Barristers

The sanctions imposed on barristers found guilty of sexual misconduct are within current guidelines – but those guidelines are being reviewed, Bar authorities confirmed today.

The male barrister fined for whispering suggestively to a younger female colleague and then smacking her on the bottom said he thought she was consenting because she did not openly object, it has emerged.

A barrister who touched two individuals sexually has been suspended from practice for three months by a Bar disciplinary tribunal.

Shadow Lord Chancellor David Lammy yesterday condemned the barrister at the centre of a racism row over his comments about the Equality Act “empowering the stroppy teenager of colour”.

A barrister has come under fire from his own chambers and other barristers for tweeting that “The Equality Act undermines school discipline by empowering the stroppy teenager of colour”.

A barrister already prevented from practising for three years after withdrawing from a case without telling his client will now have to wait three more years after another finding against him.

The legal team of a man accused of murder was wrong to withdraw during the trial but the move did not render his subsequent conviction unsafe, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

A male barrister who told a junior female colleague that “I really wanted to smack your arse” – and then did so – has been reprimanded and fined £6,000 by a Bar disciplinary tribunal.

The High Court has granted the “dying wish” of a barrister, suspended by a Bar disciplinary tribunal, that she should end her life as a practising member of the profession.

The immediate past chair of the Bar Council has welcomed work by the CPS to ensure greater gender parity in its instructions but said female fraud barristers are “a long way from parity”.

The current process for awarding the title of QC does not allow “sufficient opportunity” for inappropriate behaviour witnessed by opponents or even court staff to be recorded, the Law Society has warned.

There are “significant gender disparities” in barristers’ access to work and pay across both criminal and civil publicly funded work, research by a circuit judge has found.

Last night’s announcement of a new lockdown has thrown a new element into the dispute between BPP Law School and Bar students over a scheduled face-to-face exam this week.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority and Council for Licensed Conveyancers have been given a clean bill of health by the Legal Services Board in its latest assessment of regulators’ performance.

A not-for-profit ‘pupillage academy’ that would support chambers across England and Wales to offer more pupillages has been proposed by national chambers Clerksroom.