5RB is the leading set specialising in all areas of media and communications law, including defamation, privacy, breach of confidence, data protection and information law, harassment, contempt of court, and reporting restrictions. We are the only chambers to specialise exclusively in this fascinating field. Our 37 full-time members act for both claimants and defendants and provide advice and representation to the press, television, radio, book, and online publishers, as well as to individuals, including celebrities and other high-profile people, businesses, and not-for-profit organisations.

Our members are regularly instructed in the most prominent and groundbreaking cases, recent examples of which include Sir James Dyson’s libel claim against Mirror Group over allegations of behaving hypocritically in the context of Brexit, the Laurence Fox Twitter trial, the Duke of Sussex’s privacy claims relating to the alleged hacking of his phone, Arron Banks’s libel claim against Carole Cadwalldr over his alleged financial ties to Russia, the ‘Wagatha Christie’ libel case, the Duchess of Sussex’s privacy and copyright claim against Associated, the litigation concerning the ‘Putin’s People’ book, the Johnny Depp libel trial and the Cliff Richard privacy case against the BBC. In the last few years, members have represented parties on appeals to the Supreme Court relating to abuse of process in the context of libel (Mueen-Uddin v Secretary of State for the Home Dept), the correct interpretation of s.3 of the Defamation Act 1952 in malicious falsehood cases (George v Cannell), the privacy of residents of apartments in the vicinity of the Tate Modern art gallery (Fearn v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery), serious harm to reputation (Lachaux v Independent Print Ltd), the public interest defence in defamation (Serafin v Malkiewicz), the reasonable expectation of privacy in information about criminal investigations (ZXC v Bloomberg LP) and vicarious liability in data protection law (WM Morrison Supermarkets plc v Various Claimants), as well as in many cases in the Court of Appeal. Several former members of 5RB have gone on to have successful judicial careers.

We are seeking to recruit up to two pupils to start in October 2026, each with a view to tenancy. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate very high intellectual ability, usually via academic achievement, and excellent interpersonal and advocacy skills (written and oral). We look for applicants with an aptitude for and an interest in practice as a barrister in our specialist areas; however, prior knowledge of the law in these areas is not a requirement.

Pupils at 5RB benefit from spending periods with four different pupil supervisors, seeing a variety of styles and perspectives and receiving expert tuition in practice in media and communications law, including advocacy. We are proud of maintaining a very friendly and collegiate atmosphere, and that extends to how we interact with our pupils: we see pupillage very much as a learning experience rather than a gruelling examination, although pupils will need to demonstrate the high level of skills and conduct necessary for a successful practice if they are to be taken on as a tenant. The vast majority of our pupils in the past decade have been recruited as tenants, and we very much hope and expect that this will continue.

The pupillages will carry an award of £50,000. A new tenant can expect their first-year earnings to significantly exceed this level.

All applications for pupillage must be made via the Pupillage Gateway, which closes on 6 February 2025.

For further information on pupillage at 5RB, please see the information on our Recruitment pages and our Pupillage Policy.

5RB’s Pupillage Booklet 2025-2026 can be found here.

A recent video was presented by Adrienne Page KC, our Joint Head of Chambers, about 5RB’s Pupillage Process. Please watch below.

Mini-pupillage

5RB usually runs three mini-pupillage programmes each year.  These are normally held in June, October and December.  On these programmes we accept up to 6 mini-pupils for 2 days. During the 2 days you will have the opportunity to attend court hearings involving members of 5RB, to learn about our work and to meet members of Chambers.

We do not allocate mini-pupils to barristers. We keep mini-pupils together for court attendance, group work on media law case examples, introductions to the areas of law that we practise, and discussion of Chambers’ work and of life at the Bar.  Mini-pupillage at 5RB is not assessed.

We no longer run remote mini-pupillage programmes.

If you wish to apply for the June 2025 mini-pupillage programme, please apply by 30 April 2025 using the form available at the links below.

5RB strongly believes and is committed to ensuring that students from all backgrounds should be able to undertake mini-pupillage with us at the minimum expense to themselves.  We aim to improve access to the Bar for all.  We will assist successful applicants by making a contribution to reasonable accommodation and travel expenses, if needed, on application following attendance at a mini-pupillage programme.  Decisions on needed grants are made separately from the decision on whether an applicant is invited to attend mini-pupillage.

Applications for mini-pupillage at 5RB must be made using Chambers’ mini-pupillage application form. A Word version is available here (right-click and “save link as”):

• 5RB-2023-Mini-pupillage-Form (Word)
• 5RB mini-pupillage form (PDF)

Please email your completed form to mini-pupillage@5rb.com.

