St John’s Chambers is proud to announce that on 1st October 2021, three new pupils commenced their pupillage in our successful Family & DivorceClinical Negligence & Personal Injury and Commercial & Chancery teams.

Vivien Croly who joins our Family & Divorce team will be under the supervision of Zoë Saunders. Prior to starting pupillage, Vivien worked as a County Court Advocate for LPC Law, conducting hearings on a variety of Civil matters. After successful completion of the BPTC, Vivien completed an LLM Professional Legal Practice in Family Law. Prior to coming to the Bar, she worked as a teacher in London and the South East. Vivien is a classically trained musician, who has performed and competed in prestigious venues such as St Paul’s Cathedral, the Royal Albert Hall, Notre Dame and Canterbury Cathedral. Read more here.

The breadth and quality of practice at St John’s Chambers greatly appealed to me. Chambers encourages pupils to specialise, which enables them to become future leaders, which is something to which I aspire. At interview – and beyond – members of Chambers clearly valued getting to know me, demonstrating Chambers’ supportive and collegiate nature. The varied nature of the Family team’s work and the calibre of the practitioners will present me with excellent learning opportunities, and I look forward to getting the most from them. I also look forward to applying my knowledge in a practical context within Family law.”

Vivien croly, pupil

Kayleigh Bloomfield undertakes her specialist commercial and chancery pupillage under the supervision of Charlie Newington-Bridges.  Prior to pupillage, Kayleigh worked for a legal expenses insurer advising on the prospects of success of their insured’s claims. Kayleigh also previously worked for a commercial law firm in Cardiff, where she worked closely with a Partner on a high-value, complex civil fraud matter. Kayleigh enjoys anything historical but has special interests in military / naval history, maritime history generally and marine archaeology. Read more here.

Every communication or encounter I have ever had with Chambers has been warm and welcoming, which is extremely important to me. At St Johns, I can undertake chancery and commercial work outside of London, without compromising on quality of work and career progression. The practice group pupillage structure at St John’s fosters camaraderie among pupils, as well as allowing you to specialise on the areas that interest you most at the outset. I’m really looking forward to focussing on commercial and chancery work, which is what I have always wanted to specialise in. I can’t wait to learn from senior members of Chambers and be exposed to the full breadth of work the practice area has to offer.”

kayleigh bloomFIELD, pupil

Lydia Campbell joins our Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury teams under the supervision of James Hughes. Prior to joining Chambers, Lydia worked as a paralegal in a variety of areas including group litigation, road traffic, industrial disease and clinical negligence (the latter for both claimants and defendants). Lydia has been heavily involved in litigation, including working closely with counsel, conducting and attending pre-trial hearings, joint settlement meetings and expert conferences. Previously, Lydia was also employed as a prosecutor, conducting a variety of hearings on behalf of a local authority. Lydia combines her love of travelling and charity fundraising, raising over £400 for homelessness and domestic abuse charities in Yorkshire, by doing a sponsored hitchhike from Sheffield to Sofia, Bulgaria. Read more here.

I cannot wait to get stuck into real personal injury and clinical negligence cases, and the niche facts that each entail. Because of the vast content that is taught on the BPTC, you tend to spend very little time on a wider range of issues. Already, I am working on cases that are challenging, and teaching me a great deal that I did not know from the Bar Course. Chambers are extremely committed to exposing you to as many ‘sub-areas’ of your practice group as possible. Working with barristers across the practice group, you are encouraged to utilise various skills and develop your knowledge even further. It is a really comprehensive way of developing as a pupil. I am excited to develop my skillset further within such a supportive and collegiate environment, and to learn about areas I have not previously had any practical experience in.

Lydia campbell, pupil

We wish the best of luck to our new pupils and hope they enjoy their time at St John’s Chambers.