Meet Our Three Pupil Barristers: Hill Twine Solicitors & Barristers Offers Pupillage for the First Time Image
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Meet Our Three Pupil Barristers: Hill Twine Solicitors & Barristers Offers Pupillage for the First Time

At the end of 2024, we appointed our first three Pupil Barristers: Lauren Matthews, Juliet Osborne, and Riccardo Pagano. Read this blog post to learn about the application process and what our outstanding pupils will be doing in their Pupillage year at Hill Twine Solicitors & Barristers.

Welcome to Lauren Matthews, Juliet Osborne, and Riccardo Pagano

In June 2023, Hill Twine Solicitors & Barristers submitted an application to the Bar Standards Board to be authorised to offer pupillage. Finally, a year later in 2024, we were absolutely delighted to learn that our authorisation application had been successful and our first Pupillage Recruitment Process opened in September 2024. Full details of our application process can be found on our Join Us page.

We advertised for pupillage for the first time with the intention of recruiting one Pupil Barrister. We were overwhelmed, however, with the quality of applications we received and shortlisted 20% of applicants for interview. The interviews were conducted by Hill Twine’s Directors, Kevin Hill and Sarah Hill, and included an advocacy exercise – a plea in mitigation. The standard of interviewees was very high! So high, in fact, that we decided to offer more pupillage opportunities than originally intended. We were thrilled when our three top-scoring candidates accepted our offer of pupillage. A huge welcome to Hill Twine’s first three Pupil Barristers:

Click on the links above to learn more about Lauren, Juliet, and Riccardo.

Lauren, Juliet, and Riccardo are all undertaking 12-month pupillages with Hill Twine Solicitors & Barristers, specialising in Criminal Defence. Lauren and Juliet are supervised by Kevin Hill; Riccardo is supervised by Sarah Hill. Juliet and Riccardo commenced pupillage in November 2024, Lauren commenced pupillage in December 2024. All three are doing extremely well and are a joy to work with.

What Does Pupillage at Hill Twine Solicitors & Barristers Involve?

Undertaking pupillage is rigorous and aspiring barristers need to be committed to their own development to succeed. Our pupillage is different from that in chambers because all three of our pupils have the opportunity to obtain the Criminal Litigation Accreditation, a recognised quality standard for criminal practitioners. To succeed, they have to show a high level of knowledge, skills, and experience in Criminal Defence work. In their first six months, Lauren, Juliet, and Riccardo are undertaking the training necessary to advise and assist people at the police station, something pupil barristers in Chambers do not do. Gaining first-hand experience at the police station will help our pupils develop many important advocacy skills, including establishing trust with a client, exercising sound judgment, and communicating persuasively. Developing a thorough knowledge of this foundational stage of the criminal justice system will give them an advantage when it comes to trial strategy and advocacy, especially in complex Crown Court trials.

In their second six months, Lauren, Juliet, and Riccardo will work towards achieving the Magistrates’ Court Qualification, as well as undertaking trial advocacy in the magistrates’ court and Crown Court. Throughout their pupillage they will be enhancing their knowledge of criminal procedure and litigation, alongside observing at court, undertaking prison visits, and completing our bespoke advocacy training. In addition, they will each attend an advocacy training course at their Inn of Court, as well as sit a Professional Ethics exam. You name it, they’re doing it!

All three pupils are already showing great promise and it will be wonderful to see them develop into fully fledged barristers in the months to come. We wish them every success on this exciting journey and are very proud to call Lauren, Juliet, and Riccardo our first Pupil Barristers!

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