Sam Townend KC explains the Bar Council’s efforts towards ensuring a bright future for the profession
In this month’s column, Chair of the Bar Sam Townend KC highlights the many reasons why barristers should pay the Bar Representation Fee and back the Bar Council’s efforts on behalf of the profession
Some positive news on fees after sustained Bar Council and PIBA efforts, Bar’s stance on AI and a new-look Bar Conference 2024
Sam Townend KC, the new Chair of the Bar, outlines some key themes and priorities for the coming year
Looking back on a year as Chair of the Bar
Countering the gatekeeper agenda, troubling news on earnings disparities, spreading best practice in chambers, Pro Bono Week 2023, and the Rules of War
Why timing of call is key for the future, recent developments on social mobility, social media and our international work, and please cast your vote in our elections
The news agenda has kept the Bar Council busy over summer; efficient regulatory investigations need our cooperation; and please consider standing for election
A social mobility stocktake, some political impetus at last on criminal justice, civility on legal Twitter, and the importance of taking a proper break this summer
Efforts to tackle environmental threats and fixed recoverable costs, menopause at the Bar, and engagement further afield
England and Wales
Due to a number of successful client panel appointments, Barristers and Solicitor Advocates are needed to join our team throughout England and Wales. We are particularly interested in applicants in the Midlands and London.
The Chair of the Bar reports back
By Kem Kemal, CEO, Henry Dannell
By BSK Financial Planning
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs
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
Kick off your career at the Bar Council’s Pupillage Fair this October it’s one of the most valuable opportunities for aspiring barristers, says Amelia Clegg
Join us on Saturday 21 November 2026 at Leeds Beckett University and see for yourself why the North continues to be an exceptional place to build a career at the Bar
The golden age of advocacy? David Langwallner pays homage to the filmic if contentious barrister Sir Edward Carson and some of his contemporaries
Henry Fingerhut outlines what the Bar Standards Board AI guidance means for early career barristers
Not yet, says Jacob Turner. Regulation, unlike the technology itself, is a domain the legal profession can still control