Chambers

Name: Chris Owen 

Position: CEO 

Chambers: St Philips 

Which lawyers have played first class cricket? Daniel Lightman investigates 

There is a long tradition of lawyer-cricketers. Perhaps the first was William Byrd (1674–1744). Born in Virginia, where his father was an early settler from England, he was sent to English public school and went on to be called to the Bar and join the Inner Temple. In 1704, on his father’s death, Byrd returned to Virginia to take over his family’s estates, and is said to have introduced cricket there. Between 1709 and 1712 William Byrd kept a secret diary, the entry for 25 April 1709 recording: “I rose at 6 o’clock and read a chapter in Hebrew. About 10 o’clock Dr Blair, and Major and Captain Harrison came to see us. After I had given them a glass of sack we played cricket. I ate boiled beef for my dinner. Then we played at shooting with arrows and went to cricket again till dark.” 

The Bar Standards Board has recently published a consultation paper on proposals for revisions to barristers’ practising arrangements. In particular the paper covers: 

1. The introduction of an authorisation to practise regime;
2. The regulatory arrangements for barristers who do not have full practising entitlements; and
3. The relationship of the above to the Barristers’ Register 

Section 13(2) of the Legal Services Act 2007 states that a person is entitled to carry on a reserved legal activity where the person is an authorised person in relation to that activity. Reserved legal activities are: 

1. The exercise of a right of audience
2. The conduct of litigation
3. Reserved instrument activities
4. Probate activities
5. Notarial activities and
6. The administration of Oaths 

Authorisation to carry out these activities falls to the relevant approved regulator. The BSB must therefore have in place arrangements that explicitly grant barristers authorisation to undertake reserved legal activities. The consultation paper puts forward proposals for an authorisation to practise regime for barristers. It is proposed that the new regime would be introduced towards the end of 2011 so that it is in place for renewals at the start of 2012. Transitional arrangements will be required. 

The new regime will impact on all practising barristers and views are encouraged on both the broad principles of the proposals as well as the practicalities of how they might operate. 

The paper also explores options for the regulation of barristers without full entitlement to practise. This is an issue with a long and complicated history and views are sought on whether the proposed approach, as set out in the paper, is practicable and proportionate. 

A copy of the paper can be found on the BSB’s website (www.barstandardsboard.org.uk) The deadline for responses is 1 June 2010. 

Names: Alex Taylor and Paul Martenstyn 

Positions: Director of Clerking and Team Leader 

Chambers: Fountain Court 

Barristers’ chambers have made a respectable debut in the Diversity League Tables. 

Chambers were included in the annual league table, run by the Black Solicitors Network, for the first time this year, with 23 out of 60 invited sets agreeing to take part. This year’s table expanded to capture data on sexual orientation and disability as well as gender and ethnicity. 

A large delegation of 20 barristers and chambers’ staff visited Mumbai and Kolkata between 22 and 27 November. This visit took place in the context of the International Committee’s strategic plan objective to raise the profile of the Bar in India over the period 2008- 2010. It built on visits in 2005 and 2007 and a visit by the Bombay Bar Association to London and Manchester in 2008. 

The visit had three objectives: 

1) Strengthening ties with the Indian legal profession (both in private practice and in-house) at the trade level
2) Giving practitioner members and practice managers an opportunity to promote their own practice vis-a-vis Indian law firms and in-house counsel.
3) Strengthening ties with the Indian legal profession at the values level 

The second objective was a new one. Previously the aim on the business development side had been limited to raising the profile of the Bar in general and to explain to lawyers and in-house counsel the advantages of working with barrister in relation to English and international law matters. 

A number of events were held in pursuit of the first two objectives as well as the objective to allow practitioners to promote their own practice. Just before the delegation began its official programme in Mumbai, the Chairman also visited Delhi for meetings with the Law
Minister and the Corporate Affairs Minister in pursuit of all three objectives. Both Ministers were supportive in every respect and
particularly keen for the Bar to continue advocacy training programmes in India. 

