be easy to forget that your supervisor is also balancing the demands of their busy practice. A little consideration can go a long way. I always found it helpful to ask about my supervisor’s plans for the day or to check whether they had time to speak before launching into a series of questions. Looking for ways to make yourself useful, whether by taking notes of hearings or conferences, researching discrete issues or preparing chronologies, can also be invaluable. Not only does it ease your supervisor’s workload, but it also demonstrates initiative and often opens the door to further learning opportunities.
Beyond the work itself, remember that your supervisor is a person, not just a walking source of knowledge. Some of the strongest professional relationships develop through ordinary conversation while travelling to court together or during a quiet moment in chambers. An awareness of your audience and respect for professional boundaries should go without saying, but showing personality, warmth and a genuine interest towards the person that has volunteered their time to prepare you for the career can make pupillage far more enjoyable for everyone.
Though pupils may well find moving to a new supervisor challenging, they should not underestimate how daunting it can be for the supervisor too! Pupil supervising is not easy, but done well it is rewarding, and makes a real contribution to the future of the profession and of chambers.
An effective supervision relationship should be deliberate. It is easy to focus on your own cases, passing bits to your pupil as convenient. But a proper plan for their development should let them demonstrate what they know and also stretch their drafting, research or advocacy skills. Remember they are not the finished article (which of us are?) and need exposure to a range of work. Equally, work that is too easy, or simply repeats what they’ve done before, serves little purpose.
In your initial discussions, find out what they have done previously (especially if this isn’t their first seat), what they haven’t done but would like to explore, and where their gaps lie – then proactively fill them with appropriate work. That may mean mixing live work with already completed pieces where those serve a purpose. It also means thinking carefully about how to deliver feedback in a way that works for your pupil, balancing constructive criticism with the need to maintain their confidence – the Bar Council’s supervisor training package is good on this.
When your pupil starts their second six, they will need support: those first few cases, simple though they may be, will each feel like a mountain to climb. It falls to supervisors to give all the support possible for your pupil’s tricky first hearings, while allowing space to work out what suits them – how best to prepare, and how to handle not just what happens in court, but everything around it. And they need confidence that if they make a mistake, your guidance and reassurance will be there – few things cannot be fixed if raised early enough.
Finally, remember that you are on display, both at court and in chambers: pupils learn much from watching how you handle your own work, and deal with others. Your behaviour will often become the model for theirs; your values and standards may well be your most lasting impact on them.
Good supervising, in the end, is simple to describe and hard to do: plan properly, feed them work that stretches them, and never let them fear a mistake more than they fear staying still.
Leah Arthur, a pupil, and her second seat supervisor, John Goss, share their perspectives on building a productive pupil-supervisor relationship
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