Barristers

Employment lawyers support targeted ethical training in the wake of the furore over NDAs, while the Bar Standards Board is to issue guidance on their use.

Legal regulators must show that lawyers will face “serious sanctions” if they sexually harass clients or colleagues or misuse non-disclosure agreements, MPs said today.

The Legal Services Board is to impose reform that will end the “different treatment” for accountancy regulators which also oversee legal services.

A barrister who worked as an advocate at City law firms has set up a niche commercial firm regulated by the BSB, offering arbitration clients fixed fees.

A survey of a barristers’ mentoring scheme has found a wide divergence of perceptions between the newly qualified and experienced advocates questioned.

A barrister found to have bought and supplied cannabis has been reprimanded and fined by the Bar Standards Board.

The Bar Standards Board has warned consumers about the risks of choosing a barrister based on online reviews.

The standard of criminal advocacy is “generally competent”, but that of solicitor-advocates and in-house barristers is inferior to the self-employed Bar, research among judges has found.

A criminal defence barrister who specialised in fraud work has been jailed for 18 months for tax fraud. He failed to submit 26 VAT returns or any self-assessment returns since 1999.

A third of women barristers, those from a black, Asian or ethnic minority background and disabled barristers have experienced harassment, bullying or discrimination in recent years.