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The prospect of working abroad has always held promise and often heralded as a chance for the young (and not so young) to broaden their horizons and seek new opportunities. In Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, even the perennially destitute Mr Micawber quits London and goes to seek his fortune in Australia.
Mrs Micawber asks: ‘[A]re the circumstances of the country such, that a man of Mr Micawber’s abilities would have a fair chance of rising in the social scale? I will not say, at present, might he aspire to be Governor, or anything of that sort; but would there be a reasonable opening for his talents to develop themselves – that would be amply sufficient – and find their own expansion?’
The response comes: ‘No better opening anywhere […] for a man who conducts himself well, and is industrious.’
In this day and age, an international practice does not mean that you need to move halfway around the world indefinitely. Plenty of successful barristers who were raised in the common law tradition and qualified in England and Wales have thriving international practices while they live right here in Britain.
The BSB Handbook provides two short rules for what is known as ‘conducting foreign work’:
rC13: In connection with any foreign work you must comply with any applicable rule of conduct prescribed by the law or by any national or local Bar of:
1. the place where the work is or is to be performed; and
2. the place where any proceedings or matters to which the work relates are taking place or contemplated; unless such rule is inconsistent with any requirement of the Core Duties.
rC14: If you solicit work in any jurisdiction outside England and Wales, you must not do so in a manner which would be prohibited if you were a member of the local Bar.
Though there are some further stipulations, the requirements to conduct work abroad have always been straightforward – as of 2021, the Bar Council understands that 2,000 barristers now receive instructions from abroad. This number doubled between 2011 and 2021.
Beyond that, the rising popularity of arbitration, mediation, and adjudication, has meant that barristers in England and Wales have been able to practise in jurisdictions from Dubai and Singapore to Kazakhstan and Hong Kong as advocates in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) proceedings. Many commercial contracts now rely on a third-party arbitration clause as the first port of call to resolve disputes.
The Bar Council’s guidance pack, Barristers in the international legal market, offers more information on how to develop an international practice.
Over the past year, the Young Barristers’ Committee (YBC) has been working hard to provide as many opportunities for young barristers to grow their practice as much as possible, and this has meant offering various initiatives to help young barristers promote themselves internationally.
In May, we both attended and spoke at the Four Jurisdictions conference, in London, alongside our counterparts from the Young Bars of Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. This was an opportunity to connect with our colleagues and seek out new ways to work together and, in some circumstances, practise across borders.
In September, the YBC, Junior Lawyers’ Division, European Young Bar Association (EYBA), and London Young Lawyers’ Group (LYLG) hosted the International Weekend, an annual programme of seminars and networking events for lawyers from across Europe to attend so that knowledge can be shared, and new opportunities explored. Seventy delegates came together to celebrate the legal traditions across Europe and encourage inter-Bar collaboration.
In October, the Anglo-Dutch Exchange took place for the first time since COVID-19. Running since 1966, the Exchange involved a group of barristers from England and Wales visiting the Netherlands and being hosted by the Dutch Young Bars, to forge new partnerships and explore their legal culture. The Bar of England and Wales will soon host Dutch barristers in the UK, when the YBC takes up the organisation of the Exchange next time.
The concern we hear most from young barristers is, understandably, that the sums required to attend these programmes are simply too high. In the current climate, it is not always easy to find the extra money needed to attend international events and to take advantage of different opportunities abroad.
That is why we are proud to have relaunched the Bar Council’s international professional and legal development grant programme, which offers barristers who have less than seven years’ PQE the chance to apply for part-funding of a programme of their choice. If an applicant is successful, one third of travel costs are paid by their Specialist Bar Association, and another third is paid by the Bar Council Scholarship Trust. We would very much encourage young barristers to apply.
The YBC is also proud to be a member of the EYBA, the Young Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association (YCLA), and the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA). Membership of these bodies entitles you to access to numerous events and programmes across the globe, as well as initiatives that can help you to forge new connections with other lawyers, which may lead to new workstreams.
Although we do not see international work as a panacea, we do believe it opens new avenues for income and learning, both of which are crucial to young barristers. One of the things that was brought home to us was that, without adequate financing, many young barristers would not be able to get themselves before the right people overseas who might be keen to instruct them. Often, this involves travelling abroad to attend conferences and programmes at great personal cost.
In addition to the relaunched international professional and legal development grant programme, the cap on what Specialist Bar Associations can offer for individual events has been lifted. And for the first time in its 50-year history, the Anglo-Dutch Exchange offered a bursary system for barristers in PCF bands 1 and 2, to cover travel and administrative costs for those that wished to attend the Exchange.
In 2023, we plan to continue and develop our portfolio of international opportunities and to continue to offer places to young barristers who may not have the means to self-fund. This will be done via bursaries, scholarships, and sponsorship placements in conjunction with chambers and the Inns of Court.
It has been a year of ups and downs, and one of the most challenging the Bar has seen in recent times. However, the YBC is committed to offering as many opportunities as possible for young barristers to strengthen their hand in an increasingly challenging marketplace.
Looking to the horizon is a time-honoured tradition. It cannot be allowed to become the privilege of a select few. The YBC has your back on that.
Michael Polak, (Call 2012), is a member of Church Court Chambers and practises in international law, serious crime, human rights, and strategic litigation. Prior to becoming Chair of the Young Barristers’ Committee in 2022, Michael was President of Middle Temple Young Barrister’s Association and in the past, he has been the elected Chair of the Human Rights Lawyers Association’s Young Lawyers Committee where he started the annual judicial review competition and journal, the Young Human Rights Lawyer. Michael is on the Hall Committee of Middle Temple and is an elected member of the South-Eastern Circuit and the Bar Council.
