Profession

As legal aid cuts bite, Anika Jones explains the pop-up clinic at 1MCB.  

1MCB was founded over 35 years ago with the aim of representing all sectors of the community. 

The diversity of the employed Bar.  

A popular misconception when considering the employed Bar is assuming that roles are either in a solicitor’s firm or in the Government Legal Service or CPS. Dispelling this myth, Melissa Coutinho continues her series of 60 second interviews which demonstrate the diversity of work that employed lawyers undertake. 

Sir Dennis Byron, with 32 years on the bench and still sitting, is one of the longest-serving judges in the common law jurisdiction.   

The most notable aspect of his career has been his service on courts which have combined both domestic and international jurisdictions, as Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and now as President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). 

Russell Wallman highlights misconceptions about the QC application process.   

In this first part of a two-part feature on applying for Silk, Russell reveals the most common concerns and puts the record straight. 

The Chairman of the Bar wants to see a permanent arrangement on fees, more specialism on Circuit and greater recognition for first-generation barristers.   

Alistair MacDonald QC shares aims and aspirations for his 2015 term of office with David Wurtzel. 

Anthony Inglese explains how chambers could benefit from the lens of a critical friend.  

It would be good for chambers, and also for the reputation of the Bar, if some forward-thinking sets would take the lead in each appointing a couple of “critical friends” on a part-time basis to sit on their most significant committees and be part of their governance. 

You can “change, adapt and thrive” as a barrister-led, BSB-regulated entity under a new regime launching this January, suggests Oliver Hanmer.  

It is something of a cliché to use the words “a rapidly changing profession”; to describe the “ever-evolving environment” in which the Bar operates; to note that the legal services market is “undergoing unprecedented change”, as if few had noticed. 

The Young Bar conference took place on 18 October.  

YBC Chairman, Max Hardy, reports back. 

As part of the July 14 reshuffle, the then Attorney General Dominic Grieve QC was replaced.  

The post went to criminal barrister and Conservative MP Jeremy Wright, who talks to Chris McWatters about his new role. 

The Bar Council needs not only to support the Bar but also to help it be understood by and to reflect the society it serves.   

Stephen Crowne talks to Rupert Jones about his role as Bar Council Chief Executive.