About the Government Legal Service
Lawyers in the Government Legal Service (GLS) provide legal advice to the government and represent it in court proceedings.
Whether the government is creating new laws, buying goods and services, employing people or defending its decisions in court, it needs significant levels of legal advice on a whole range of complex issues. To carry out this work, the government needs its own lawyers who understand its’ business.
The GLS is the professional network for those lawyers providing legal services to a wide client base including a range of central government departments and other government bodies.
Vacancy description
The GLS Legal Trainee Scheme offers you the chance to conduct your pupillage in either the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Government Legal Department (GLD) or HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
The broad structure of a GLS pupillage will be similar to that offered by other chambers. However, the nature of the work you will undertake during the training period and the level of responsibility you will be given is very different and beyond comparison.
GLS pupillages last 12 months and your time will be split between a GLS legal team and a set of external barristers’ chambers. The structure of the pupillage varies between departments, but in most, you will either spend the first six months, or middle four months, in a set of Chambers and the remainder with a departmental legal team.
Throughout your pupillage, you'll be involved in the wide range of work in which your department and chambers are involved. You'll attend court (initially with your supervisor), carry out research for other lawyers and draft opinions.
One notable difference is the fact that there are fewer opportunities for barristers to engage in oral advocacy in the GLS. It is uncommon for GLS barristers to conduct their own cases in court and many GLS legal teams use the services of external counsel for much of their court work. While some lawyers in BIS may occasionally have the opportunity for specialist prosecution and tribunal work, opportunities for GLS barristers to engage in advocacy are limited and candidates wishing to focus principally on an advocacy career should bear this in mind.
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