Features

Andrew Neish QC believes there is evidence to suggest that the Commercial Bar has a tendency to select applicants like themselves, an academic elite. 

In order to extend access to the Bar, COMBAR’s Equality and Diversity Committee have mooted a Wild Card Scheme. The aim is to unearth potentially outstanding and unusual applicants who would otherwise have no prospect of being selected for pupillage interviews 

BLAGG provides both a social group and a support network for gay barristers. It also campaigns for equal rights, writes Christopher Rogers.  

Unlike other minorities it is not immediately apparent whether someone is gay. Most minorities, whether women, ethnic minorities or the disabled, have spent decades battling for equal access to the Bar, whereas there have always been large numbers of gay barristers; the difficulty many have faced is in being comfortable being open about their sexuality. 

Job title: Silk, 3 Verulam Buildings
Qualifications: Call 1979; QC 1997
Core areas of practice: Commercial litigation, corporate insolvency and banking. 

How do you see the year 2011 for practice at the Bar? 

I know the position of the publicly funded Bar is difficult and is likely to remain so for some time. The position of the specialist Bar, however, is quite different. There is likely to be considerable growth in most specialist fields, in particular commercial, chancery, technology and construction. Asset price deflation, recession and market volatility inevitably lead to a substantial increase in disputes between businesses. 

Nothing succeeds like a success fee: not even an exaggerated claim or one funded by a non-party, says Mark Hill QC 

Sometimes winning is not enough. Costs, which traditionally followed the event, can now have equal importance to the trial itself. A few recent cases indicate the pitfalls which practitioners would do well to avoid and the tactical advantages which can result from prudent manoeuvring on issues of costs. 

Mind set up an expert advisory group to assist with drafting the toolkit. Rachel Spearing, a member of the Bar Council’s Disability Committee, explains her involvement and the background to the project 

In May 2009 the Bar Council’s Disability Committee were approached by Mind, the mental health charity, who were seeking a delegate to join their working party in drafting a toolkit to assist prosecutors and advocates dealing with victims/defendants suffering from mental distress. This was to become the first mental health toolkit for prosecutors and advocates to be jointly funded and produced by the CPS, the Law Society and the Bar Council. The aim was to provide legal professionals with a better understanding of the issues surrounding mental distress, the impact such conditions can have on the validity and accuracy of a person’s evidence and what support can be provided to help a witness give their best evidence and be supported through the process. 

Marina Cantacuzino explains the work of The Forgiveness Project 

One evening back in 2002, local ITV news reported the story of a three-year-old girl who had died in a London hospital after mistakenly being given the wrong drug. As the parents, lawyers and hospital staff emerged from the coroner’s court the interviewer thrust a microphone under the father’s nose and asked him how he felt about the doctor responsible for his daughter’s death. 

Sandra Healy weighs up the pros and cons of junior barristers attending international law conferences.  

In October 2010, 45 English barristers attended the International Bar Association (IBA) Annual Conference in Vancouver. I was the most junior member of the delegation, which consisted of a mix of criminal, family, general civil and commercial practitioners. 

The new Chairman of the Bar Council intends to pass on to his successor a Bar which has got through the difficulties and is ready to flourish, finds David Wurtzel.  

If every elected leader needs a “narrative”, then Peter Lodder QC, the new Chairman of the Bar, has one and it is straightforward: “Perhaps because I have been fortunate in my own career, I am an optimist and I continue to be an optimist. I intend to pass on to my successor a Bar which has got through the difficulties and is ready to flourish.” As for those seeking to enter the profession, it is imperative “to make sure there is a good, successful future for them. There was one for me when I came to the Bar; there should be one for them. It is something I hold dearly.” 

Bobbie Cheema and Sarah Perry discuss the forthcoming Advocacy Training Council Report on Vulnerable Witness, Victim and Defendant Handling 

The manner in which the vulnerable are treated in our court system is a mark of how civilised a society we are. 

The Advocacy Training Council (“ATC”), which oversees advocacy training for the Bar of England and Wales, is shortly to publish its Report on Vulnerable Witness, Victim and Defendant Handling. It is the first major research project in England and Wales to focus specifically on how best to train barristers in handling the most vulnerable people in court, whether witness or defendant, and whether vulnerable by reason of youth, learning disabilities or a mental health diagnosis. 

David Wurtzel believes that the guidance given by the Court of Appeal in R v M and W on questioning young witnesses has muddied its own message 

The conclusion by “Raising the Bar” (the report by Advocacy Training Council’s Vulnerable Witnesses and Defendants Handling Group) that there is a “clear and pressing need for training for advocates in how best to handle vulnerable people in Court” is more momentous than might first appear. The concept of the “vulnerable witness” goes back to 1998 and the Home Office report, “Speaking up for Justice”.