Practice Toolset

Join an active network of barristers helping the community at large. Martin Jones explains how you can get involved.  

National Pro Bono Week, which took place in November 2008, celebrated the growing scale and impact of pro bono work by barristers, solicitors, legal executives, law students and other professionals. The launch event reflected a central theme of the week—public legal education—with a mock trial at the Royal Courts of Justice. 

With some trepidation, Jacqueline Simpson agreed to wear a stress belt to assess the impact of two days in a life at the Bar.  

As a new tenant and single mother of a five-year-old girl, my diet and fitness regime had somewhat disintegrated over recent years. So I feared the worst when I agreed—albeit for two days—to wear a belt that was supposed to assess my stress level. 

Justice for those who have suffered at the hands of war can be hard won. John Cooper explains how the Bar provides an essential pro bono service to those who have suffered through armed conflict.  

The legal profession does not have the luxury of living in a vacuum, either socially or politically. Sometimes the human consequences of political decisions requires from us a committed and extensive reaction. 

Sensible maternity provision is the first step to female retention, finds Sarah Grainger, in the first of a series on the opportunities and risks for women taking leave from the Bar.  

We’ve certainly come a long way since Hannah Cross, called to the Bar in 1931 and the first woman member of the Bar Council, had to promise to use the public toilets in Lincoln’s Inn Fields before she was accepted by 1 New Square. But not so far that female representation at the senior levels of the Bar can be taken for granted. Last year’s Sex and Power Report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (September 2008) revealed that a snail could crawl around the M25 nine times in the time (55 years) it will take women to be equally represented in the senior judiciary: traditionally drawn from the senior Bar. 

Flexible working—hardly revolutionary, but underused at the Bar—is the answer to female retention. But it must be adequately rewarded, writes Melissa Coutino.  

What battles await the new Bar Council Chairman? David Wurtzel talks to Desmond Browne QC about the dragons he intends to anaesthetise, if not slay, in 2009 

Don’t face a wasted costs claim. Open your eyes to the power and mechanics of litigation technology, says Chris Dale 

It’s halfway through the CPD year. Never one to leave things to the last minute, Elizabeth Davidson explores an array of means to gain your points in good time

Developing your skills as a barrister and keeping up to date with the latest developments in the law is crucial if you want to be successful. It is also a professional obligation. The Bar Standards Board sets strict requirements for all members of the Bar on Continuing Professional Development (CPD). This is to ensure the profession maintains its standards of service and continues to offer high quality legal advice and representation. 

As the Ministry of Justice marks its first anniversary, Elsa Booth meets Jack Straw—the first Lord Chancellor to sit in the Commons and with an unprecedented remit—and examines the man behind the ministry and his vision for justice 

The Bar’s future as a referral profession has been secured, but consider the impact if the nature of those who refer work changes, warns Stephen Mayson.  

The Bar Council was rightly proud of its response and effective lobbying as the Legal Services Bill made its passage through Parliament. As a result, the Bar seems to emerge relatively unscathed now that the Legal Services Act 2007 (LSA 2007) is with us. Indeed, the Perceptions of Barristers survey commissioned by the Bar Standards Board of the Bar’s “stakeholders” found a high level of satisfaction, with barristers seen as competent, highly qualified and dedicated, and whose advocacy skills set them apart (see Counsel, January 2008, p 4 and March 2008, p 24).