St John’s Chambers is proud to announce that our three new pupils have now commenced their respective specialist pupillages within our successful Family & Divorce, Clinical Negligence & Personal Injury and Commercial & Chancery teams.
Michael Rivelin joins our highly regarded Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence team as a pupil under the supervision of James Marwick.
Before coming to the Bar, Michael worked as a doctor, predominantly in hospital medicine, but he also has experience of emergency medicine, general practice, and general surgery. While studying to change career, Michael worked as a Relevant Person’s Representative (RPR) and an Independent Health Complaints Advocate for an advocacy charity.
Michael was formerly the president of the South Yorkshire Medico-Legal Society. He is halfway through a three-year term as a lay chair for the General Dental Council’s Education Quality Assurance team.
Michael has two young children and enjoys bird watching and playing tennis.
I’ve been really looking forward to starting my pupillage and getting stuck into some complex factual and legal problems.”
Michael Rivelin
Tom Swain joins our award-winning Family & Divorce team as a pupil under the supervision of Zoe Saunders (with assistance from Julia Belyavin) where he will complete a specialist pupillage in family law.
Prior to starting pupillage, Tom was an Associate Lecturer in Law at the University of the West of England (UWE) Bristol, where he delivered teaching on subjects such as medical law, tort law and criminal evidence. Prior to this, Tom assisted members of the judiciary as a Crown Court Clerk. In a previous role as a Court Usher, Tom provided pre-trial visits to vulnerable witnesses. After completing his GDL, Tom worked as a Legal Assistant for a local authority’s childcare team. He also volunteered with IPSEA as a Tribunal Support Caseworker. At IPSEA, Tom supported families and young people with their appeals to the Special Education and Disability (SEND) Tribunal.
In his spare time, Tom enjoys weightlifting, cars, racket sports, and walks on the beach with his dogs. Owing to his family’s history in the Royal Navy, Tom also has an interest in military aviation.
I’m most looking forward to developing my advocacy technique. Given my teaching background, I’m also looking forward to assisting with recording podcasts, writing articles, and presenting seminars to the legal community.”
Tom Swain
Francesca D’Argenio joins our leading Chancery and Commercial team as a pupil under the supervision of Annie Sampson
Prior to pupillage, Fran worked as a paralegal for a Bristol law firm, litigating a residential landlord and tenant caseload. She drafted advice for clients and prepared all aspects of their claims up to trial. Fran also volunteered for the Legal Advocacy Support Project (‘LASP’) at the Bristol Law Centre, representing individuals appealing their Personal Independence Payment (‘PIP’) decision to the Social Security Tribunal. She often drafted grounds of appeal and represented clients in court, both in-person and remotely.
She has also volunteered with Advocate, formerly the Bar Pro-Bono Unit, preparing cases for work by counsel.
Fran completed her undergraduate degree in English Language and Literature at Oxford and an MPhil in Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge. After graduating she worked in marketing for a short while within the education sector before retraining in law. Having grown up in the South West, Fran is excited to build her career in Bristol whilst learning from leading barristers and seeing their advocacy first-hand.
Fran enjoys running, and is currently training for several half-marathons to fundraise in aid of Cancer Research. Besides running, Fran enjoys painting, baking and reading. The classics, fantasy, and historical fiction are her favourites.
The work done at St John’s is often precedent-setting. I’m looking forward to seeing the calibre of cases attracted by chambers’ leading reputation for chancery work. Every experience I’ve had with St John’s, from the interview through to my first week of pupillage, has demonstrated the collegiate and supportive culture in chambers.”
Fran D’Argenio
If you would like to find out more information about our pupils, please contact their clerks.