While the courtroom is still the preserve of the human advocate, lawbots are shuffling into legal services elsewhere. Rupert Jones puts the market leaders to the test
The future for a re-imagined Bar is bright, say Absolute Barrister founders Simon and Katy Gittins. They talk technology, fixed fees and family life with Aoife Drudy
Professor Katie Atkinson offers a reality check on legal tech: what’s workable now and on the horizon?
David Wurtzel asks Derek Wood CBE QC the million dollar question: will the Inns re-enter the law school market and offer a cheaper and ‘radically innovative’ BPTC?
Time for legal aid to break free from party political discourse? Yes, argues Lucie Wibberley, in light of the recommendations of the Bach Commission for a new Right to Justice Act
HMCTS has announced it is pausing the flexible operating hours pilots. Morwenna Macro, who petitioned against the plans, asks whether the controversial scheme should be abandoned altogether
Vital funds for free legal support agencies need urgent restocking. Clare Carter explains how the Bar can help by seeking costs for all pro bono
With the Bar’s invaluable pro bono, workers’ union IWGB packs a punch well above its weight as a key intervenor and ambitious litigator. Peter Oldham QC talks to its general secretary Jason Moyer-Lee
Pro bono is good for all. Amanda Finlay shines a light on some innovative examples, from ‘social prescribing’ of legal advice to educational outreach
Nicholas Goodwin QC outlines the updated witness preparation guidance from the Bar Council’s Ethics Committee, which confronts head on the ethical lines to be drawn and distills lessons for all practice areas
Hybrid – home and CWJ’s Bethnal Green office, London
Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) is recruiting paralegals with feminist values to join its new Independent Legal Advice service.
The Chair of the Bar reports back
Susie Griffin on the admin that keeps barristers from billable work
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, explains how global events can influence the performance of pensions and ISAs, and why taking a long-term approach to investing is often the most effective strategy
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, discusses what family law professionals need to know about hallucinogens, from the main hallucinogenic drugs encountered in family proceedings, to their effects and the testing options available
Harmony Christian Ministries is the latest charity to benefit from a £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
By David Green
The golden age of advocacy? David Langwallner pays homage to the filmic if contentious barrister Sir Edward Carson and some of his contemporaries
Leah Arthur, a pupil, and her second seat supervisor, John Goss, share their perspectives on building a productive pupil-supervisor relationship
Henry Fingerhut outlines what the Bar Standards Board AI guidance means for early career barristers
The Ministry of Justice will match-fund up to 100 criminal pupillages, with grants available to criminal chambers across England and Wales. Similar to the COIC scheme, the grants will match-fund pupillages additional to those otherwise offered without government funding
Not yet, says Jacob Turner. Regulation, unlike the technology itself, is a domain the legal profession can still control