Thinking of changing careers and coming to the Bar? This episode is a must-listen for anyone thinking of retraining as a barrister. In this episode, I speak with barrister Nicola Sully who has a common law practice, about her journey to the Bar as a career-changer.  We discuss transferable skills, how to challenge assumptions, to articulate your motivation for changing careers and to demonstrate your professional compatibility with your target chambers.  Listen in for tips on how to overcome...

Applying for a GDL scholarship? Tommy, a GDL scholar, discusses how he approached his GDL interview and prepared to demonstrate his advocacy, drive and determination, problem solving skills and motivation to succeed to the panel.

Interested in getting published? The Gray's Inn Student Law Journal is an ideal way for students to engage academically with the law, learn about legal writing and get published. It's an inclusive publication with support available for first-time legal commentators. In this episode, Nora speaks to Hazel Bannerman, editor of the Student Law Journal, to discuss how you can begin your legal writing career. Find out more on how you can contribute: Call for Papers - Student Law Journal -...

If you're preparing for a scholarship interview, you won't want to miss this episode!  Hear from Christian, a residential scholar, on how he prepared for his Gray's Inn Bar Course Scholarship interview and secured one of the coveted Residential Scholarships. Gray’s Inn awards at least £1.4 million in scholarships each year. In 2024, the Inn intends to award at least 85 Bar Course Scholarships to support students undertaking the Bar Course. Gray's Inn also offers residential scholarships that...

"Show, don't tell" is just one of the many tips for applicants preparing for Gray's Inn Bar scholarship interviews in Episode 1, Season 5 of Raising the Bar. Gray's Inn students Matty, CK, Ioanna and podcast host Nora Nanayakkara discuss how they prepared for scholarship interviews, approached the legal topic interview exercise and answered the dreaded question, "Why do you want to be a barrister?" Don't miss future episodes, which feature more advice and insights from Gray's Inn scholars,...

In this episode Niamh explores the area of Arbitration from a students perspective. The discussion covers and introduction to Arbitration, the Gray’s Inn International Arbitration course and the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. Niamh is joined by Nia a previous attendee of the Gray’s Inn course who also went on to compete in the Vis Moot. This episode was recorded in advance of the Introduction to International Arbitration Open Evening on 27th July 2023. Find out more...

In this episode, Niamh talks to previous AGIS Mooting Officer Samuel Moss, to provide an in-depth insight into the world of mooting. The conversation covers what mooting is and why it is viewed as such important experience for aspiring barristers. AGIS offers students a plethora of opportunities to represent the Inn at national and international competitions over each academic year and Samuel offers his top tips to students on how to get started and how to be a successful. 

In this episode, Niamh is joined by Charlotte Ward, who offers her perspective on the journey to the bar when transitioning from a different career. Charlotte is a current Bar Course student who has successfully changed careers after years of working in the Finance industry. As a future pupil barrister Charlotte discusses her experiences in returning to education to undertake the GDL, the process of obtaining pupillage, and both why and how she changed careers to become a barrister. 

This episode offers advice and insight into the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) for students who have studied a non-law undergraduate degree and want to pursue a career in law.  In this conversation, Niamh is joined with Nicholas Zeolla, to discuss his pursuit of a career at the Bar from a History degree. Nicholas is a current Bar Course student and is due to commence Pupillage in 2023. As the current AGIS President Nicholas also shares insights on how the Inns of Court are there to support...

This second instalment of the Raising the Bar - A Students Guide, is hosted by Ciara Church and guest Zoe Chan.  Zoe is a Gray’s Inn Scholar and aspiring barrister wishing to pursue the law of Human Rights and Civil Liberties.   This discussion provides a student’s perspective of inclusivity and having a disability at the bar. Zoe talks about her involvement in the particular initiative of ‘Bringing [Dis]Ability to the Bar’.

This conversation marks the first episode of the new ‘A Student’s Guide’ series on the Raising the Bar Podcast where we will discuss topics relevant to current and aspiring bar course students. This episode is hosted by Ciara Church with guest Kelly Yu. Kelly was the AGIS treasurer from 2021-2022 and is a Gray’s Inn scholarship recipient. Kelly came to the UK for university, from Hong Kong and studied English before transferring to Law. In this episode Ciara and Kelly discuss the different...

