*/
Barristers earning more than £500,000 face increased practising certificate fees.
At present, fees are set according to six bands, with the highest for those earning £240,000 or more set at £1,850. In a consultation paper, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and Bar Council laid out plans for two more grades.
Those earning more than £500,000 will pay £2,500 and those earning more than £1m will pay £3,000. Those earning £30,000 or less will see their fee reduced from £123 to £100. Fees for the other pay bands will remain unchanged.
The consultation estimated it will bring in an extra £497,000 from those in Band 7 and £382,000 from those in Band 8, on the basis that nearly 130 barristers earn more than £1m a year and about 200 take home more than £500,000.
It stated that the proposals are ‘not an attempt at redistribution of wealth’ but a recognition of the ‘increasing gap in earnings across the Bar’.
The plans will be brought to the joint Bar Council and BSB Finance Committee for review and approval in February 2019.
The BSB also published rules allowing it to close barristers’ practices, after it was given the statutory power to intervene.
Director of Strategy and Policy, Ewen Macleod, said the BSB expected to use the powers ‘very infrequently and only in the rarest of situations’ where intervening is the only way to safeguard clients’ interests.
Barristers earning more than £500,000 face increased practising certificate fees.
At present, fees are set according to six bands, with the highest for those earning £240,000 or more set at £1,850. In a consultation paper, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and Bar Council laid out plans for two more grades.
Those earning more than £500,000 will pay £2,500 and those earning more than £1m will pay £3,000. Those earning £30,000 or less will see their fee reduced from £123 to £100. Fees for the other pay bands will remain unchanged.
The consultation estimated it will bring in an extra £497,000 from those in Band 7 and £382,000 from those in Band 8, on the basis that nearly 130 barristers earn more than £1m a year and about 200 take home more than £500,000.
It stated that the proposals are ‘not an attempt at redistribution of wealth’ but a recognition of the ‘increasing gap in earnings across the Bar’.
The plans will be brought to the joint Bar Council and BSB Finance Committee for review and approval in February 2019.
The BSB also published rules allowing it to close barristers’ practices, after it was given the statutory power to intervene.
Director of Strategy and Policy, Ewen Macleod, said the BSB expected to use the powers ‘very infrequently and only in the rarest of situations’ where intervening is the only way to safeguard clients’ interests.
The new Bar Council earnings report presents a collective challenge for the self-employed Bar, remote hearings are changing and Bar Conference is back next month
Launch of the Institute of Neurotechnology and Law
Paul Magrath of ICLR recalls the chequered history of law reporting prior to the 1865 establishment of a Council of Law Reporting
Leading drug, alcohol and DNA testing laboratory, AlphaBiolabs, has made a £500 donation to North West charity Child Concern as part of its Giving Back campaign
Gail Evans, Technical Trainer at AlphaBiolabs, examines the latest trends in illicit drug use as seen in the laboratory, from designer drugs to ‘unexpected’ substances in a donor’s sample
Louise Crush explores the value you can measure in monetary terms alongside the many non-tangible benefits to working with a financial adviser
By Professor Jo Delahunty KC, Kate Brunner KC and Dr Ann Olivarius KC (Hon) OBE
The ‘non-party political’ employment silk advising Labour talks to Stephanie Hayward about employer failure to tackle workplace sexual harassment and the urgent need to reinvent whistleblowing culture
From Parliamentary standards to barrister standards – Kathryn Stone OBE, Chair of the Bar’s regulator, talks to Anthony Inglese CB about roots, respect and reviews
Jessica Foster reviews State Trials and Error – fundraising and showcasing the musical and theatrical talent within the legal profession
Alex Goodman KC on why our electoral laws need an urgent upgrade – they were not designed to address the corruption of popular opinion by AI and deepfakes