In respect of the latter, two advocacy training programmes were delivered by three trainers from the Advocacy Training Council (ATC)
in Mumbai and Kolkata, a similar initiative as was conducted during the 2005 mission. The objective here was to demonstrate the excellence of the English Bar in IDR as well as generating goodwill by providing free training to young Indian advocates and encouraging
the senior bar to contemplate becoming advocacy trainers through future ATC training events. Around 40 young advocates benefited from the training in each city. 

In respect of business development and raising the profile of the Bar’s legal expertise three seminars were held for in-house counsel and senior managers of major Indian corporates in both cities. The seminars consisted of an introduction to the Bar and its international legal services, followed by three presentations on international litigation, international arbitration and international mediation. This was followed by a networking opportunity. 

In addition two seminars were held with bar associations in Mumbai and Kolkata to strengthen links with the local profession. Finally, two well-attended receptions were held for legal VIPs in each city. 

The visit, supported by UKTI, was successful in raising the profile of the Bar and delegation members were able to make many useful
business contacts. In both Mumbai and Kolkata, further opportunities in developing international arbitration and mediation activities have appeared. The great interest in the ATC programme is also generate further requests for advocacy training events in both cities. The International Committee will evaluate the success of the mission in greater detail and plans for future India-related activities will be announced in the New Year. 

A CPD Working Group, chaired by Derek Wood QC, has been setup to conduct a comprehensive review of the continuing education and professional development of practising barristers (in respect of both new practitioners and established practitioners). This follows reviews of the Vocational and Pupillage stages of barristers’ training, which were also chaired by Derek Wood QC. 

A Bar Council group of experts in commercial and criminal law visited the Chinese cities of Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in early November. The first three cities were visited in collaboration with a delegation from the Law Society and the final city by the Bar Council group alone. The delegation, led by Adrian Hughes QC, held well attended seminars and roundtables which focused on international transactions and dispute resolution, and promoted the key role that barristers can play in such work. The Bar Council was pleased to welcome Chinese speakers, to give insight into the Chinese legal market and experience of English law. The barrister team also explained direct access and how to instruct a barrister, messages supported by Bar Council publications available in Mandarin. The delegation’s seminar programme was backed by the local bar associations, the Consul Generals of Shanghai and Guangzhou, the China-Britain Business Centre and the Zhejiang Chamber of International Commerce. The Bar Council is grateful to UKTI for assisting many of the barristers who participated in the visit through its Market Visit grants programme. 

The Bar Standards Board has paved the way for fundamental changes in barristers’ working practices by giving approval for barristers to supply legal services through the legal structures known as Legal Disciplinary Practices (LDPs). The BSB has taken significant decisions in order to open up the legal services market so that consumers have access to even better value, quality, legal services in fulfilment of the Regulatory of the Legal Services Act 2007. 

The BSB formed an Alternative Business Structures Working Group in 2007 to consider how barristers might become involved in LDPs and ABSs. The work of that group has been thorough and detailed, including three consultations on various aspects of the possible impacts of the Legal Services Act. The reports of the Group were considered by the Board at its meeting on Thursday 17 November and the Board accepted the following recommendations: 

The China sub-committee of the International Committee was pleased to welcome a delegation of nine office holders from the Tianjin Bar Association to London on 7 December. The Bar Council established a good relationship with the Tianjin Bar during a visit to the city in 2008 where it conducted a seminar on environmental law for an audience of about 100 local lawyers. The delegation was interested in strengthening the relationship between the Tianjin Bar Association and the Bar Council, learning about chambers management, meeting with some law schools interested in training young Chinese lawyers. To this end the delegation had meetings with Desmond Browne QC, BPP Law School, as well as a lunch with barristers in Lincolns Inn and a meeting at 39 Essex Street Chambers to learn more about the management of a commercial set.