One Essex Court has a long-standing involvement in mentoring and other support schemes designed to improve equality of opportunity and diversity at the Bar.
One Essex Court founded and ran a women’s mentoring scheme from 2019-2022, was one of the co-founders of what is now the COMBAR mentoring scheme for underrepresented groups, and is a partner of the Bridging the Bar mini-pupillage scheme. Many of our members also give up their time to provide mentoring through the Inns or in their individual capacity.
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COMBAR mentoring scheme for underrepresented groups
We are proud to be part of COMBAR’s mentoring scheme for underrepresented groups at the Bar, which is now going into its third year. This scheme is designed to encourage individuals from groups which are underrepresented at the Bar of England and Wales (and in particular the Commercial Bar) to pursue careers as barristers.
The scheme was founded in 2020 by six sets of Chambers (including One Essex Court), and expanded to ten sets in 2021. In the first two years of the scheme about 350 prospective applicants to the Bar were matched with mentors.
The scheme is now being taken forward by COMBAR (the Commercial Bar Association) and we are delighted that it has expanded to include 20 sets of chambers, with places for roughly 250 mentees across the scheme. Successful applicants are paired practitioners from participating sets of chambers for a series of one-to-one mentoring sessions.
The application window for 2023/24 is now closed. Any questions should be directed to the following email address: socialmobility@combar.com.
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Bridging the Bar
Bridging the Bar is a charity committed to the promotion of equal opportunities and diversity at the Bar, at all professional levels. One Essex Court is proud to be a partner of the Bridging the Bar mini-pupillage scheme. Further details of the Bridging the Bar scheme can be found at bridgingthebar.org.
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Women at the Commercial Bar
We are not currently offering a mentoring scheme as part of our Women at the Commercial Bar initiative. Details of the current programme can be found here.