Counsel Magazine

As we face 2022, the profession feels restless, the job feels relentless but we are in good hands: our new yet seasoned leader talks to Joanna Hardy-Susskind about his concerns and ambitions for the Bar, and how we protect this ‘truly precious, national asset’

With many still not seeing legal rights as ‘theirs’ to claim, Christian Weaver reflects on levels of knowledge, faith and hope in the law

The barrister turned comedy writer, broadcaster and journalist talks to Joel Semakula about the legal thread that runs through his many careers and the inspiration he continues to draw from the courtroom

Zira Hussain shares a family barrister’s day in the life – breaking barriers, turning disadvantage into advantage, and fighting for abuse victims

Upskilling courts with a more forensic approach to domestic abuse, Professor Monckton-Smith talks to Laurence Cooper about her groundbreaking research, identifying patterns of coercive control and use of the homicide timeline

Incorporating can be used to pay lower rates of tax in retirement: Nick Bonnello sets out three worked scenarios

Can we make life in the law healthier and happier? asks Elizabeth Rimmer

Raggi Kotak and Laurie-Anne Power on the positive actions chambers can take to support a more racially inclusive environment

Let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth, writes Katie Gollop QC

An introduction to the new BSB guidelines and resources for barristers practising within the Coroners’ Courts. By Oliver Hanmer

May the odds be ever in your favour, writes Emma Fielding... A follow-up to Ishan Kolhatkar’s article (and the Twitter debate it sparked) on how to solve the problem of pupillage supply and demand

This is our stand up moment: Barbara Mills QC and Simon Regis on the landmark report’s key findings and what the Bar must do to remove the systemic obstacles faced by many barristers from ethnic minority communities

2021 has been another challenging year for the Young Bar, writes Joanne Kane

The 2021 survey of barristers’ working lives explores the lived experience of working as a barrister – and you want change! 

By David Wurtzel 

Gavin Millar QC takes a look at the Bill aiming to prevent harm to internet users in the UK, the extent of its interference with freedom of expression, and how the big tech platforms are likely to respond

A blast from the past

By Richard Susskind, OUP Oxford (paperback edition July 2021), ISBN 978-0192849304 

Review by Joseff Morgan 

A barrister-author’s cultural life and times includes an obsession with all things medieval – and what it means to be British

Festive shortages and COVID may mean an adapted Christmas, so here is a convivial long-list for all budgets and eventualities from Counsel ’s wine critics, Professor Dominic Regan and Seán Jones QC

By Amal Clooney and Philippa Webb 

ISBN 9780198808398  

Oxford University Press (2021) 

Reviewed by Admas Habteslasie 

This is our stand up moment: Barbara Mills QC and Simon Regis on the landmark report’s key findings and what the Bar must do to remove the systemic obstacles faced by many barristers from ethnic minority communities

Raggi Kotak and Laurie-Anne Power on the positive actions chambers can take to support a more racially inclusive environment

Racial disparity and racism can impact experiences in the courtroom; Abimbola Johnson has some constructive solutions on how we can effectively challenge it

Exclusive statistical analysis: Barbara Mills QC outlines how the deeply unhelpful, homogenous BAME acronym is masking the true extent and systemic nature of the Bar’s diversity problem

If the Bar is complacent on the issue of race, then we will perpetuate the same racial inequities that continue to pervade our society, writes Professor Leslie Thomas QC