If you would like any further information about our mini-pupillage programme, please contact Chambers by telephone on 020 7242 2902, by email at mini-pupillage@5rb.com, or by letter to 5RB.

5RB is proud to announce a new partnership with Bringing (Dis)Ability to the Bar (BDABar), a group run by and for disabled aspiring barristers. Through research, education, mentorships, and more, they are working to dismantle barriers affecting disabled aspiring barristers and improve accessibility at the bar.

5RB will welcome up to 2 mini-pupils per year who have applied via the scheme. More information can be found here.

The Pupillage Committee

The Pupillage Committee is made up of several members of 5RB intended to represent a spread of seniority across the set. Members of the Committee are responsible for conducting the pupillage application process and interviews.

The current members of the Committee are as follows:

• Godwin Busuttil – Head
• Victoria Jolliffe
• Ben Gallop
• Gemma McNeil-Walsh

Pupil Supervisors

Those members who are currently act as Pupil Supervisors at 5RB are:

• Godwin Busuttil
• Jacob Dean
• Richard Munden
• David Hirst
• Victoria Simon-Shore
• Victoria Jolliffe
• Kate Wilson
• Jonathan Scherbel-Ball
• Felicity McMahon
• Chloe Strong
• Greg Callus
• Gervase de Wilde

Recruitment

Equal Opportunities

5RB is committed to diversity and to equal opportunities for all, irrespective of race, colour, creed, ethnic or national origins, sexuality or gender, marital status, disability or age. We welcome applications from all backgrounds. 5RB is committed to and has implemented the Bar’s Equality Code.

Closing Dates

It is important that you take careful note of any closing date that applies to an application. Save in exceptional circumstances, we will not accept applications received after this date. If you anticipate problems in complying with the deadline, please contact our Administrator before the deadline expires.

Interview Arrangements

If you have any particular requirements in respect of your needs at interview (e.g. sign interpretation, wheelchair access etc.) or regarding the scheduling of your interview, please include details in your application or let us know separately. We will do everything we can to accommodate your requests.

Data Protection

We comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR. Information derived from application forms/CVs/the recruitment process will be used for recruitment purposes only and will not be passed to any other organisation.

Recruitment – FAQs

Is any prior experience of media law required?

No. It is not necessary for you to have a law degree, still less for you to have studied law relevant to our practice areas. However, any relevant interest or experience you can demonstrate will certainly be considered.

Do I need to do a mini-pupillage at 5RB before applying for pupillage?

No, particularly not in the current circumstances. Our mini-pupillage programme has never been a requirement; it is not assessed. Of course, one of the factors we consider in the application process is the degree to which an applicant has demonstrated in interest in and aptitude for our areas of work which can, of course, include having completed a mini-pupillage with us. A mini-pupillage can really help you in ascertaining whether you would enjoy working in any particular chambers. We recommend that you apply for a mini-pupillage wherever you are thinking about applying for pupillage.

Can I make a deferred application for pupillage?

We do not encourage such applications. It is difficult for us to make decisions about recruitment so far in advance, particularly when this decision has necessarily to be made without the benefit of seeing the full range of potential applicants for the relevant places. If you consider that there are special reasons why you need to make a deferred application, we would encourage you to contact us before submitting your application.

Do I need a first or a 2:1?

Competition for pupillages at 5RB is fierce. Ordinarily we would expect a 2:1 degree or better. However, a candidate’s performance at degree level is just one of the factors that we consider. We do not screen out applicants that do not have a 2:1 or first, but we do encourage applicants to be realistic about their prospects if they have a poor academic background, and we would expect a convincing explanation as to why an applicant with the necessary intellectual ability did not achieve such a result.

What is pupillage at 5RB like?

You can expect to spend your 12-months broken up into four 3-month periods with different pupil supervisors. During the first six months you will spend most of your time working for your own pupil supervisor, although in the second six we will encourage you to do work with and for other members of 5RB. You will gain a unique insight into practice at the highest level, and will be given expert tuition in practice in our specialist areas, including drafting and advocacy. Your work will be regularly reviewed by your pupil supervisor and guidance and feedback provided. During your pupillage it is likely that there will be a number of in-house training seminars, as well as opportunities for you to broaden your experience by spending time at the in-house legal departments of national newspapers and broadcasters. For further details please see our Pupillage Policy and the ‘Meet our Pupils’ section below.

What opportunity will there be for me to get advocacy experience in my 2nd six-months?

Very limited. The nature of our work means that advocacy opportunities for pupils are rare. The focus of pupillage throughout the 12 months is on learning about practice in our particular highly specialist areas. However, pupils will be given advocacy assessments focusing on 5RB’s main areas of work and junior members can expect to appear in both the County Courts and High Court in their early years of practice.