Working from home, online mediation, nett zero disputes, paperless practicing, the Greener Pledge - the pandemic has highlighted many of these issues and had been a period of reflection for many. How does the charge to nett zero affect how we practice, how do we enforce this in different jurisdictions, what is sustainability at the Bar? In this episode Ciara discusses all this and more with Marion Smith QC and Annie Mackley.   Resources on climate litigation  UNEP Global Climate...

In this episode, Ciara chats to the original podcast host ,Alana Hughes, about her new tenancy, family law, the differences between being a pupil versus a tenant at a chambers, the impact of the pandemic on her new practice and so much more.  

After a break we are back with our interesting podcast series hosted by AGIS. This episode is a first for the Raising the Bar Podcast as Alana Hughes, our guest host for the segment “Meet the Barrister”, chats to His Honour Judge Aubrey QC. Judge Aubrey was the first in his extended family to attend university after attending a state grammar school. He obtained pupillage and tenancy in Liverpool and after 20 years at the Junior Bar he decided to take Silk. He has been a Northern circuit...

The Pupillage Gateway opens for submissions on 5 January 2022 - a process fraught with tension and anxiety for most students for weeks as applications are prepared, rewritten and finally submitted. What transferable skills can you include, how should you include them,  what can you do to make your application stand out. In this episode our new AGIS host Ciara Church, chats to Ayanna Nelson about her experiences and tips and suggestions on the application process. Tune in to find out more.

Becoming a self-employed Barrister is an exciting part of the journey. What many new barristers aren’t always sure of is how to manage their finances at this point. In this episode Nia chats to Alex Friede, an accountant who advises self-employed professionals and small businesses on their tax, accountancy, and financial management affairs. He is a specialist in the affairs of barristers, and his portfolio currently includes over two hundred practitioners. Tune in as he shares some tips...

Pupillage marks the start of a new phase in your path to the Bar. After the months of preparation, applications, grueling interviews and stressful waits for outcomes you may be considering what lies ahead. In this episode Nia chats to Alana Hughes about the transition from student to pupil barrister. Alana shares her experiences, the expectations versus reality and how the pandemic impacted her pupillage and what support the Inn offers to pupil barristers.

In this episode we chat to Elena Johnson, a past publicity officer of the Association of Gray’s Inn Students (AGIS) and podcast host of Raising the Bar 2019-2020. Picking yourself up after pupillage rejections is a tough part of the journey to becoming a barrister. Elena did not manage to get pupillage first time round and tells Nia what she did in the year thereafter and how it helped her secure pupillage. She also shares some tips on pupillage applications and the skills she picked up in...

Are you starting the Bar course soon and started wondering what it will be like? What the workload will be? Which books you must buy? Will you have time to see you family and friends or have a part time job? What extracurricular activities should you consider? In this episode our host Nia Marshall and Bar Course student Roseanna Cawthray-Stern, the ULaw (London) representative on the AGIS committee, talk about their experiences, share their tips and tell you how they managed, especially...

In this episode Elena Johnson is back in the host seat for a discussion with Jo Robinson (Council of the Inns of Court), Julie Carruth (Bar Standards Board), and Tony Charles (Director of Education). The topic is qualifying sessions as Jo, Julie and Tony explain why students undertake qualifying sessions, how they impact being called to the Bar, how they are quality assured and more.

In this episode, guest host Alana Hughes, chats to Nancy Williams. Nancy specialises in three main practice areas: civil litigation, crime and family. She is on of the Bar Council's Social Mobility Advocates and is the Vice Chair of the Gray's Inn Schools Outreach Programme.  

In this episode Nia speaks to Richard Atkins QC, Head of Chambers at St Philips Chambers in Birmingham, a respected criminal barrister and Court Recorder about his experiences over the past 12 months with remote hearings, adapting and adopting technology to keep things going despite lockdown. Richard speaks about the different solutions, considerations and more when moving criminal jury cases online.

This week's guest Frederico Singarajah, is recognised in the International Arbitration Powerlist by Legal 500 and Whoswholegal, amongst the most experienced and notable international arbitration practitioners at the English bar. Together with fellow Gray's Inn member, Marion Smith QC, Frederico has been part of the team who introduced the arbitration course and  VisMoot training at Gray's Inn. Nia chats to Frederico about his path the Bar, his passion for arbitration and what the VisMoot is...

What was it like being a gay man and being called to the Bar in 1989 amidst the HIV crisis and the controversial Section 28 Act of 1988? Guest host, Alana Hughes chats to Barrister Gerald Wilson about his experiences and just how far have we come since then.