Practice Toolset

Sensible maternity provision is the first step to female retention, finds Sarah Grainger, in the first of a series on the opportunities and risks for women taking leave from the Bar.  

We’ve certainly come a long way since Hannah Cross, called to the Bar in 1931 and the first woman member of the Bar Council, had to promise to use the public toilets in Lincoln’s Inn Fields before she was accepted by 1 New Square. But not so far that female representation at the senior levels of the Bar can be taken for granted. Last year’s Sex and Power Report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (September 2008) revealed that a snail could crawl around the M25 nine times in the time (55 years) it will take women to be equally represented in the senior judiciary: traditionally drawn from the senior Bar. 

Flexible working—hardly revolutionary, but underused at the Bar—is the answer to female retention. But it must be adequately rewarded, writes Melissa Coutino.  

Justice for those who have suffered at the hands of war can be hard won. John Cooper explains how the Bar provides an essential pro bono service to those who have suffered through armed conflict.  

The legal profession does not have the luxury of living in a vacuum, either socially or politically. Sometimes the human consequences of political decisions requires from us a committed and extensive reaction. 

With some trepidation, Jacqueline Simpson agreed to wear a stress belt to assess the impact of two days in a life at the Bar.  

As a new tenant and single mother of a five-year-old girl, my diet and fitness regime had somewhat disintegrated over recent years. So I feared the worst when I agreed—albeit for two days—to wear a belt that was supposed to assess my stress level. 

Chambers’ culture can make a huge difference to successful maternity leave, says Sarah Grainger.  

In addition to offering generous maternity policies, the best thing a chambers can do to make retention work is to lead by example. Demonstrating that women members have taken maternity leave and returned to successful practices, and creating a culture where flexible  working is not seen as a problem, goes a long way to form an environment in which taking a maternity break can. 

Join an active network of barristers helping the community at large. Martin Jones explains how you can get involved.  

National Pro Bono Week, which took place in November 2008, celebrated the growing scale and impact of pro bono work by barristers, solicitors, legal executives, law students and other professionals. The launch event reflected a central theme of the week—public legal education—with a mock trial at the Royal Courts of Justice. 

What battles await the new Bar Council Chairman? David Wurtzel talks to Desmond Browne QC about the dragons he intends to anaesthetise, if not slay, in 2009 

Don’t face a wasted costs claim. Open your eyes to the power and mechanics of litigation technology, says Chris Dale 

Patrick Ryan reports on the 17th Bar National Mock Trial Competition and some fine examples of future advocates.  

More than 200 school students were welcomed to Liverpool, Europe’s Capital of Culture for 2008, for the final of the Bar National Mock Trial Competition on Saturday 1 March. They gathered at the Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts, having battled through the earlier stages of the competition knowing that only one of the 16 schools who had made it to the final could be victorious. The teams were organised into four leagues, with the two highest scoring teams overall progressing to a grand final. 

Equal numbers of men and women may well be called to the Bar, but the female brain drain continues. Catherine Baksi talks to mothers at the Bar about the practical challenges they face.  

It is less than a hundred years since women have been permitted to practise at the Bar, following the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919. Until 1990, some chambers still operated a men only policy. Despite this, the advancement of women at the Bar, or “Portia’s progress” as some commentators have called it, has been steady. Men and women are now coming to the Bar in roughly equal numbers, but more than twice as many women as men leave independent practice between six and 10 years’ call. According to Bar Council exit surveys, this is largely due to childcare issues. The long hours, unpredictable nature of the job and often precarious financial situation for those at the self-employed Bar make it difficult to juggle with family life.