Barristers

The Legal Services Board has given the Bar Council a slap on the wrist for the comments it made in a Legal Futures article about staffing levels at the oversight regulator.

The Bar Standards Board has announced that Bar students will be able to take this year’s exams online – but barristers have expressed concern about the “astonishing” anti-cheating provisions.

A young barrister who runs a blog about mental health among lawyers has called for the five-year deadline for would-be barristers to get pupillages to be extended or scrapped.

A veteran barrister who “took advantage” of the Bar Standards Board by refusing to pay a fine for almost four years has been suspended for two months.

The Legal Services Board is planning to review a “random sample” of regulators’ disciplinary decisions to ensure the right processes and procedures are in place.

The Bar Council and Bar Standards Board have announced a series of measures – including furloughing – to make savings of more than £200,000 to support the profession during the Covid-19 crisis.

Seven of the eight frontline regulators have “confirmed their continued commitment” to the Legal Choices website, despite the Solicitors Regulation Authority no longer wanting to run it.

The future for the Bar is “bleak” if work streams and earnings do not improve, with over half of barristers now working less than 18 hours a week, the Bar Council has warned.

The Legal Services Board is launching a formal review of the Bar Standards Board’s leadership and decision-making in the wake of its controversial decision to stop funding the Legal Choices website.

Young barristers are being especially badly hit by the coronavirus crisis and they are unlikely to get much help from the government’s self-employment income support scheme.

SBA, the charity for solicitors, is launching a £1m hardship fund to aid those in financial difficulty following the outbreak of Covid-19. Meanwhile, its barrister equivalent has appealed for donations.

It comes as its barrister equivalent, the Barristers Benevolent Association (BBA), has launched an appeal for funds to support members of the Bar.

An unregistered barrister and solicitor who took 15 months to pay a £500 fine levied by the Bar Standards Board has been reprimanded – and ordered to pay another £500.

The Bar Council has been urged to call in its share of the surplus held by QC Appointments to support barristers struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, as the Inns of Court looks at measures too.

An unregistered barrister who lied about her status to extract information about an investigation by North Yorkshire Police has been disbarred.

An experienced barrister has been suspended for three months and fined £1,000 for twice breaching a non-molestation order to see his ex-girlfriend.