Andrew Powell explains his background: 'I’m originally from Birmingham, from Handsworth Wood, which is an inner-city area of the city. I attended a state school – Great Barr Comprehensive, one of the largest in the country, with a roll of 2,500, which I left with good A level results, having also been made Head Boy.'

Andrew’s first experience of the Bar was through a mini-pupillage. Chambers offer work experience in the form of mini-pupillages, mostly for undergraduates. The Bar Council is encouraging chambers to offer more mini-pupillages, shorter than a week in length in an effort to give more students a taste of what being a barrister is like. He found the experience worthwhile: 'I wrote to them and arranged a mini-pupillage at what is now 25 Bedford Row. It was the only connection with law that I had; my family weren’t lawyers – in fact, my mum works as a nurse and my dad is an electrical engineer. I got the mini-pupillage and spent time in shadowing a number of barristers doing defence work in the Crown Courts.'

Having graduated from Manchester University with First Class Honours, Andrew went on to study a two-year combined CPE/LLM at Leeds University. Whilst working at his studies, he also arranged further work experience: 'I knew I had to give myself as broad an overview of the likely sets I would apply for, so I was busy setting up mini pupillages from 2005-2006. I went to seven different sets between my first two years at Leeds. This gave me a variety of legal experiences, but also, crucially, an understanding of the mix of sets both in, and out, of London that I might apply to.'

He says: 'Mini-pupillages are important because the experience helps you assess the sets, and vice versa.  Some are more traditional than others. Those which had a more contemporary ethos were the ones I tailored my applications towards; I knew I wanted to work with them, and could see how they’d assist the solicitors and clients they were working with. In each instance, I felt I was given a fair shout, in terms of my application to them, and how we felt about each other. Although the mini-pupillages are over-subscribed, I felt I was being selected totally on merit, notwithstanding a non-traditional route into law.' Andrew is a pupil barrister in family law, one of the two largest practice areas for barristers, in which a large proportion of practitioners are publicly-funded.

They have been particularly hard hit by repeated cuts in legal aid rates, leading the Bar Council to argue that: 'The justice system simply won’t work without properly trained advocates to prosecute and defend cases.' Andrew wholeheartedly agrees:  'Funding by the Legal Services Commission (LSC) has a real impact. Make no mistake, it can be rough at the first three to four years at the Bar.

I’m proud of the work I do as a family pupil, and whilst others might say that it’s worthy work, that work also needs to be funded properly so I can continue to do it! If the LSC are serious about attracting individuals from all sections of society into the legal professions, then they should look again at how they encourage this.'