Features

Don’t let consultation fatigue saddle generations of future Bar students with more of the status quo: a hugely expensive course with low prospects of acquiring pupillage at the end, argues Guy Fetherstonaugh QC  

Consultation fatigue is a particular problem for the Bar, with its substantial cohort of busy and independently minded practitioners.  

Michael Jennings and Patrick Walker respond to the snapshot findings: while financial security, work/life balance and variety of work are encouraging barristers to take the in-house route, significant frustrations were also reported  

FOOD FOR THOUGHT 

One hundred new Recorders sought: Lord Justice Burnett encourages barristers to apply for the 2017 competition and Eason Rajah QC shares his first year’s Recorder experience  

The Lord Chancellor has decided that there should be another Recorder competition, which is expected to launch on 1 February 2017. 

Jonathan Fisher QC briefs readers on the most radical overhaul of law on criminal property since the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002  

The Criminal Finances Bill is currently making its way through Parliament with strong all-party support.  

US President-Elect Trump may have four Supreme Court vacancies to fill in the next four years – James D Zirin examines the history of the court’s politicisation, some surprising picks and the impact on jurisprudence  

When President-elect Donald Trump met with President Obama at the White House in November for an initial get-together, Obama had a few words of advice. ‘Get a strong legal team around you,’ Obama said in substance.  

Sir Jeffrey Jowell QC asks whether the Lord Chancellor should have acted to stem the misleading and inflammatory media allegations which continue in the wake of the Miller case  

Visitors from abroad have always been mystified by our uncodified constitution.  

Is the Bar still a stand-out example of adherence to high ethical standards? Desiree Artesi discusses the practicalities of professional ethics with Andrew Walker QC  

It is a truth universally acknowledged (but never out loud) that an individual barrister, hemmed in by increased competition and, in some areas of law, decreased fees, must be in want of time to observe certain professional ethics. 

Dr Vanessa Davies explains how and why the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) scheme for established barristers is changing in January  

A constant commitment to update knowledge and skills is a hallmark of being a professional. In the words of Alistair Hodge, advocacy trainer at Inner Temple: 

Max Hill QC offers some innovatory examples and pointers on how to diversify and thrive at the criminal Bar in today’s adverse conditions  

As I eye the 30th year of my practice at the Bar, it is inevitable to reflect on the enormous changes to the self-employed profession. And yet, there is so much that remains the same.  

Richard Hearnden sets out the case for greater use of cheaper, off-the-shelf systems in the Crown court without recourse to changes in the law  

The publication of Transforming Our Justice System , by the Ministry of Justice, the Lord Chief Justice and the Senior President of Tribunals in September 2016, marks another milestone on the road to the digitisation of court proceedings.