The Secret Barrister wears a black cape, fights crime and shares with Counsel an extract from their much-anticipated book on the criminal justice system: Stories of the Law and How It’s Broken
By Sir Paul Jenkins KCB QC
Reprinted with the kind permission of The Middle Templar (Michaelmas 2017 edition)
Are female juniors being given fair access to the most serious, complex (and lucrative) cases? A Supreme Court same-sex litigation team study and published data suggest not, finds HHJ Emma Nott
Stephen Kenny QC addresses the legal and ethical considerations when offering student placements and Melanie Mylvaganam asks whether you’re travelling ethically: tips on keeping your clients’ data secure
Crowdsourcing court decisions? Will it ever take over from the pedigree and reputation of the Bar? By Simon Gittins
Unmonied and painfully shy, 14-year-old northener Louise Brandon caught the Bar bug and proved naysayers wrong. She looks back on her own experience to assess how far the Bar has come in terms of tapping into the ‘talent elite’
What’s your view on social mobility and its vital signs at the Bar? Michael Todd QC, Leslie Thomas QC, Alice de Coverley, Daisy Mortimer, Dr Tunde Okewale MBE, Sharon Laurence and James Keeley assess its state of health
Kevin McGinty’s Making it Fair report exposed how deep the disclosure failures ran. Here he talks to Anthony Inglese CB about the review, his early years and own characterful path to law
Isle of Man
Applications are invited for the appointment of His Majesty’s Attorney General in the Isle of Man.
Chair of the Bar reports back
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs
A £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs has been made to the leading UK charity tackling international parental child abduction and the movement of children across international borders
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, outlines the drug and alcohol testing options available for family law professionals, and how a new, free guide can help identify the most appropriate testing method for each specific case
By Louise Crush of Westgate Wealth Management
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, examines the latest ONS data on drug misuse and its implications for toxicology testing in family law cases
The odds of success are as unforgiving as ever, but ambition clearly isn’t in short supply. David Wurtzel’s annual deep‑dive into the competition cohort shows who’s entering, who’s thriving and the trends that will define the next wave
Where to start and where to find help? Monisha Shah, Chair of the King’s Counsel Selection Panel, provides an overview of the silk selection process, debunking some myths along the way
Do chatbot providers owe a duty of care for negligent misstatements? Jasper Wong suggests that the principles applicable to humans should apply equally to machines
There is no typical day in the life as a Supreme Court judicial assistant, says Josephine Gillingwater, and that’s what makes the role so enjoyably diverse
Kindness Ambassadors coming to a courtroom near you! Valerie Charbit, Nicola Shannon KC and Professor Robin Banerjee update readers on the second phase of the project examining, and promoting, the impact of kindness and how it can fit into an adversarial system