Why join St Pauls Chambers?

Whether you’re considering a career as a barrister or looking for new Chambers, we are always open to interest from talented, ambitious individuals.

St Pauls Chambers has a lot to offer the right candidate, including high earnings, excellent career progression and unparalleled support from the rest of the team.

As a pupil barrister with St Pauls Chambers, you may also be able to access the Roger Scott St Pauls Trust, which offers grants to qualifying pupils to support their living costs and industry-relevant expenses.

Who Are We?

St Pauls Chambers was established in 1982. Ten members, largely practising criminal law, founded what would go on to become one of the top barrister chambers in Leeds. Now, members of chambers offer their experience and tenure across a broad spectrum of cases and areas of expertise.

Our success is a testament to our great planning, unwavering commitment to quality in chambers, and equality amongst Chambers’ members. In 2022, St Pauls Chambers was recommended by the Legal 500 in six practice areas.

You can learn more about us on our website.

Our People

St Paul’s Chambers has 43 members, one pupil, and six staff members. We work together and enjoy each other’s company, we recommend each other, and we unstintingly help each other.

We share information responsibly to ensure you not only have the benefit of your appointed barrister but the added support and experience of all other members.

Our team covers almost every area of common law practice, as well as human rights work and personal reputation work, at the highest level. Working with our team, you’re never on your own – just ask our junior tenants.

Professional Advancement

The last ten years have been difficult for all in the legal profession and especially those who are committed to publicly-funded work, but when it comes to professional advancement, our record speaks for itself. St Pauls Chambers strongly promotes career enhancement; within ten years, we have seen ten home-grown silks, three silks joining from elsewhere and eight judges.

The proportion of our members who have taken silk from Chambers is unmatched anywhere else on the North Eastern Circuit, as is the proportion of our members who have been appointed to the Bench. Working in Chambers means that your success is our success. If you are ambitious and passionate, you will thrive at St Pauls Chambers.

Increased Turnover

We have increased our turnover by approximately 60% over the last ten years by focusing on having skilled people doing high-quality work. That turnover is then distributed with equality in mind.

For us, increased turnover doesn’t necessarily mean exponential business growth; we ensure our staff are well-supported so they can continue to provide high-end services. We also believe that our barristers are the highest earners on the North Eastern Circuit.

Being smaller helps us to remain efficient, meaning that we can focus on what’s important to you: your income and career progression. We can also better ensure that costs are controlled, particularly if every member of Chambers is making a significant contribution to those costs. That is why our members keep more of what they earn.

We never close the door to real talent, regardless of what stage your career is at, and because we only ever consider individual applications, we are able to review each person carefully. Contact us today on strictly confidential terms to see what working for St Pauls Chambers can offer you, or enter our biannual mini-pupillage competition.