Features

The first Circuit-based mentoring scheme for women barristers is building confidence and camaraderie. Kate Brunner QC explains what sets it apart  

The Bar may appear to be awash with mentoring schemes, but only a small minority of barristers actually have a mentor, and it is particularly difficult on the far reaches of Circuit to access support and events based in London.  

With European links under pressure, HELP is at hand to preserve shared values grounded in respect for human rights and the rule of law. Guy Vassall-Adams QC reports  

These are testing times for race relations and the culture of respect for human rights in Europe. 

Upsides and flipsides: supervisors and pupils from the self-employed and employed Bar give warts-and-all accounts of their experiences of a year under very different wings  

Simple rebrand or first step to a modernising merger? Don’t underestimate the significance of the new Business and Property Courts, argues Ed Pepperall QC  

It all started in Birmingham.  

Record numbers of chambers are applying to the COIC Pupillage Matched Funding Scheme, now hitting its stride. Nathalie Lieven QC reports  

2016/ 2017 saw 40 pupillages supported by the Council of the Inns of Court (COIC) Pupillage Matched Funding Scheme, helping pupils in 37 sets of chambers.  

Our market may be wider than we think 

We are having another one of our soul-searching exercises in Chambers.  

More change is afoot in the world of money laundering. Christopher Convey explains how this affects the Bar. Will counsel assist the court? Ed Vickers QC outlines new guidance on court appointed advocates  

Lucy Reed introduces The Transparency Project, an initiative to correct sensationalist and lazy journalism and encourage healthier debate about the law  

Lawyers and journalists are skilled in the construction of a coherent story from facts.  

With a series of worked examples, Simon Levene guides beginners through the calculations in personal injury claims under the contentious new discount rate  

On 27 February 2017 the Ministry of Justice announced a reduction of the discount rate from 2.50% to -0.75% with effect from 20 March 2017.  

All eyes on the engine of Britain: local chambers are expanding and national sets opening annexes in the city. Tariq Sadiq offers an insight into life and practice at the Birmingham Bar  

Birmingham is a thriving, cosmopolitan city with a rich history.