What does devilling mean?
"Devilling" is a chiefly British term, used most often in legal contexts, for the work a junior barrister performs on behalf of a senior colleague — researching cases, drafting opinions, and preparing paperwork that the senior barrister then presents as their own. The junior, known as a "devil," commonly does this kind of work during pupillage, the training period after law school, both to earn money and to gain experience and exposure within chambers. Beyond the courtroom, the word can describe any drudgery performed quietly for someone else's benefit, though this broader use is now uncommon. The term carries connotations of apprenticeship, hard graft, and modest recognition: devilling is essential to how the Bar functions, yet much of it goes uncredited. It derives from "devil," long used figuratively for a person who does tiresome work for another, and shares its roots with words like devilry and devilish. For anyone following British legal life, understanding devilling is key to understanding how junior lawyers learn their craft.
nounThe practice of a junior lawyer carrying out research or drafting work on behalf of a more senior barrister, typically unpaid or for a fee, especially during pupillage. More generally, the act of performing tedious or menial preparatory work for someone else.
- The work done by a junior barrister (a 'devil') researching or drafting documents on behalf of an experienced barrister.
- The performance of tedious, routine, or menial tasks on another person's behalf.
"During her pupillage she earned a modest income through devilling for established chambers."
"Much of the written work that reaches a judge has involved devilling by a junior member of chambers."
"He spent his first year at the Bar doing devilling for a busy commercial silk."
Rarely used in the plural; the word normally appears as an uncountable mass noun referring to the activity rather than countable instances of it.
"His early years at the Bar were marked by countless hours of devilling."
In British legal circles, 'devilling' means doing a top barrister's behind-the-scenes homework — often for little or no pay — and it's a rite of passage every junior barrister knows well.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of devilling
The word comes from "devil," which itself traces back through Old French to Latin diabolus, ultimately from Greek diabolos, meaning "slanderer." By the seventeenth century, "devil" was being used figuratively in English for a person who undertook tedious or disagreeable work on another's behalf — most famously a printer's devil, an apprentice in a printing house. From this usage grew the legal sense of a junior barrister acting as a senior colleague's assistant, with "devilling" emerging as the noun for that activity in British legal English.
Related word forms
How devilling is actually used
Chiefly British legal jargon; the person doing such work is called a 'devil' and the arrangement is common during pupillage, when juniors build experience and contacts. Outside law the word is rare and somewhat dated. British spelling uses double 'l'; American English generally prefers 'deviling'.
Easily confused with devilling
'Develing' is not a standard English word; 'devilling' refers to assisting a senior barrister or doing drudge work, while the double-l spelling is standard in British English.