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Criminal Bar Association
This was a nuts and bolts session, full of practical and unrhetorical advice, with some golden nuggets. Designed to encourage audience participation and chaired by Angela Rafferty QC in a friendly, laid-back way, it was positive in character and content. I sensed the need for that from a number of concerned questions, for the criminal Bar is surviving against the odds and our young are suffering. ‘How do they help themselves?’ asked one delegate. Try not to be pigeon holed. Become an expert in your own field. Offer an article to Counsel! Good ideas came consistently from HHJ Deborah Taylor and Eleanor Laws QC.
Naturally the panel discussed the problems raised by coming back to practice after childbirth. Diversity also recognised younger male barristers who may have caring responsibilities. HHJ Peter Rooke QC, having described himself as the statutory male on the panel, gave a picture of the bad old days in chambers, now gone. Later he stressed the absolute importance of showing your quality, eg knowing the law of evidence backwards.
Advice too for preparing for Silk or judicial posts. Good record-keeping, preparation and getting an independent figure to review your applications. Try to prosecute and defend. Know the criteria. In other words, bring the professionalism which governs your work to your own career path. HHJ Taylor said that the competition on one occasion had been 1,500 applications for 60 judicial placements. There is no ‘we’ – it must be ‘I’, for you must evidence fully your own competencies. The panel also contained one fluent younger practitioner, Emma Fenn, who will go far.
As a top tip, I liked the advice – be brief, be bright, be gone! Don’t whisper or make faces or talk over the judge. Don’t ever make personal attacks on your opponents. Be aware of legal developments. Sitting will improve your own advocacy, as you suffer pleas in aggravation. Preparation must not be too rigid, for part of cross examination is what falls out of the tree. There followed a constructive audience response of mentoring in chambers. Your correspondent’s view is that, ideally, it should continue for at least three years after pupillage.
Near the end, a very experienced old hand, Peter Birkett QC raised the topic of criminal pupillages. The response was how rare they are, particularly in London. That for me was the most sobering moment. The Criminal Bar Association must fight on and chambers must work with them.
Nigel is a former leader of the Western Circuit, practises crime from Pump Court Chambers, and is a Master of Drama in the Inner Temple. He is on the editorial board of Counsel.
This was a nuts and bolts session, full of practical and unrhetorical advice, with some golden nuggets. Designed to encourage audience participation and chaired by Angela Rafferty QC in a friendly, laid-back way, it was positive in character and content. I sensed the need for that from a number of concerned questions, for the criminal Bar is surviving against the odds and our young are suffering. ‘How do they help themselves?’ asked one delegate. Try not to be pigeon holed. Become an expert in your own field. Offer an article to Counsel! Good ideas came consistently from HHJ Deborah Taylor and Eleanor Laws QC.
Naturally the panel discussed the problems raised by coming back to practice after childbirth. Diversity also recognised younger male barristers who may have caring responsibilities. HHJ Peter Rooke QC, having described himself as the statutory male on the panel, gave a picture of the bad old days in chambers, now gone. Later he stressed the absolute importance of showing your quality, eg knowing the law of evidence backwards.
Advice too for preparing for Silk or judicial posts. Good record-keeping, preparation and getting an independent figure to review your applications. Try to prosecute and defend. Know the criteria. In other words, bring the professionalism which governs your work to your own career path. HHJ Taylor said that the competition on one occasion had been 1,500 applications for 60 judicial placements. There is no ‘we’ – it must be ‘I’, for you must evidence fully your own competencies. The panel also contained one fluent younger practitioner, Emma Fenn, who will go far.
As a top tip, I liked the advice – be brief, be bright, be gone! Don’t whisper or make faces or talk over the judge. Don’t ever make personal attacks on your opponents. Be aware of legal developments. Sitting will improve your own advocacy, as you suffer pleas in aggravation. Preparation must not be too rigid, for part of cross examination is what falls out of the tree. There followed a constructive audience response of mentoring in chambers. Your correspondent’s view is that, ideally, it should continue for at least three years after pupillage.
Near the end, a very experienced old hand, Peter Birkett QC raised the topic of criminal pupillages. The response was how rare they are, particularly in London. That for me was the most sobering moment. The Criminal Bar Association must fight on and chambers must work with them.
Criminal Bar Association
Update from the Chair of the Bar
By David Green
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, examines the forensic science underpinning hair drug testing, its evidential scope and limitations, and why it remains the gold standard for evidencing patterns of drug use in family proceedings
Unlocking your aged debt to fund your tax in one easy step. By Philip N Bristow
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, discusses the upcoming changes to pensions and Inheritance Tax and the potential impact on your financial future
Save the Children UK is the latest charity to benefit from a £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
The Chief Legal Officer to the Metropolitan Police, barrister Brett Welch, tells Anthony Inglese CB about his mission and the work to turn the Met around
Barrister apprenticeships – shortly to provide the fourth pathway to the Bar – are an ideal opportunity to support local talent and ‘grow your own’, say Tim Coulson and Dr Jane Dennehy
Grok around and find out – or not? Mariya Peykova investigates the nudification scandal, what the law has to say about sexually explicit deepfakes, and whether stronger regulation is needed
Oliver Lewis spotlights an overlooked yet rapidly evolving area of law – coercive and controlling behaviour within care contexts
For one night only at Middle Temple Hall (Sunday 26 July 2026) – Abigail Bright introduces the famed annual fundraising theatrical event. This year, Martin Shaw and Jason Watkins perform John Mortimer’s The Dock Brief, a mixture of farce and pathos and all in support of the work of the Kalisher Trust in its 30th year
