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4 King's Bench Walk's six month unpaid internship is only for rich people
10 August 2012
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Commercial chambers 4 King's Bench Walk is offering a six month, full time internship open to anyone who has passed the BPTC. There's only one catch: it's completely unpaid.

The internship is being advertised both online and on 4KBW's website and was first spotted by legal blogger Amanda Bancroft (@_millymoo). It is being pitched as a "unique" legal internship at "dynamic commercial law set". The successful applicant will work full time, from 9:30am to 6:00pm, and is promised practical experience of civil and commercial litigation as well as training in legal drafting and advocacy. All they will need is a BPTC under their belt and thousands of pounds to live, work and eat in London for six months.

    Some interns yesterday

The internship has been running since July last year and 4KBW's website features the profiles of beaming former interns praising their experiences. Maresa Vaciannia loved giving six months of her time for free because she got to do interesting research and "I also answered the telephone".

And while according to former intern Nicola Delaia "You are given real work" and "real responsibility", it seems the work is not real enough to deserve remuneration, which doesn't say a great deal about 4KBW's stance on diversity. Its website trumpets its commitment to a pro bono scheme aimed at "breaking down elitist barriers". But when it comes to its own house, it seems 4KBW is only prepared to help those wealthy enough (or with rich enough parents) to support themselves. Would it really make a massive dent in profits of a commercial set to pay an intern £6.08 an hour for their troubles?

4 KBW declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Bar Standards Board said that they didn't regulate internships, but pointed to Equality and Diversity Rules coming into force in September, which will "require that the affairs of chambers be carried out in a manner which is fair and equitable". And, after umming and ahing all week, the Bar Council chickened out of providing a comment. So excellent work there from the body responsible for promoting diversity across the profession.
 

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anonymous user
10/08/2012 14:49
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Oh come on! Give the poor chambers a break! Anyone with half a brain and a bit of drive could easily earn enough to support themselves while on a full time internship! Sure, you'll be working all weekend, and you won't have the smartest suits in the set, and you'll need to rent a room in a cheap studenty flatshare, but anyone without the lawyerly connections that money brings should be raring to apply for this one. (I am!)
At least they're offering work experience... Something which the entire profession should be offering more of.
anonymous user
10/08/2012 16:23
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Clearly you have never tried to live independently, let alone in London!
anonymous user
10/08/2012 16:37
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HMRC perhaps? AS per their dealing with the fashion industry late last year to coincide with London Fashion Week - http://bit.ly/MH9zRe
anonymous user
10/08/2012 17:07
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Maybe they have simply stumbled upon the basis for a more enlightened way of operating the legal industry in which everyone simply works for free, lives in a kind of communal farm and just receives basic rations. China trialed this and they seem to be doing very well for themselves. It is possible, just possible, that they are actually exploiting the desperation of some to get a job in a massively over-subscribed industry, but that would just be a cynical view and obviously not accurate.
anonymous user
11/08/2012 00:32
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The fact that 4KBW (Lawrence Power) was, up until last year, selling itself as a criminal set, seems to have escaped everyone's notice.
Ypells
11/08/2012 14:07
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A studenty dump flatshare is about £150 pw. A good weekend job would pay £8 an hour with 8 hours a day at the weekend if you are very lucky, which is £128 pw.

This is worrying behaviour by 4KBW.
anonymous user
12/08/2012 19:06
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I agree it is disgusting but 4KBW is not a commercial set at all, but a fairly crappy common law set which basically only does low end crime work.

I don't think a commercial set would do that quite frankly, but with all the cuts that are coming and the increasing number of students chasing ever fewer places I worry that this will become a wider trend, much like many training contracts are these days only given to people who have spent a couple of years paralegalling for very little....
anonymous user
14/08/2012 09:25
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I am really quite discusted with some of the comments made here. I did work at 4KBW for 6 months unpaid but that my decision entirely. There is no requirment that you work for 6 months. In fact although the internship is advertised as unpaid anybody who actually is able to get the job would realise the other benefits and rewards that are offered within the set. 4KBW is not a crap common law set as one user said, in actual fact its a fairly modern and up and coming set, many of the barristers are quite young and Lawrence Power works very hard with a lot of high profile clients. I left university with a 2.2, my fault entirely but was greatly encouraged at 4KBW and given chances that most Chambers and Law Firms wouldn't give.

Since interning at 4KBW
anonymous user
14/08/2012 09:29
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Since interning at 4KBW I have done a mini pupillage and have been offered temporary work at two law firms. BTW I left in APRIL! My CV looks amazing, thank you 4KBW for the experience. Maresa Vaciannia
anonymous user
16/08/2012 20:21
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Maresa Vacianna probably has the parental means to support herself through six months unpaid (and, judging by the posts, is lacking a backbone). Most of us don't have that luxury. Poor form.
anonymous user
24/09/2012 01:27
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The only credible comment in this thread is Maresa Vaciannia's because she is the only person putting her name to her comment. Edward Hopkins