barristers

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.

There needs to be a culture of awareness and openness about bullying by judges, the chairman of the Bar Council has said.

Two barristers have had contrasting fortunes in appeals against high-profile sanctions imposed by the Bar Disciplinary Tribunal. While the High Court found that the tribunal had gone too far in suspending Roy Headlam for giving a client money, it upheld the reprimand handed out to Howard Godfrey QC for making “offensive” comments in court.

A solicitor who made offensive remarks in a private Facebook group has been rebuked and fined, while other unusual disciplinary decisions announced yesterday included a suspension for a barrister who got her clerk to lie about her availability for a hearing.