Practice Toolset

Research suggests lawyers need to engage more with their personal morality, but what makes a virtuous professional? Mary Cowe considers the development of practical wisdom at the Bar  

During my undergraduate law degree, Lawyer’s Ethics was an optional paper assessed via a two- rather than three-hour exam, and described as a ‘half-course’: cue much hilarity from philosophy student friends about the obvious dearth of ethical proscriptions on lawyers, if there was so little to study it couldn’t fill a whole module. 

Benchmark your budding best practice: putting mental health firmly on the chambers agenda is the right thing to do and benefits the bottom line
 

With International Women’s Day in March and the new Gender Pay Gap Regulations in force from April, what better time to let you know about the Barristers Lean in Circle? Eleena Misra reports  

Social collective consciousness around the experience of women in society, and not just at the Bar, is increasing.  

Greater Manchester Law Centre has opened against the odds and is the third new centre to join the legal aid network post-LASPO. Barristers were integral to its success and John Nicholson outlines the journey – urging the Bar to join the wider campaign for law centres  

Ken Loach’s I Daniel Blake  paints a clear picture of Britain today.  

Minding our standards: in the first of a new column for Counsel, Andrew Walker QC outlines fresh imperatives and initiatives for barristers to enhance their knowledge of ethics in practice and stay ahead of the curve  

A new year brings changes and new ideas to the Bar Council.  

David Wurtzel reveals the story behind the statistics in this year’s Silk list and Abigail Bright imparts sage career advice from an expert panel of women QCs 

No contacts, no mini-pupillage? Dr Elaine Freer examines the state of work experience at the Bar in light of recent guidance for chambers and her own research on socio-economically disadvantaged aspirant entrants  

On its website pages about work experience, the Bar Council states: ‘Mini-pupillages provide an invaluable insight into life as a barrister and may provide some useful contacts to assist you in finding pupillage.  

The Bar is in danger of losing its distinct legal heritage, warns Clare Cowling – who outlines the considerable research value to be found in chambers records  

Fees are still too low, but the Bar has developed a better settlement for criminal practitioners to reward advocacy in a fairer and more transparent way. Now it’s up to the profession to make their voices heard and respond to the consultation, as Daniel Oscroft explains  

Ask most criminal barristers to tell you if there is a future at the criminal Bar and you will be told, ‘No’.  

Gregory Jones QC relays a short history of barristers’ haunt ‘Farringdon Without’. Never a place for grey-suited City workers, the ward’s past has been a radical and bloody one but in its own way continues to move with the times  

As the largest of the 25 wards, Farringdon Without possesses a diversity of trades and professions greater than any other part of the City of London.