Latest news: Barristers rate the Bar

Most barristers would choose the Bar again, according to Barristers’ Working Lives, a survey by The Bar Council  and the Bar Standards Board (BSB) . 07/02/2012

The aims of the survey were to provide improved demographic data and information on the profile of the Bar, to gather data and insights into the working lives and employment experiences of barristers and to gain a better understanding of career aspirations, motivations and intentions to stay in or leave the profession.

According to the survey 70% of barristers would still opt for the Bar if they could start their career again, and four out of five think that the Bar is a respected profession.

Women represent an increasing number of practising barristers - 37% of all respondents, and 57% of those aged under 30 (the average age of barristers overall is 44).

Half of employed barristers are considering, or may consider, working in some form of alternative business structure. For self-employed barristers the proportion is even higher, at well over two-thirds.

It appears that after 12 years in the profession, the number of women in practice declines. Attrition of women is much higher in the self-employed Bar than in the employed Bar and this appears to take place at around 20 years.

The majority of the employed Bar work in the public sector: 29% in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) , 24% in the Government Legal Service (GLS) , and 15% elsewhere.

A quarter of self-employed barristers undertake no publicly funded work at all, while for 43%, over half of their work is publicly funded (and therefore heavily affected by any changes in the availability of public funding). In criminal practice, the majority of barristers report that 90% of their work is publicly funded.
 
‘The results of the survey show that the profession is more diverse now than ever, but that more can be done to support working parents, as we are doing through our campaign for a Bar Nursery for example. We can also see a keen interest from the profession in alternative business structures as a means of meeting the demands of the current legal services market, and the Bar Council will seek to support and facilitate these changes,’ said chairman of the Bar, Michael Todd QC.