BSB allows university to restart Bar training course – Legal Futures

Posted June 12th, 2024 in barristers, examinations, legal education, news, universities by sally

‘Hertfordshire University can start taking Bar training course students from September again, after the Bar Standards Board reinstated its authorisation.’

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Legal Futures, 12th June 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Carr urges KCs to give juniors oral advocacy opportunities – Legal Futures

Posted June 10th, 2024 in advocacy, barristers, diversity, judges, judiciary, news, professional conduct by tracey

‘The Lady Chief Justice has urged senior barristers to give their junior counsel chances to speak in court, both for their own development and the future diversity of the judiciary.’

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Legal Futures, 10th June 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Where’s the limit? A recent contrasting pair of lawyers’ liability cases on duty and limitation – 4 New Square

‘A recent pair of lawyers’ liability cases have looked at the issue of continuing duties and limitation in two contrasting circumstances: one where the solicitors realised that they had made an error and set about rectifying it, and one where the lawyers did not think that they had been negligent. The two factual scenarios led to diametrically opposed outcomes. Amanda Savage KC and Helen Evans KC examine these recent authorities and what they tell us about where the law is heading on both limitation and duty in lawyers’ claims.’

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4 New Square, 3rd June 2024

Source: www.4newsquare.com

More trauma for rape victims as court backlog doubles in two years due to lawyer shortage – The Independent

‘Court backlogs for rape prosecutions have soared to a record high, with the number of cases doubling in two years and victims facing “devastating” waits for justice.’

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The Independent, 2nd June 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk

BSB board and staff at odds over transferring foreign lawyers – Legal Futures

Posted May 30th, 2024 in barristers, foreign jurisdictions, news by tracey

‘Members of the Bar Standards Board (BSB) clashed with senior staff last week over how to deal with the large number of foreign lawyers seeking to be called in England and Wales but who do not intend to practise here.’

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Legal Futures, 30th May 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Costs order was ‘fair’ where barrister forgot to renew his practising certificate, High Court judge finds – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Restricting the recovery of a barrister’s fees to work done while he held a practising certificate was not unfair, the High Court judge has ruled.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 28th May 2024

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

BSB launches Anti-Racist Strategy for 2024-27 for its people – Bar Standards Board

Posted May 28th, 2024 in barristers, news, racism by tracey

‘Following on from the publication of its Anti-Racist Statement in 2020, the BSB has now launched its Anti-Racist Strategy covering the period 2024-2027. This new Strategy sets our internal commitment to anti-racism in how the BSB operates with its people, outlining how we intend to lead by example by setting and meeting high standards in our own approach.’

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Bar Standards Board, 22nd May 2024

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Barristers “do not want remote hearings rolled back” – Legal Futures

Posted May 21st, 2024 in barristers, HM Courts Service, news, remote hearings, statistics by sally

‘Barristers do not want to see “progress on remote hearings rolled back” and almost half would like the number to be increased, a report by the Bar Council has found.’

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Legal Futures, 21st May 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Barristers turning away from government legal work over frozen fees – Legal Futures

Posted May 17th, 2024 in barristers, fees, government departments, judiciary, news, remuneration by sally

The failure to increase the rates of pay for barristers handling government work since 1997 has created a “very high level of dissatisfaction and exasperation”.

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Legal Futures, 17th May 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Barrister who fell asleep during inquest cleared of misconduct – The Guardian

‘A barrister who wrote a book on sleepwalking and who fell asleep during a coroner’s inquest has been cleared of all professional misconduct charges.’

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The Guardian, 15th May 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Supporting disability at the Bar is a work of A.R.T. – Counsel

‘The Bar is slowly addressing the barriers to attracting disabled talent, says Daniel Holt, but there are more ways chambers can authentically commit to disability inclusion.’

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Counsel, May 2024

Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk

Court of Appeal reverses stay of criminal trial over lack of counsel finding it ‘based on mistakes of fact’ – Law Society’s Gazette

‘A Court of Appeal judgment has given guidance to judges “facing difficulties arising out of non-attendance by trial counsel” after finding a district judge was wrong to stay proceedings over the lack of prosecuting counsel.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 13th May 2024

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Pupillage providers using blind recruitment “are less diverse” – Legal Futures

Posted May 8th, 2024 in barristers, diversity, equality, news, pupillage, statistics by tracey

‘Pupillage providers using blind or contextual recruitment techniques have a higher proportion of male and White pupils than those who do not, research by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has found.’

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Legal Futures, 8th May 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

The Bar Standards Board publishes two reports on pupillage recruitment at the Bar – The Bar Standards Board

Posted May 7th, 2024 in barristers, news, pupillage, recruitment, reports by tracey

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published two reports on pupillage recruitment at the Bar. The objective of this research was to strengthen our evidence base around pupillage recruitment to inform the development of the BSB’s policies, including our forthcoming consultation on the Equality Rules.’

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The Bar Standards Board, 2nd May 2024

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

All or Nothing – Cambridge Law Journal

Posted May 2nd, 2024 in barristers, consumer protection, fees, news, unfair contract terms by sally

‘Glaser v Atay [2023] EWHC 2539 (KB) is a significant decision in two respects. First, it is a vanishingly rare example of a superior court striking down a contractual term as unfair under Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA). Second, the case contains interesting – and ultimately problematic – discussion of the effect of a term being unfair, an issue seldom explored in previous cases.’

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Cambridge Law Journal, 3rd April 2024

Source: www.cambridge.org

Bar earnings gap a “serious cultural and structural problem” – Legal Futures

‘The earnings gap between male and female barristers is not explained by caring responsibilities, choice of practice area, or amount of legally aided work”, new research by the Bar Council has found.’

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Legal Futures, 24th April 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Mind the early gender earnings gap at the Bar – new research from the Bar Council – The Bar Council

Posted April 24th, 2024 in barristers, diversity, equality, fees, gender, news, remuneration, statistics, women by tracey

‘Barristers and chambers can actively manage practice and career development to mitigate the earnings gap between men and women at the self-employed Bar, according to new research from the Bar Council: New practitioner earnings differentials at the self-employed Bar.’

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The Bar Council, 23rd April 2024

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Suspension for barrister who lied to client over binned files – Legal Futures

Posted April 23rd, 2024 in barristers, disciplinary procedures, documents, news by sally

‘A direct access barrister who lied to a client over files that were accidentally destroyed by his chambers has been suspended for six months by a Bar disciplinary tribunal.’

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Legal Futures, 23rd April 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

The Bar Standards Board publishes the Fieldfisher review of its enforcement system – Bar Standards Board

‘The leading law firm Fieldfisher LLP was appointed in 2023 to carry out an end-to-end review of the Bar Standards Board’s (BSB) enforcement system, encompassing all the BSB’s systems, processes and policies. After agreement in principle by the Board, the full report is today being published.’

Full report

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Bar Standards Board, 12th April 2024

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Schools in England and Wales using ‘gender toolkit’ risk being sued by parents – The Guardian

‘Leading barrister warns that the kit – used to support gender-questioning children – is likely to be in breach of equality laws and could violate pupils’ rights.’

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The Guardian, 13th April 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com