Callum Reid-Hutchings on Building a Career as a Barrister: Work Experience, Pupillage Applications, and Life at Gatehouse Chambers

Join us for this episode of Law Talks, with Callum Reid-Hutchings, who is a Barrister at Gatehouse Chambers, working in commercial litigation, insolvency and company law, construction disputes, employment law, and defamation matters. Callum describes a varied career path from early non-legal jobs to university, the bar course, commercial litigation paralegal work and a judicial assistant role, until ultimately securing pupillage and tenancy at Gatehouse Chambers. He explains discovering the Bar later, preferring courtroom advocacy and self-employment over becoming a solicitor, and focusing on commercial work after exploring other practice areas. Callum outlines what he learned from his paralegal and judicial assistant roles about litigation realities and what persuades or annoys judges, and emphasises transferable skills from non-legal work and competitive sports. He shares advice on selecting chambers, interview preparation, and managing applications efficiently, and discusses building a practice through availability, strong solicitor relationships, and resilience.00:00 Welcome and Introductions00:08 Career Journey So Far02:26 Choosing the Bar04:19 Barrister vs Solicitor05:20 Paralegal Life in Litigation08:01 Finding Your Practice Area10:38 Judicial Assistant Insights13:44 Transferable Skills Beyond Law17:24 Picking Chambers and Bouncing Back21:27 Interview Preparation Tips24:48 Application Challenges and Strategy27:54 Inside Pupillage Year31:52 Building a Tenant Practice34:58 Final Advice and Wrap UpThis episode is sponsored by LawPods, a podcast marketing agency that services some of the biggest brands in law.Enjoying Law Talks? Sign up for our Linked In Newsletter, and follow us on Instagram and TikTok to receive all our latest news.Want to read the episode transcription? Sign up to receive our monthly episode transcriptions. Want to feature on Law Talks? We're always happy to hear from legal professionals keen to share their insights and experiences with our listeners.Contact us.  Our intro music is adapted from 'Sprightly' by GarageBand Apple Loop and 'Sprightly Remix' by Adamo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.