Insider guide to life at the Bar

Written by young barristers for young barristers, the Insider Guide to Life at the Bar (2022 edition) provides answers to the key questions that arise when joining the Bar and offers support for the first seven years of practice.

New ethics guidance on returning instructions in criminal cases

The Ethics Committee of the Bar Council has produced new guidance to assist counsel in criminal cases to determine in what circumstances they must or may return instructions to appear at trial on grounds of professional embarrassment and related grounds. The guidance is applicable to all barristers practising in the field of criminal law.

Returning Instructions in Criminal Cases: R v Daniels [2021] EWCA Crim 44

The Bar Council’s 2022 survey of pupil barristers

The experience of life as a pupil barrister is changing rapidly, so we need help to make sure our resources and guidance continue to provide the practical support pupils need. If you’re a current pupil, please take 5-10 minutes of your time to complete a short questionnaire (the deadline has been extended to 17:00 on Monday 14 February).

Bar Council ethics advice and support

The Ethics Committee encourages all barristers to first attempt to resolve their ethics query themselves, but if you are in need of help, advice and assistance then the Bar Council's Ethical Enquiries Service is available. The service can be contacted by calling 020 7611 1307 between 09:15 - 17:15 on weekdays or by emailing:

Race equality grants

Thanks to the donations raised at the Bar Council's Race Summit in 2021, there is now a small pot of funding available for Bar based networks to support projects and initiatives that promote race equality at the Bar.

The Lawyer Awards 2022

The awards are now open for entry.

Bridging the Bar's new mentoring programme

Bridging the Bar is looking for volunteers to mentor and who practice in public law, human rights, intellectual property, defamation and media law and commercial law.

Consultation on amendments to the BSB’s Minimum Terms of Cover

The Bar Standards Board is seeking views on a proposal to amend its minimum terms of cover for professional indemnity insurance (PII) to clarify the expected level of cover provided to barristers in the event of cyber incidents. The deadline for responses is 6 March.

Justice Week 2022

The Bar Council is currently making plans for Justice Week later this year. We are keen to hear your views and know about your plans. If you want to share ideas or help out with the campaign, please contact Sarah Kavanagh in the Communications Department via email:   

Volunteer judges needed

Volunteer judges are needed for mock trials organised by Young Citizens, one of the Bar Council’s education partners. More than 200 schools have signed up for the competition, with students set to go head-to-head in virtual courtrooms. Any barristers wishing to help out, by performing as judges, should complete an entry form.

The International Rule of Law Lecture 2022

Social Mobility and the Employed Bar - “The Many Roads to Pupillage”

30 March

Webinar in conjunction with BACFI

The event will host a panel of employed barristers from non-typical backgrounds telling their stories and the speakers will be followed by a discussion with the audience. Speakers include Gaynor Wood - Chair of BACFI, Ian Brookes-Howells - Senior Vice-Chair of BACFI,  Jack Meek and Andrew Dakoutros – Bar Council Social Mobility Advocates.

To register for the event please email or call 07507237218

Inner Temple Reader’s Lecture

14 February

Calling It Out: Professionals, their Regulators, Equity and Fairness

This lecture looks at what it means to be a professional, what professional regulators do and why equality, diversity and inclusion are important to both the regulators and the regulated in the professions. It focuses on barristers and the Bar Standards Board but also considers regulation in the medical world, Parliament and universities.

In-person and live-streamed from The Royal College of Surgeons, 38-43 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PE. Tickets are free but booking is essential.

Inner Temple History Society Lecture

15 February

William Crashawe's library and the circulation of books at the Inns of Court in the early 17th century.

Professor Michelle O’Callaghan (Professor of Early Modern Literature, University of Reading, and Director of the Early Modern Research Centre (EMRC))

In-person and live-streamed from Temple Church.

A Night of Bharathanatyam at Middle Temple

17 February

An evening of classical South Indian Dance organised at Middle Temple. All welcome.

Tickets: £10 for Middle Temple Members, £15 for guests.

Middle Temple

Love Letters - A Theatrical Evening with the Kalisher Trust

27 March

The play Love Letters was a finalist in the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and is now being shown at Middle Temple Hall. The Kalisher Trust is excited to host this tender, tragi-comic story of the shared nostalgia, missed opportunities, and deep closeness of two lifelong, complicated friends. Money raised will help a small, campaigning charity, determined to deliver diversity within the criminal Bar.

Middle Temple

BACFI Wine tasting evening

21 April

Bedales, Leadenhall Market, London