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Barristers earning more than £500,000 face increased practising certificate fees.
At present, fees are set according to six bands, with the highest for those earning £240,000 or more set at £1,850. In a consultation paper, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and Bar Council laid out plans for two more grades.
Those earning more than £500,000 will pay £2,500 and those earning more than £1m will pay £3,000. Those earning £30,000 or less will see their fee reduced from £123 to £100. Fees for the other pay bands will remain unchanged.
The consultation estimated it will bring in an extra £497,000 from those in Band 7 and £382,000 from those in Band 8, on the basis that nearly 130 barristers earn more than £1m a year and about 200 take home more than £500,000.
It stated that the proposals are ‘not an attempt at redistribution of wealth’ but a recognition of the ‘increasing gap in earnings across the Bar’.
The plans will be brought to the joint Bar Council and BSB Finance Committee for review and approval in February 2019.
The BSB also published rules allowing it to close barristers’ practices, after it was given the statutory power to intervene.
Director of Strategy and Policy, Ewen Macleod, said the BSB expected to use the powers ‘very infrequently and only in the rarest of situations’ where intervening is the only way to safeguard clients’ interests.
Barristers earning more than £500,000 face increased practising certificate fees.
At present, fees are set according to six bands, with the highest for those earning £240,000 or more set at £1,850. In a consultation paper, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and Bar Council laid out plans for two more grades.
Those earning more than £500,000 will pay £2,500 and those earning more than £1m will pay £3,000. Those earning £30,000 or less will see their fee reduced from £123 to £100. Fees for the other pay bands will remain unchanged.
The consultation estimated it will bring in an extra £497,000 from those in Band 7 and £382,000 from those in Band 8, on the basis that nearly 130 barristers earn more than £1m a year and about 200 take home more than £500,000.
It stated that the proposals are ‘not an attempt at redistribution of wealth’ but a recognition of the ‘increasing gap in earnings across the Bar’.
The plans will be brought to the joint Bar Council and BSB Finance Committee for review and approval in February 2019.
The BSB also published rules allowing it to close barristers’ practices, after it was given the statutory power to intervene.
Director of Strategy and Policy, Ewen Macleod, said the BSB expected to use the powers ‘very infrequently and only in the rarest of situations’ where intervening is the only way to safeguard clients’ interests.
Far-ranging month for the Chair of the Bar
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
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, examines the most recent data on alcohol misuse in the UK, and the implications for alcohol testing in family proceedings
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, explains how tailored financial planning can help barristers take control of their finances and plan with confidence
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
The case against judge-only justice – and why efficiency is not enough. By Professor Leslie Thomas KC
Heritage as an anchor and a compass, finding our common humanity and embracing the power of the outsider – Melina Antoniadis’s lessons learnt
Is the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office process fit for purpose? Women barristers’ experiences of bullying are not being reported or, if they are, they are not making it through the system, says Tana Adkin KC
Review by Daniel Barnett
Chair of the Bar reports back