Michael Harwood is Chair of the Young Barristers’ Committee for 2023 and has been an elected member of the Bar Council since 2020. Michael practises from 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square, specialising predominantly in public and regulatory law, having spent his early career as a lawyer at the Government Legal Department.
The prospect of working abroad has always held promise and often heralded as a chance for the young (and not so young) to broaden their horizons and seek new opportunities. In Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, even the perennially destitute Mr Micawber quits London and goes to seek his fortune in Australia.
Mrs Micawber asks: ‘[A]re the circumstances of the country such, that a man of Mr Micawber’s abilities would have a fair chance of rising in the social scale? I will not say, at present, might he aspire to be Governor, or anything of that sort; but would there be a reasonable opening for his talents to develop themselves – that would be amply sufficient – and find their own expansion?’
The response comes: ‘No better opening anywhere […] for a man who conducts himself well, and is industrious.’
In this day and age, an international practice does not mean that you need to move halfway around the world indefinitely. Plenty of successful barristers who were raised in the common law tradition and qualified in England and Wales have thriving international practices while they live right here in Britain.
The BSB Handbook provides two short rules for what is known as ‘conducting foreign work’:
rC13: In connection with any foreign work you must comply with any applicable rule of conduct prescribed by the law or by any national or local Bar of:
1. the place where the work is or is to be performed; and
2. the place where any proceedings or matters to which the work relates are taking place or contemplated; unless such rule is inconsistent with any requirement of the Core Duties.
rC14: If you solicit work in any jurisdiction outside England and Wales, you must not do so in a manner which would be prohibited if you were a member of the local Bar.
Though there are some further stipulations, the requirements to conduct work abroad have always been straightforward – as of 2021, the Bar Council understands that 2,000 barristers now receive instructions from abroad. This number doubled between 2011 and 2021.
Beyond that, the rising popularity of arbitration, mediation, and adjudication, has meant that barristers in England and Wales have been able to practise in jurisdictions from Dubai and Singapore to Kazakhstan and Hong Kong as advocates in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) proceedings. Many commercial contracts now rely on a third-party arbitration clause as the first port of call to resolve disputes.
The Bar Council’s guidance pack, Barristers in the international legal market, offers more information on how to develop an international practice.
Over the past year, the Young Barristers’ Committee (YBC) has been working hard to provide as many opportunities for young barristers to grow their practice as much as possible, and this has meant offering various initiatives to help young barristers promote themselves internationally.
In May, we both attended and spoke at the Four Jurisdictions conference, in London, alongside our counterparts from the Young Bars of Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. This was an opportunity to connect with our colleagues and seek out new ways to work together and, in some circumstances, practise across borders.
In September, the YBC, Junior Lawyers’ Division, European Young Bar Association (EYBA), and London Young Lawyers’ Group (LYLG) hosted the International Weekend, an annual programme of seminars and networking events for lawyers from across Europe to attend so that knowledge can be shared, and new opportunities explored. Seventy delegates came together to celebrate the legal traditions across Europe and encourage inter-Bar collaboration.
In October, the Anglo-Dutch Exchange took place for the first time since COVID-19. Running since 1966, the Exchange involved a group of barristers from England and Wales visiting the Netherlands and being hosted by the Dutch Young Bars, to forge new partnerships and explore their legal culture. The Bar of England and Wales will soon host Dutch barristers in the UK, when the YBC takes up the organisation of the Exchange next time.
The concern we hear most from young barristers is, understandably, that the sums required to attend these programmes are simply too high. In the current climate, it is not always easy to find the extra money needed to attend international events and to take advantage of different opportunities abroad.
That is why we are proud to have relaunched the Bar Council’s international professional and legal development grant programme, which offers barristers who have less than seven years’ PQE the chance to apply for part-funding of a programme of their choice. If an applicant is successful, one third of travel costs are paid by their Specialist Bar Association, and another third is paid by the Bar Council Scholarship Trust. We would very much encourage young barristers to apply.
The YBC is also proud to be a member of the EYBA, the Young Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association (YCLA), and the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA). Membership of these bodies entitles you to access to numerous events and programmes across the globe, as well as initiatives that can help you to forge new connections with other lawyers, which may lead to new workstreams.
Although we do not see international work as a panacea, we do believe it opens new avenues for income and learning, both of which are crucial to young barristers. One of the things that was brought home to us was that, without adequate financing, many young barristers would not be able to get themselves before the right people overseas who might be keen to instruct them. Often, this involves travelling abroad to attend conferences and programmes at great personal cost.
In addition to the relaunched international professional and legal development grant programme, the cap on what Specialist Bar Associations can offer for individual events has been lifted. And for the first time in its 50-year history, the Anglo-Dutch Exchange offered a bursary system for barristers in PCF bands 1 and 2, to cover travel and administrative costs for those that wished to attend the Exchange.
In 2023, we plan to continue and develop our portfolio of international opportunities and to continue to offer places to young barristers who may not have the means to self-fund. This will be done via bursaries, scholarships, and sponsorship placements in conjunction with chambers and the Inns of Court.
It has been a year of ups and downs, and one of the most challenging the Bar has seen in recent times. However, the YBC is committed to offering as many opportunities as possible for young barristers to strengthen their hand in an increasingly challenging marketplace.
Looking to the horizon is a time-honoured tradition. It cannot be allowed to become the privilege of a select few. The YBC has your back on that.
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