Barristers

Government plans to impose a ‘good faith’ requirement on immigration lawyers have been strongly attacked by solicitors and barristers, while the Legal Services Board has also questioned it.

Both the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board are this year changing their approach to recording the sex and gender identity of those they regulate, it has emerged.

A barrister whose actions in speaking to the opposing lay client in the absence of their lawyer led a court to adjourn a hearing has been sanctioned by a disciplinary tribunal.

A barrister suing her chambers and Stonewall has told counsel for the LGBT charity to “reflect on her ethics” after the latter engaged with her on Twitter.

A project encouraging barristers to be ‘active bystanders’ – speaking out and standing against abusive, bullying and belittling behaviour – has been launched under the name ‘All Rise’.

The Bar Standards Board and electronic testing company Pearson VUE have both come under fire from the independent review of last year’s Bar professional training course exams.

A barrister whose misleading witness statement led the High Court to rule that an arbitration award was obtained by fraud has been fined by a disciplinary tribunal.

The Bar Council and Council for Licensed Conveyancers have warned of the dangers of using “one-sided” consumer reviews to assess the quality of lawyers.

Plans to beef up the sanctions imposed on barristers for serious offences – including sexual misconduct, harassment and discrimination – were unveiled yesterday.

The barrister who withdrew from the sub-postmasters’ appeal after disclosing a document to the police has described the threat of contempt proceedings he faced as “seriously questionable”.