CV: Barrister sought to mislead university
A barrister who lied about having practised from a well-known London set when in fact he had never even gone through pupillage has been disbarred.
The case of Yasser Mahmood, who was called in 2010 and is unregistered (ie, non-practising), is likely to add further fuel to the push to change the time of call to when a barrister has completed pupillage.
According to a Bar Standards Board notice, Mr Mahmood applied to Arden University in 2021 to be an external examiner. His CV said that, between October 2010 and December 2012, he had been an employment barrister at Tooks Chambers.
In fact, he had never undertaken pupillage, nor had he ever held a practising certificate.
A BSB spokesman said: “The public should be able to reasonably expect that barristers are accurate in representing any practising history or entitlement to practise as a barrister.
“By dishonestly including such details, Mr Mahmood’s behaviour falls short of the high standards of integrity and honesty expected of those called to the Bar and the tribunal’s decision to disbar him reflects this.”
The tribunal’s decision is currently open to appeal. He was also ordered to pay costs of £2,670.
Last year, the then Bar Council chair Nick Vineall KC raised his concerns about the fact barristers were called after completing the Bar training course.
Speaking in September 2023, he said that, of those under 50 years’ call at the time, there were 17,304 practising barristers, 10,412 unregistered barristers who have practised in the past, and 37,013 unregistered barristers who have never practised.
Mr Vineall said this caused “a real risk of confusion for clients”, while the mass of unregistered barristers “creates an unfair financial burden on practising barristers”, as they paid for the regulation of unregistered barristers.
“My own view is that we should call people to the Bar only when they have satisfactorily completed pupillage, with some sort of provisional call or provisional practising certificate to cover the second six. The Bar Council strongly supports such a change.”
In December, Mr Vineall suggested it would help social mobility too, an argument rejected by a predecessor in the role, Stephen Hockman.
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