Barristers

Question 1

What are the roles of a barrister?

Answer 1

• Work independently and usually work from a set of chambers, where they share offices with maybe 10-15 others
• Advocacy in criminal cases they generally specialise in prosecution or defence work
• Advocacy in civil cases they tend to specialise in fields like personal injury or commercial work
• They owe a duty of confidentiality to a client and a duty to the court
• Have full rights of audience (the right to present a case in court, as an advocate)

Question 2

What is the pathway of becoming a barrister?

Answer 2

• Degree based, although there is a non- degree route for mature students e.g. GDL
• All candidates must pass the Bar Professional Training Course.
• A 12 month period of ‘pupillage’ follows, (like on-the-job training). After 6 months shadowing a qualified barrister, they can appear in court and conduct their own cases.

Question 3

What are the regulations for barristers?

Answer 3

• The Bar Standards Board sets out a Code of Conduct that barristers have to comply with and investigates any alleged breach of the Code of Conduct
• If its serious, they will be referred to a Disciplinary Tribunal arranged by an independent Bar Tribunals and Adjudication service
• The tribunals have sanctions they could impose e.g. fines, disbarring, suspension for up to 3 years, reprimanding, having to do further professional development learning
• If a complainant is unhappy with the decision of the Bar Standards Board, a complaint can be made to the Legal Ombudsman

Question 4

What are the 4 Inns of court and why are they important?

Answer 4

• Gray’s Inn, Inner Temple, Lincoln’s Inn and Middle Temple
• You have to be apart of one to become a barrister

Question 5

What is the Kings Counsel (KC) and how are you appointed?

Answer 5

• Senior barrister
• You need to be a barrister or solicitor for at least 10 years
• Takes on more complicated and high-profile cases than junior barristers with a higher pay
• Has a junior barrister to assist with the case

Question 6

What is a barrister?

Answer 6

• Someone instructed to appear in a court or tribunal for a client
• Controlled by their own professional body (The General Council of the Bar).

Question 7

Can barristers turn down a case?

Answer 7

• A barrister can’t turn down a case if they are free and if it is in the area of law that they deal with - ‘the cab rank rule’
• However, they can turn it down if approached directly by a client and if the case requires further investigation

Question 8

How do barristers take cases?

Answer 8

• They can either be directly approached by a client
• Or, contracted by a solicitor on behalf of a client
• Or, they can be assigned to a client in a criminal prosecution case if the defendant has no representative

Question 9

Under regulations how can barristers be sued for being liable for negligence?

Answer 9

• Barristers enter contracts with a client on the Direct Access Scheme and such client can sue for breach of contract
• A barrister can be liable in negligence for a poor quality of advocacy (must be more than just losing a civil claim or being convicted in a criminal case)

Question 10

Who sets out the code of conduct for barristers?

Answer 10

The Bar Standards Board

Question 11

What professional body are barristers controlled by?

Answer 11

The General Council of the Bar