Pupillage

5RB is a leading set specialising in all areas of media and communications law, trusted by clients to handle the most high-profile and complex disputes in this constantly evolving field.

Our barristers are recognised experts and, as the only set dedicated exclusively to this area, we offer a unique environment in which to develop your practice.

Why Apply To 5RB?

5RB specialises 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.

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 include:

Sir James Dyson’s libel claim against Mirror Group over allegations of behaving hypocritically in the context of Brexit,
the Laurence Fox Twitter/‘X’ 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 Newspapers Ltd,
the litigation concerning the ‘Putin’s People’ book,
the Johnny Depp libel trial, and
Cliff Richard’s privacy case against the BBC.

Members frequently represent parties on appeals to the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. Matters in the Supreme Court on which 5RB members have advised include:

the application of the abuse of process doctrine in the context of libel (Mueen-Uddin v Secretary of State for the Home Department),
the correct interpretation of s.3 of the Defamation Act 1952 in malicious falsehood cases (George v Cannell),
the privacy of residents living in glass-fronted flats in the vicinity of the Tate Modern art gallery (Fearn v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery),
the seminal case on the definition of serious harm to reputation (Lachaux v Independent Print Ltd),
the public interest defence in defamation (Serafin v Malkiewicz),
whether a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy in respect of information that they are under investigation by an arm of the state (ZXC v Bloomberg LP), and
vicarious liability in data protection law (WM Morrison Supermarkets plc v Various Claimants).

Several former members of 5RB have also gone on to have successful judicial careers.

Our Pupillage Programme

Adrienne Page KC, our Joint Head of Chambers, has presented a film about 5RB‘s pupillage process (see above).

As a pupil at 5RB, you will benefit from spending time with four different pupil supervisors during your 12-month pupillage and will also work with other members of chambers. This will expose you to a variety of styles and perspectives, and provide you with expert tuition in media and communications law, including advocacy.

We pride ourselves on fostering a friendly and collegiate environment, which extends to the way in which we interact with our pupils. Pupillage at 5RB is designed to offer a supportive learning experience rather than an examination, and our intention is to give you the opportunity to acquire and demonstrate the high levels of skill and professionalism that we require for tenancy.

Over the past decade, the vast majority of our pupils have been recruited as tenants, and we hope and fully expect that this strong track record will continue.

Applications For 2027 Pupillage

Applicants should demonstrate outstanding intellectual ability, typically expressed in strong academic achievement, alongside excellent written and oral advocacy and interpersonal skills. We welcome candidates with a genuine interest in practicing in our specialist areas but prior knowledge of the law in these areas is not required.

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

Applications for 2027 pupillages have now closed.

More Information

5RB‘s pupillage booklet, which contains further detail on our application and recruitment process, can be downloaded here:

Pupillage Booklet – 2026 / 2027