Barristers

A barrister who encouraged a client to search online for damaging information about another member of the Bar, and then told her to deny that he had done so, has been reprimanded by a Bar disciplinary tribunal. It is the second reprimand from a tribunal for the barrister in eight months.

A barrister who claimed she was the victim of racial discrimination by the Bar Standards Board has lost her appeal against a ruling that her case was brought out of time. Portia O’Connor, who is black, was the first barrister to become a partner in a legal disciplinary partnership.

Almost half of female barristers have experienced discrimination at work and 40% have experienced harassment, a major report by the Bar Standards Board has found. Dr Vanessa Davies, director general of the BSB, described the findings as “very disappointing”.

Friday’s Competition and Markets Authority report on legal services has reignited the debate over independent regulation, with both the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board welcoming the call for separation from their representative bodies.

The ramifications of leaving the European Union are likely to be wide-ranging and could restrict the ability of barristers to practise outside England and Wales, the chairman of the Bar Council has warned. Chantal-Aimee Doerries QC said the Bar Council was setting up a working group on the impact of Brexit.

A criminal law barrister has launched a direct access website to facilitate private prosecutions by people with cases that the Crown Prosecution Service and police have failed to pursue. He said his website had generated five cases already after being up and running only “a couple of months”.

A barrister who failed to pay a fine and costs imposed by a disciplinary tribunal and then ignored the Bar Standards Board’s efforts to contact him for four years, has been suspended from practising. Meanwhile, another barrister has been reprimanded for telling the CPS she was qualified for a role there when she was not.

The Law Society has told MPs that plans to give the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and other regulators full independence should be shelved because of the uncertainty caused by the EU Referendum. The society and SRA also clashed on the former’s bid to take over control of setting professional standards.

The Bar’s professional indemnity insurer has been ordered to reimburse a barrister after it withdrew funding for him to defend disciplinary proceedings because he wanted to appoint a non-panel solicitor. The Financial Ombudsman Service found that Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund did not act reasonably.

The Bar Council is looking at whether it needs to take action to protect ‘third six pupils’ from exploitation by chambers as they try to stay in the profession and find a tenancy. It is asking barristers for views on whether this area should be regulated and/or offer guaranteed earnings among other possible reforms.