The bar will survive the forthcoming upheaval in the legal profession - but the question is what shape it will be in afterwards, conference delegates were told.

Margaret Robertson, joint managing director of leading London private client firm Withers, said a primary reason for maintaining the bar as a separate profession was that the chambers structure, with its lower overheads, allows senior barristers to undertake certain types of work at a cost solicitors cannot match.


At the same time, she said confidentiality issues - where two barristers from the same chambers using the same clerk can be against each other in court - made clients nervous, leading them to prefer an in-house service. She added that the 'cosiness' between practitioners arising from professional etiquette also put users off the bar.


'There has to be a question of whether the whole process of liberalisation will lead to a far smaller and far weaker bar,' she added, warning that if that is the case, it will impact on access to justice.


Earlier in the day, Sir David Clementi insisted that 'I think the independent bar will continue and flourish' following his reforms. However, drawing comparisons with doctors and management consultants, he predicted that the bar may become the preserve of more experienced practitioners who have built careers in big firms before deciding to specialise and strike out on their own.


Ms Robertson said that while this may be right, it is a hard life at the bar and the early stages of training are important. She suggested that only those lawyers who trained at the largest firms would be prepared for later transfer to the bar.


In a straw poll, 27% of delegates said they were most likely to form a legal disciplinary practice with barristers, the highest for any of the other legal professions. However, 39% said they would not look to go into partnership with any of them.