*/
The size of the junior Bar is shrinking, Andrew Langdon QC told the annual Bar Council conference in London earlier this month.
‘Most believe the lack of confidence in public funding is partly what has caused chambers to recruit fewer junior members,’ he said, along with the growth in the number of solicitor higher court advocates.
This year, he said, there had been ‘some sign’ that confidence may have returned and recruitment to the junior Bar may be ‘heading back to a healthier place’. But, he said: ‘We are currently losing young barristers who see how hard it will be to pay back the debts they incur in training.’
Langdon warned: ‘We will wither on the vine if we do not take care of the most junior barristers.’
Accusing successive governments of undervaluing the delivery of justice and taking the publicly funded profession for granted, he told barristers they must ‘call out ill-conceived reform’ that may save money, but that will ‘demote the quality of justice’.
While fees from publicly funded work have been shrinking, Langdon told delegates that income from international work was increasing. ‘Confounding those who predicted our demise,’ he said the overall size of the Bar has continued to grow.
Chaired by Rachel Spearing, the conference heard from speakers including Sir Keir Starmer QC MP, Lady Justice Hallett, terror-law watchdog Max Hill QC, retired Court of Appeal judge, Sir Henry Brooke and Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission, Lord Kakkar. (See pp 12-21.)
Meanwhile, as Westminster is gripped by allegations of sexual impropriety, Labour peer and barrister, Baroness Kennedy QC warned that young barristers are vulnerable to sexual harassment.
She told The Times: ‘At the Bar, young women and some young men are vulnerable because they are in a highly competitive world seeking training places and tenancies and briefs.
‘There are many people who might seek their favours to advance their career. Stories abound and chambers should have clear rules and be swift in ending the tenancies of people who abuse their power. But it is still too hard for women to speak out.’
The size of the junior Bar is shrinking, Andrew Langdon QC told the annual Bar Council conference in London earlier this month.
‘Most believe the lack of confidence in public funding is partly what has caused chambers to recruit fewer junior members,’ he said, along with the growth in the number of solicitor higher court advocates.
This year, he said, there had been ‘some sign’ that confidence may have returned and recruitment to the junior Bar may be ‘heading back to a healthier place’. But, he said: ‘We are currently losing young barristers who see how hard it will be to pay back the debts they incur in training.’
Langdon warned: ‘We will wither on the vine if we do not take care of the most junior barristers.’
Accusing successive governments of undervaluing the delivery of justice and taking the publicly funded profession for granted, he told barristers they must ‘call out ill-conceived reform’ that may save money, but that will ‘demote the quality of justice’.
While fees from publicly funded work have been shrinking, Langdon told delegates that income from international work was increasing. ‘Confounding those who predicted our demise,’ he said the overall size of the Bar has continued to grow.
Chaired by Rachel Spearing, the conference heard from speakers including Sir Keir Starmer QC MP, Lady Justice Hallett, terror-law watchdog Max Hill QC, retired Court of Appeal judge, Sir Henry Brooke and Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission, Lord Kakkar. (See pp 12-21.)
Meanwhile, as Westminster is gripped by allegations of sexual impropriety, Labour peer and barrister, Baroness Kennedy QC warned that young barristers are vulnerable to sexual harassment.
She told The Times: ‘At the Bar, young women and some young men are vulnerable because they are in a highly competitive world seeking training places and tenancies and briefs.
‘There are many people who might seek their favours to advance their career. Stories abound and chambers should have clear rules and be swift in ending the tenancies of people who abuse their power. But it is still too hard for women to speak out.’
Update from the Chair of the Bar
By Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group
Modernising communication and collaboration at a leading Chancery set. A Zexi case study
How to build profile without compromising professional duties. By Naumaan Farooq, Co-Founder of Inked PR
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, examines the role of cut-off levels, and the wider range of factors that must be considered when interpreting results for family court proceedings
Endometriosis Awareness North, a charity raising awareness of endometriosis and supporting those affected across the North of England, has received a £500 boost from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
The case against judge-only justice – and why efficiency is not enough. By Professor Leslie Thomas KC
Jemima Coleman and Zoë Leventhal KC on the evolving global movement seeking to reframe how we view nature: to recognise that nature possesses inherent rights and to enshrine these rights in law
Heritage as an anchor and a compass, finding our common humanity and embracing the power of the outsider – Melina Antoniadis’s lessons learnt
Seeing the full picture – Baljit Ubhey OBE outlines the CPS action plan to tackle violence against women and girls, offering insights directly relevant to courtroom practice
Lauren Fullerton examines the how, what and why of setting up a second chambers base
