The Bar Standards Board (BSB), has published the report Barristers’ Working Lives, which reveals results from the second biennial survey of the Bar.

The report provides a snapshot of the Bar and of aspects of barristers’ working lives over the two years from 2011 to 2013, with survey questions covering employment status, practice area, working hours, earnings, career aspirations, and views about the profession.

One of the key findings from the report is that the number of barristers whom clients can access directly, without having to go through a solicitor, will make up almost half of the entire Bar by the end of 2015.

One in five barristers (20 per cent) plan to complete the new Public Access training for the first time, which would translate into an increase of over 3,000 new Public Access barristers – in addition to around 4,400 barristers who will already be able to conduct Public Access work. Taken together, these figures indicate that by the end of 2015 nearly 7,500 barristers – almost 50 per cent of the entire Bar – will be trained to work with clients directly.

The study also showed that one in seven barristers (14 per cent) plan to apply for authorisation to conduct litigation – the administrative tasks involved in taking a case to court, which are usually done by a solicitor.