Bar Council chair calls for diversification

Bar Council chair calls for diversification

Peter Lodder QC, incoming Chairman of the Bar Council has called for publicly funded barristers to diversify their practices.

Lodder, who takes over as Chairman of the Bar from Nicholas Green QC on 1 January 2011, said during his inaugural address that whilst he wishes to “re-assure able and hard-working members of the Bar, whose practices are threatened by the latest proposals that they continue to have a realistic future,” nevertheless if they are to sustain a publicly funded practice, “they will almost certainly need to develop a mixed practice, incorporating privately as well as publicly funded work. The cuts to legal aid rates have been too numerous and too deep for young barristers to continue to rely upon publicly funded practice.”

The call comes as the Ministry of Justice plans “fundamental reform” of the justice system, including cutting £350m from the legal aid budget, which risks leaving many vulnerable people without representation.

Peter Lodder QC said:

“There will always be a demand for high quality advocates and the public interest is served by ensuring the successful future of the Bar.

“My objective is to invigorate the entire Bar to be creative and entrepreneurial in the pursuit of new and better opportunities to provide legal services at home and abroad. The privately funded Bar has led the way in finding new markets to develop and it is time for all practitioners to follow that example.

“The Bar’s unique selling point is advocacy, delivered to a very high quality. We are the best at what we do and clients come to the Bar because of that ability. Traditionally, barristers, within reason, have turned their hands to different areas of practice. It is the skill set, core values and the training which define us as much as the practice area. There is a clear market benefit in having access to a pool of high quality, high value, expert advocates, able to offer a variety of services within that specialism.”

Terms and Conditions | Site Map | Privacy and Cookies

Copyright © 2020 Richard Nelson LLP and Murdochs. All rights reserved.
The Lawyers Defence Group is operated by Richard Nelson LLP, a Limited Liability Partnership authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and whose partnership number is OC357136 and Murdochs Solicitors, who are also authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and whose SRA number is 52683.
Please note that all advice, guidance, representation and assistance, legal or otherwise, is provided either by those firms or by appropriate referral to other suitably qualified persons. No advice, guidance, assistance, representation or other support is provided by or in the name of the Lawyers Defence Group.
For further details please refer to the terms and conditions for use of this web site and to the terms and conditions of the firms involved.
The professional rules governing our lawyers can be found at rules.sra.org.uk