Would your Chambers like to help provide work experience to Black students and graduates?
1. 10,000 Black Interns (“10KBI”) is a programme designed to support Black students and
graduates and address chronic under-representation of Black talent across various
sectors. Full information about the programme can be found here:
https://www.10000blackinterns.com
2. The 10K BI team are inviting organisations across the professions and across industry to
commit to offering internships to a Black candidate for a minimum period of four to six
weeks during the pilot in Summer 2022. The intention is to repeat the programme for
the next five years.
3. The internship would be offered to Black students in higher education in the United
Kingdom and recent Black graduates. The aim of the programme is simply to broaden
horizons and ambition by giving interns confidence in a professional environment; to
allow them to make contacts and to increase diversity in under-represented areas of
industry, the city, and professions.
4. The legal profession is only one part of it. The Law Society and several major solicitor
firms have already signed up. The Bar’s participation is to the same ends and to
encourage applications to the Bar in general and to participating sets of Chambers in
particular. We are also hoping to collaborate with organisations in the employed Bar
and pro bono sector.
5. A constantly updated list of all confirmed sectors and participating firms can be found
here: https://www.10000blackinterns.com/confirmedsectors.
6. A Bar Steering Group has been formed in collaboration with the Bar Council and
Bridging the Bar, and includes members and representatives of Keating Chambers,
Littleton Chambers, Matrix Chambers, 4 Paper Buildings and QEB Hollis Whiteman. The
Steering Group will be planning the roll out of the programme, including designing the
selection criteria, sifting the applications and assisting Chambers where necessary.
7. The Bar Council is supportive of the initiative because: a) supporting young Black talent
at the Bar falls in line with the aims of the race working group b) the programme is a
potential opportunity to challenge traditional models of work experience at the Bar
which may create barriers to diversity and to challenge the public’s perception of the
Bar.
How can your Chambers participate?
8. This kind of internship is unheard of at the Bar. Mini pupillages, the normal mode of
work experience, are highly sought after by students and challenging to deliver for
Chambers, partly because of the unpredictable nature of work at the Bar.
9. As a result, it is recognised that a four to six week internship in one set of Chambers is
likely to be difficult to achieve, particularly in highly specialised sets.
10. The Bar Steering Group believes that collaboration amongst a number of sets will allow
an intern to experience different environments and experiences over a four-to-six-week
period. It is envisaged that between four to six collaborating Sets would be able to
divide the time of each internship, which could also involve time with a Judge, Solicitor
or Chambers clerks and administrators.
11. At this stage, the Steering Group would like to hear from all sets who are interested in
signing up to participate in the programme during the Summer of 2022.
What will be required of your Chambers if you sign up?
12. Your Chambers will be agreeing to provide excellent legal work experience to at least
one candidate for at least one week during the Summer of 2022.
13. It is currently a condition of participating in the scheme that all interns must be paid at
least the Living Wage for the relevant geographical location. Therefore, the Steering
Group currently anticipates that the funding will be split between participating
Chambers, in proportion to the amount of time the intern spends at each set; save, that
it is recognised that not all Chambers will be in a position to contribute to the funding.
An inability to contribute to the funding will not prevent a Chambers from being a
participating Chambers.
14. By way of example therefore, the cost (based on the current London Living Wage of
£10.85 an hour and assuming a six week 9am to 5pm internship) would be £2,604 per
intern, which could be split between the participating chambers. If six sets host one
intern between them over the course of a six-week internship, each set could pay the
intern £434.
15. There is no requirement to offer a full-time job to any intern at the end of the
internship.
How to sign up?
16. If you are interested in signing up to support this initiative, please email Alice at
alicebrighouse@matrixlaw.co.uk with the following information by Friday 16 April 2021:
• Confirmation that your chambers are interested in participating in the scheme. Note
that participation is likely to require that each chambers hosts an intern for at least one
week, however, you are not being asked to make any concrete commitment at this
stage.
• A designated point of contact for your chambers, and their email address.
Should you have any queries in relation to the above, please do not hesitate to contact Alice on
alicebrighouse@matrixlaw.co.uk.
Yours faithfully,
The Bar 10,000 Black Interns Steering Group
• Furhana Mallick, 4 Paper Buildings
• Marcus Taverner QC, Keating Chambers,
• Carol Davis QC and Liz Dux, Littleton Chambers
• Alice Brighouse, Matrix Chambers
• Fallon Alexis, QEB Hollis Whiteman Chambers
• The Bar Council
• Bridging the Bar