Congratulations to Kalisher alumni Kitan Ososami
We are thrilled to report that previous Kalisher LLM scholar and advocacy training course participant Kitan Ososami has received an offer of pupillage at Red Lion Chambers to begin in January 2022. Kitan has kindly produced a testimonial about her journey to pupillage and her involvement with the Kalisher Trust along the way:
“I had always wanted to do a Masters degree but the idea of taking out another student loan, or saving money to fund it myself, made it an unlikely prospect after graduating from my LLB with tens of thousands of pounds in debt. However, upon hearing of the Kalisher Trust scholarship in 2017, I immediately applied.
The Criminal Justice LLM at Queen Mary was a great mixture of all my interests. I took modules spanning across the study of history, criminology, human rights, sociology, criminal and public international law. Through this, I furthered my existing understanding of, and gained new knowledge on, many aspects of criminal justice. I studied its relationship with surveillance technology, the history of punishment in England and Wales and how our system of criminal justice compares with others across the world, to name a few!
Alongside my studies, I undertook the role of Student Specialism Representative where I was responsible for organising social, educational and professional development activities and events for students on my course. This provided a great opportunity to socialise with my peers whilst adding to their, and my own, overall experience of the LLM. Notable achievements include organising a careers talk attended by criminal practitioners, including fellow Kalisher Trust beneficiary Zoë Chapman, securing exclusive work experience opportunities and organising an educational excursion to The Hague to visit the International Criminal Court and Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals.
Overall, with thanks to the Kalisher Trust, my time at Queen Mary was stimulating and fulfilling.
Fast forward a few years to 2019, when on the BPTC, I applied for a place on the Advocacy Training Programme. Having had unsuccessful pupillage interviews earlier on in the year, I was determined to improve my oral advocacy skills and perform my best in interviews during my next round of applications.
The techniques I learnt from the trainers were incredibly helpful in not just pupillage interviews but mooting and debating competitions alongside my BPTC oral advocacy exams. I naturally speak in a fast, animated manner and learnt how to effectively control this throughout the course. Even during lockdown, sessions on witness handling were delivered via Zoom, demonstrating the commitment to training us to become excellent advocates!
In July 2020 I received an offer of pupillage from Red Lion Chambers to start in January 2022. I am forever grateful to the Kalisher Trust for the support and opportunities that have led to this moment.”
Well done Kitan, a fantastic career at the Bar no doubt awaits!
