Chair's Column

Examining the LSB’s commitment to standards and to quality; the LSB decision to continue to permit referral fees; and a meeting with the new Chief Executive of the Legal Services Commission

Contributor
Michael Todd QC, Chairman of the Bar 

In his address to the Russell Cooke Forum on Quality and Standards in a Liberalised Market, David Edmonds, the Chair of the Legal Services Board (LSB) gave the unremitting commitment of the LSB to standards, to quality and to upholding the rule of law. Easily said, but a little less easy to discern, I suggest. 

Lawyers worldwide look to the UK as leading the common law world in terms of its jurisprudence; the challenges to this position; the Bar must fend off consultation fatigue and become part of the debate; education, training and the quality assurance scheme for advocates

Contributor
Michael Todd QC, Chairman of the Bar  

Of all the major dispute resolution centres, including New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore, US corporate clients prefer to have their disputes litigated in London; the reason given is the quality of the judiciary. New York’s elected judges, without the commercial experience derived from years in practice at the Bar, come second to English judges. Or so I was told on my recent trip to the American Bar Association, Section of International Law Conference in New York, at a roundtable discussion we had with the New York State Bar Association. 

A look at the continuing cuts to CPS fees and the effect on the criminal Bar; and a call for support from within the Bar itself in dealing with the challenges now facing it

Contributor
Michael Todd QC, Bar Chairman  

The news, as reported to me by Max Hill QC at a reception given by the Law Officers on 8 March following his meeting with the DPP, that the present round of cuts in CPS fees is expected to deliver only half (13%) of the 25% savings required of the CPS under the Comprehensive Spending Review will come as another body blow to the criminal Bar. Unless the Government can be persuaded that an effective and efficient criminal justice system requires quality, and not just price, as a factor in the delivery of legal services, cuts of a further 12% seem inevitable. 

The background to QASA and its possible evolution; and a look at the debate surrounding fusion of the profession 

Contributor
Michael Todd QC, Bar Chairman 

“This was my first experience of the Family Court system and I was deeply impressed with the level of care and attention with which [X] ‘was just doing her job’. At a very vulnerable time I felt protected, reassured and offered the confidence and clarity with which to make my choices. While I had only met her once before and knew I was benefitting from her years of experience of more complex case work, she made me feel my case was just as important.” Not my personal experience, but the experience of an intelligent and articulate litigant before our Courts, set out by that grateful litigant in her letter to me of 26 January. It is a testament to a very able barrister; a barrister who is, herself, a testament to the excellence and quality of the Bar. As Chairman of the Bar, I was proud to receive that letter. 

The Inns’ 50% reduction of their Bar Council subvention; reviewing the  PCF and the structure, composition and workings of the Bar Council; the commercialisation of the Inns; the CPS’s Advocacy Panel and Graduated Fee Scheme; and late payment of fees by the LSC 

A look at the role of the Bar Council, its Secretariat and its Committees and how to ensure their efficiency and relevancy during the tough months and years ahead 

A new year, a new Chairman, and new resolutions; what difference will it make? What difference will I make? I have set out my stall for this coming year in my inaugural speech, which is available on the new Bar Council website. The recurrent theme of my message is that we must all invest in the future, in our future. By that I don’t mean spending money that we haven’t got, borrowing today in the anxious hope that tomorrow the rain clouds will roll away and the sun will shine once again on the practices of the publicly funded Bar, mortgaging our futures for today’s expenditure. I mean making well informed and strategic investment decisions, marshalling those resources that we do have for the greatest possible return. Just as that message is directed at the Bar itself, it is also directed at the Government, and at the Bar Council.  

A review of the Bar Conference; frustration at the seemingly unstoppable progress of the Legal Aid Bill as it heads to the Lords; a look back at the year in office as Chairman; and bidding farewell. 

Addressing the Young Bar Conference; a week in the life of a Chairman of the Bar; praise for those working so hard at the Bar Council; and a preview of the Bar Conference.

I was delighted to give a keynote address at the recent successful Young Bar Conference. My contribution was described as the Chairman’s opportunity to inform the Young Bar about his work and that of the Bar Council. So to give it veracity, I spoke of my diary in the preceding week. It was suggested that I should also set it out here: 

A meeting with the Lord Chancellor; the fight for a ban on referral fees;  the annual Bar Conference; and some positive news at last

Following my letter to him in July, I met the Lord Chancellor on 7 September, when we had a robust exchange of views. I reinforced the thrust of the letter: that cuts are having a significant impact on the availability of pupillages in chambers focused on publicly funded work, that there is growing evidence that young barristers are moving away from crime and family work after a few years of practice, and that the good progress which the Bar has made over several years in improving the diversity of the profession is being placed at risk. I restated the anger and despondency of the publicly funded Bar. 

A letter to the Lord Chancellor; a report on the national meeting of the criminal Bar; progress of the BSB’s QASA; and modernising chambers’ business structures.

This has not been a quiet summer. The Government has been given much to think about. Whatever the cause, and accepting that the events may have been unusual, what is clear is that the justice system has been struggling to cope. Often we have warned the Government about the current problems of under funding; let us hope that they now see that our observations are not just self-interest.