‘The Bar Standards Board has appointed an independent reviewer to find out what went wrong during the summer exam period, in which a quarter of bar school examinations could not be completed due to technical faults.’
Law Society's Gazette, 4th November 2020
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Rudeness in the robing room, sledging tactics and the unkindness of strangers when you’re newly called. Rehna Azim talks about bullying at the Bar and what you can do about it.’
Counsel, November 2020
Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk
‘The government is treating criminal barristers like “zero-hours workers” and is endangering court users, the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has said, demanding a national risk assessment for court buildings.’
Law Society's Gazette, 3rd November 2020
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘A family law barrister, together with the former chief executive of Sport England and the Lawn Tennis Association, are looking to shake up the Bar by adopting a corporate structure for their new chambers.’
Legal Futures, 2nd November 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Young barristers from ethnic minorities should not be afraid to be who they are – including maintaining their hair in its natural look – as they look to progress, pioneering QCs have advised.’
Legal Futures, 28th October 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Barristers, solicitors, legal academics and retired judges call for the home secretary and the prime minister to apologise for past remarks and refrain from using hostile language.’
The Guardian, 25th October 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The UK prime minister and the home secretary are accused of endangering the personal safety of lawyers through their abusive attacks on the profession and should apologise, more than 800 former judges and senior legal figures have said in a letter sent to the Guardian.’
The Guardian, 25th October 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Almost a quarter of women in the profession have not seen their incomes return to pre-Covid levels with one in five still on less than their previous working hours, a survey has found.’
Legal Futures, 23rd October 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The High Court has upheld a highly unusual order prohibiting counsel from continuing to act for the father in a bitter child custody dispute because of acrimony between her and the mother.’
Legal Futures, 14th October 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘One of the country’s leading QCs has suggested that barristers on the Attorney General’s panels should consider resigning in protest at the government’s hostility to the law and lawyers.’
Legal Futures, 13th October 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Bullying, discrimination and harassment at the Bar is perceived to be tolerated “to a certain extent” due to its “adversarial, male-dominated culture and competitive nature”, new research has found.’
Legal Futures, 13th October 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Positive action – such as giving female barristers preferential access to briefs after returning to chambers from career breaks – can bring about real change in addressing under-representation at the Bar, the Bar Council has said.’
Legal Futures, 7th October 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
“Lawyers say government’s hostility risks stirring up hatred and undermining rule of law.’
The Guardian, 6th October 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Some barristers are being paid the equivalent of £6.25 per hour by the government, less than the National Minimum Wage, despite their central role in clearing the 500,000-plus backlog of cases in the criminal courts, says the Bar Council in its Spending Review submission to the Treasury.’
The Bar Council, 1st October 2020
Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk
‘All lawyers will need to become familiar with the concepts and workings of distributed ledger technology, smart legal contracts and cryptoassets, according to the next master of the rolls. In a foreword to a landmark report on the regulation of blockchain technology, Sir Geoffrey Vos says that the pandemic “has only emphasised our need to understand the ways in which technology is affecting our professional lives. Lawyers face a steep learning curve.” ’
Law Society's Gazette, 5th October 2020
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The new Supreme Court president says he hopes a justice from an ethnic minority background will be appointed before his retirement in six years’ time. Lord Reed said the lack of diversity among the 12 Supreme Court justices was a situation “which cannot be allowed to become shameful if it persists”.’
BBC News, 5th October 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The Law Society has raised concerns about latest coronavirus regulations which allow lawyers to break self-isolation rules.’
Law Society's Gazette, 2nd October 2020
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The Legal Services Board (LSB) has launched its review of the quality of the Bar Standards Board’s (BSB) decision-making – but is not going to look at the controversy around last month’s Bar exams.’
Legal Futures, 30th September 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Criminal advocates unable to accommodate courts’ extended operating hours (EOH) – who are disproportionately women – are likely to miss out instructions even though they can ask for hearings to be held during regular hours instead, research has warned.’
Legal Futures, 29th September 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