For an insight into pupillage at 5RB, we asked Chris Zabilowicz, our current pupil, a few questions:

Where did you go to university and what did you study?

I completed my undergraduate degree at Worcester College, Oxford, where I read jurisprudence. I then undertook a Master of Laws degree at the University of Pennsylvania and was admitted to the Bar in New York and California. I later completed the Bar Training Course at BPP Law School.

Why did you choose 5RB?

Like most, I chose 5RB because I decided I wanted to practise media law and 5RB is the pre-eminent media law set. I thought I had a fairly good idea of what media law involved having studied it as one of my options at both Oxford and UPenn. I then did a mini-pupillage at 5RB which provided an insight into what being a barrister in the field (and at 5RB) would entail. I was drawn to media law in part because of what is often at stake for the parties involved. For claimants, their claims can be deeply personal: the nature of reputation and privacy means that claims frequently cut to a claimant’s core beliefs, values and sense of self. For defendants, it is the fundamental right to freedom of expression that is usually at stake, and for media defendants in particular, this right could not be more important, as it represents the ability to exchange ideas and hold those most powerful to account. It is fascinating to work at the interaction of these equally legitimate and compelling interests.

How have your prior experiences helped to prepare you for pupillage?

I have had an unusual route to the English Bar. Prior to pupillage I practised for nearly two years as a trial attorney in Los Angeles; worked for one year as a judicial assistant at the Supreme Court of Ireland; and most recently spent six months at a litigation firm in the Caribbean. As a broad point, these experiences gave me an opportunity to mature and build confidence before starting at the Bar – which in itself has been exceptionally valuable. More particularly, I have found each of these experiences to be relevant to my training and future practice as a barrister in their own way. In Los Angeles, I was involved in a number of trials in which I had a central role in witness examination preparation – an experience which can be hard to come by as a pupil or even as a junior media law barrister. In Ireland, I worked in an appellate judicial system very similar to our own, which was an outstanding environment in which to develop my legal research skills. And in the British Virgin Islands, which adopts English common law and many of our civil procedure rules, my work primarily involved obtaining procedural relief, such as injunctions, secrecy and anonymity orders, and Norwich Pharmacal relief (albeit in the context of fraud and asset recovery claims) – all of which are important procedural tools in media litigation.

What other preparation would have been useful?

Had I been in London, I would have spent time watching media-related court hearings at the Royal Courts of Justice. The RCJ is open to the public and most hearings assigned to the Media and Communications List are heard in Court 13 or 14. The daily cause list for each day is available online, or in paper form in the lobby of the RCJ.

What’s the best thing about pupillage?

The best thing about pupillage is that it is a rare safe space to get things wrong, and to learn from those mistakes, knowing your work is (most likely) not going to be filed in court or sent to a client. The looming pressure of obtaining tenancy is obviously always there, but I have found it helpful to view pupillage as being more about my personal progress as a barrister-in-training than as a means to the end of getting tenancy. There aren’t many professions where you get such an intense degree of vocational training without having to worry about the real world consequences that your work product might have for clients. That results in a steep but satisfying learning curve.

What’s the worst?

One of the worst – or rather, most difficult – parts of pupillage that I have found is navigating a completely unique work environment. It is difficult to understand the idiosyncrasies of barristers’ chambers before starting pupillage; and even having started pupillage, I am still a long way off from completely understanding the practical implications of being self-employed, the role of clerks, how to build a practice, the various styles of advocacy and case management that barristers adopt, etc. Ultimately, pupillage is a lot more than learning how to advise, draft and argue.

Was pupillage what you were expecting?

Largely yes – although I had a particular fear that everyone would be too busy to answer questions, offer advice, or facilitate training, but that hasn’t been the case at all. On the contrary, I have been grateful for the effort that members at 5RB make to involve pupils in interesting matters they are working on, and how seriously pupil supervisors seem to take their role in supporting pupils’ training and development.

What advice would you give to potential applicants?

Whether you are at an earlier stage in your journey to the Bar or you are about to apply, my advice is to think about how you are going to demonstrate in your application that you have the relevant skills that barristers’ chambers look for. The best way to do this is to use the selection criteria that many chambers publish on their websites to guide your application. 5RB, for example, publishes its pupillage policy on its website which contains not only helpful general information about pupillage at 5RB but also outlines the particular skills and competencies that the pupillage committee at 5RB expects applicants to demonstrate on their application form and during the recruitment process. You should look at those skills and competencies like a checklist and ask yourself: have I demonstrated (either on the application form or, where appropriate, at some later point in the recruitment process) all of the skills and competencies that chambers is looking for?