‘Some 2,500 barristers will earn more than £240,000 this year, Bar Council figures have shown, and they will have to pay an extra £200 for their practising certificates after the Legal Services Board (LSB) approved a 12% hike in fees across the board.’
Legal Futures, 10th February 2017
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published its Equality and Diversity Strategy for 2017-2019. This follows the publication of its Diversity at the Bar Report last month. That report showed that diversity at the Bar was heading slowly in the right direction but that considerable progress is still needed.’
Bar Standards Board, 10th February 2017
Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk
‘The Criminal Bar Association has added its voice to concerns over the Bar Standards Board proposals for training reform, suggesting vocational aspects should be given more ‘flexibility’.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 6th February 2017
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has found itself under attack from multiple directions this week, including the Supreme Court announcing yesterday that it would hear an appeal about a case involving claims of race discrimination in its disciplinary processes.’
Legal Futures, 2nd February 2017
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published its annual report on Diversity at the Bar. The report shows that progress was made in 2016 with regard to both diversity at the Bar itself and to the disclosure rates of barristers providing data.’
Bar Standards Board, 27th January 2017
Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk
‘More than 500 barristers have signed an open letter opposing the Bar Standards Board’s proposals to shake up the training regime for would-be barristers. In a letter published today, the barristers, who include former master of the rolls and lord chief justice Lord Woolf, say the consultation is not “guided by a proper understanding” of the BSB’s objective of promoting and protecting the public interest ‘
Law Society’s Gazette, 31st January 2017
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The Bar Council has criticised Bar Standards Board proposals for alternative ways of qualifying, claiming its consultation into future training at the bar misses a ‘long-awaited opportunity for reform’. It also dismisses the need for a central exam along the lines of the solicitors qualifying examination.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 25th January 2017
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘A senior judge has accused solicitors of “blackmailing” the immigration tribunal in an extraordinary attack that also branded their conduct as “disgraceful” and “shameful” in not pursuing the appeals they had lodged.’
Legal Futures, 16th January 2017
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Consultation fatigue is a particular problem for the Bar, with its substantial cohort of busy and independently minded practitioners. But every once in a while, along comes a paper upon which we should all of us express a strong view: the Consultation on the Future of Training for the Bar: Further Routes to Authorisation – prominently the reform of the Bar professional training course (BPTC).’
Counsel, January 2017
Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk
‘Male students should not risk having sex with girls who have been drinking heavily for fear they could end up being accused of rape, a leading female barrister has warned.’
Daily Telegraph, 13th January 2017
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘A north London law firm has been rebuked for misleading its client into thinking that it had made a visa application on his behalf.’
Legal Futures, 13th January 2017
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The Law Society has criticised the Ministry of Justice’s proposals for reforming advocacy fees, warning that junior barristers and solicitor-advocates will lose out while QCs enjoy a pay hike.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 5th January 2017
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Plans to introduce a simpler and fairer pay system for defence advocates who work on legal aid-funded criminal cases have been unveiled today by the Ministry of Justice.’
ministry of Justice, 5th January 2017
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
‘The Bar Council and the Young Barristers’ Committee welcome new proposals published today by the Ministry of Justice which will mean barristers and other advocates will be paid fairly for the work they do in publicly funded criminal cases. The new, fairer Advocates’ Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS), if implemented, will mean barristers’ fees are no longer based on outdated and distorting factors such as the number of pages in a case, but instead are paid according to the seriousness and complexity of the work.’
The Bar Council, 5th January 2017
Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk
‘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.’
Counsel, January 2017
Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk
‘The Bar Standards Board has published the details of its new CPD regime, effective from 1st January 2017, removing the minimum hourly training requirement for barristers with more than three years experience.’
Local Government Lawyer, 15th December 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The incoming chairman of the Bar has called on Lord Justice Jackson to protect the junior Bar from the impact of his review of fixed recoverable costs.’
Litigation Futures, 15th December 2016
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘A “vast amount” of complex and lucrative international commercial work could be lost by UK lawyers if they are denied access to the EU legal services market as a result of Brexit, the Bar Council has warned.’
Legal Futures, 13th December 2016
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘A model of training barristers that would split the Bar professional training course (BPTC) into two – allowing students to learn procedure and evidence however they want before undergoing compulsory skills training – has been put forward by the Bar Council and Council of the Inns of Court (COIC) as another alternative to the Bar Standards Board’s (BSB) current consultation on training reform.’
Legal Futures, 2nd December 2016
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘On 3 October, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) issued a consultation document outlining three possible approaches towards the future of Bar training.’
Bar Standards Board, 1st December 2016
Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk
