Category: barristers

BSB echoes Bar Council concerns on equality and access to justice – The Bar Council

Posted May 18th, 2016 in barristers, consumer protection, diversity, equality, fees, judiciary, legal aid, legal profession, legal representation, McKenzie friends, press releases, public interest, remuneration, women by sally

‘The Chairman of the Bar Council, Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC has signalled agreement with the Bar Standards Board’s (BSB) concern for equality and diversity in the profession. As the independent regulator reported in its recently published Risk Outlook yesterday, the Bar Council also welcomed the focus on access to justice and on ensuring that consumers’ needs are properly met following the prolonged period of cuts to our system of justice.’

Full press release

The Bar Council, 18th May 2016

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

BSB’s Strategic Plan and Risk Outlook launch provokes lively debate – Bar Standards Board

Posted May 18th, 2016 in barristers, diversity, equality, legal profession, press releases, public interest by sally

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) officially launched its Strategic Plan 2016-19 and Risk Outlook last month at a function in central London, to an audience of barristers, representative bodies of the Bar, legal consumer organisations and diversity groups.’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 17th May 2016

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Bar regulator has made “significant improvements”, says LSB’s report – Bar Standards Board

Posted May 13th, 2016 in barristers, Legal Services Board, press releases, quality assurance, standards by sally

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has made “significant improvements” as a regulator since 2012-13, says the Legal Services Board (LSB)’s today in its Regulatory Standards Report for 2015-16 about the Bar regulator.’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 10th May 2016

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Wellbeing in the legal profession – one year on – The Bar Council

Posted May 13th, 2016 in barristers, mental health, press releases by sally

‘The Chairman of the Bar, Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC, has urged the legal sector and other professions to work together on supporting wellbeing and mental health in the professions one year after the Bar Council and the Inns of Court published its Wellbeing at the Bar report.’

Full story

The Bar Council, 13th May 2016

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Legal Services Board makes the case for regulatory independence – Legal Futures

Posted May 11th, 2016 in barristers, consultations, delay, Law Society, legal profession, legal services, Legal Services Board, money laundering, news, regulations, solicitors, terrorism by sally

‘The lack of independence between the legal regulators and representative bodies risks undermining the credibility of regulation and allows the likes of the Law Society and Bar Council to delay reforms that would benefit competition, the Legal Services Board (LSB) said yesterday.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 11th May 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Lawyer who supplied ‘chemsex’ party drugs which killed his boyfriend is sentenced – BBC News

Posted May 10th, 2016 in barristers, community service, drug abuse, drug offences, news, sentencing by sally

‘A barrister whose teenage boyfriend died from a lethal cocktail of “chemsex” party drugs has been sentenced for drug possession.’

Full story

BBC News, 9th May 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

BSB publishes new figures showing success rates for student barristers – Bar Standards Board

Posted May 6th, 2016 in barristers, examinations, legal education, news, statistics by sally

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published a new edition of its statistical information on student performance on the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC).’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 5th May 2016

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

High Court: no “windfall” in allowing barrister to claim fast-track trial advocacy fee – Litigation Futures

Posted May 4th, 2016 in advocacy, appeals, barristers, civil procedure rules, compensation, costs, damages, fees, news, personal injuries, time limits by sally

‘Allowing a claimant’s barrister to recover a trial advocacy fee in a fast-track personal injury case, settled on the morning of the hearing, “hardly amounts to a windfall”, a High Court judge has said.’

Full story

Litigation Futures, 3rd May 2016

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

McKenzie Friends: Bar Chairman says consumer protection has to be paramount – The Bar Council

Posted April 29th, 2016 in barristers, consumer protection, McKenzie friends, press releases by sally

‘The protection of consumers “has to be paramount” when it comes to unregulated, uninsured and untrained McKenzie Friends charging fees to people in court, the Chairman of the Bar, Chantal-Aimee Doerries QC, told BBC listeners.’

Full press release

The Bar Council, 28th April 2016

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Asylum court fee hike makes access to justice a “luxury” for the few – The Bar Council

Posted April 28th, 2016 in asylum, barristers, civil justice, fees, immigration, press releases, tribunals by sally

‘Plans put forward by the Ministry of Justice yesterday to increase fees for those seeking justice through the Immigration and Asylum tribunal system by 500% is yet another step towards putting access to justice beyond the means of those who most need it, warns the Bar Council.’

Full press release

The Bar Council, 28th April 2016

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Direct access barrister ‘no substitute’ for solicitor – judge – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted April 25th, 2016 in appeals, bankruptcy, barristers, council tax, delay, jurisdiction, legal profession, litigants in person, local government, news, solicitors by sally

‘Direct access barristers are no substitute for experienced solicitors, a judge has told a court, ruling that a woman was not advised on the proper process for appealing her council tax liability. ‘

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 24th April 2016

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Barristers predict an increase in public access work – Bar Standards Board

Posted April 20th, 2016 in barristers, legal services, news by sally

‘Public access barristers are expecting the volume of work obtained directly from clients to increase over the next few years as a result of the public access scheme which allows consumers to use barristers directly, without needing to instruct a solicitor or other intermediary.’

Full story

Bar Standards Board, 19th April 2016

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

“Boring” hearings or judges who interrupt? Neuberger knows what he likes – Legal Futures

Posted April 19th, 2016 in advocacy, barristers, courts, criminal justice, EC law, foreign jurisdictions, judges, judiciary, news, speeches by sally

‘The written advocacy of continental European lawyers makes for “boring” court proceedings, according to the President of the Supreme Court.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 19th April 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Constance Briscoe disbarred after being jailed for lying – The Guardian

Posted April 18th, 2016 in barristers, disciplinary procedures, judges, licensing, news, perverting the course of justice, professional conduct, sentencing by sally

‘One of Britain’s most high-profile legal figures, Constance Briscoe, must be disbarred as a barrister after being jailed for lying to police during the Chris Huhne speeding scandal, a tribunal has said.’

Full story

The Guardian, 15th April 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

More flexible CPD for barristers to start from January 2017, says Bar regulator – Bar Standards Board

Posted April 15th, 2016 in barristers, continuing professional development, press releases by sally

‘A new CPD regime for barristers on the Established Practitioner Programme will be in place from January 2017.’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 14th April 2016

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

The Bar and shared parental leave – Cloisters

Posted April 14th, 2016 in barristers, maternity leave, news, parental rights, paternity leave, rent, self-employment by sally

‘Since Shared Parental Leave (SPL) came into force a year ago on 5 April 2015, I have written, lectured and advised widely about this new legal entitlement. The people I have not engaged with much about SPL are barristers – for the key reason that as self-employed professionals rather than employees, they are excluded from this legal entitlement.’

Full story

Cloisters, 7th April 2016

Source: www.cloisters.com

Barrister direct access service “growing fast”, with bespoke technology set to go live – Legal Futures

Posted April 14th, 2016 in barristers, case management, internet, news by sally

‘A direct access service providing the public and businesses with fixed-fee unbundled access to barristers, claims to have doubled its turnover in each of the last two years and expects to grow next year.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 14th April 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Public access barristers join forces with debt solutions business to offer fixed-fee representation – Legal Futures

Posted April 13th, 2016 in barristers, debts, fees, legal representation, litigants in person, news, pilot schemes by sally

‘A group of public access barristers have formed a partnership with a debt solutions company to provide debtors with fixed-fee court representation that they could otherwise not afford.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 12th April 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Legal aid costs tax-payer less than a cup of coffee a week, reckons Bar Council – Legal Voice

Posted April 13th, 2016 in barristers, budgets, legal aid, news, taxation by sally

‘British justice costs the tax-payer less than €2 per week or ‘the price of one cup of coffee’, claimed the chairman of the Bar Council giving evidence to Labour’s legal aid commission. Chantal-Aimée Doerries took issue with the government’s oft-repeated assertion that the UK’s expenditure on legal aid per capita was ‘more generous than any other EU nation or comparable common law jurisdiction’. ‘Every justice system has different cost drivers and looking simply at legal aid in isolation we would suggest is unhelpful,’ she told the commission. ‘

Full story

Legal Voice, 12th April 2016

Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk

Call for chambers rent rebates so male barristers can share parental leave – Legal Futures

Posted April 12th, 2016 in barristers, equality, news, paternity leave, rent by sally

‘The Bar Standards Board is to investigate whether male barristers with new-born children should be entitled to a form of shared parental leave (SPL), with the Bar Council calling for provisions which would give them a rent rebate from their chambers while not working.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 12th April 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk