Junior barristers face increased debt as seasoned campaigners raise the bar

SURVEY: warning that compulsory minimum wage could lead to shortfall in pupillage places

The pay gap between the top and bottom of the bar is growing, according to research that shows experienced barristers earning more than ever before but almost all junior barristers mired in heavy debt.

The survey on the state of the bar, from accountants BDO Stoy Hayward, found that 94% of young barristers have debts and 57% say it will take more than three years to clear them.

Almost half (46%) of the 370 junior barristers questioned agreed that the main reason people left the bar was financial difficulties.

This was followed by the work being too stressful (43%).

On the other hand, barristers of more than ten years' call earned an average of 88,100 before tax this year, compared to 78,900 in 2001 and 71,800 in 2000.

The estimated amount earned by the barristers' profession this year went up to between 1.4 and 1.6 billion, compared to between 1.3 and 1.5 million last year.

The survey also showed that barristers saw solicitor-advocates as their main threat, up from third place last year, followed by solicitors carrying out work in-house.

Barristers saw their main opportunity as direct access, followed by being able to conduct litigation.

However, Bar Council chairman David Bean QC said the figures concealed a number of real pressures faced by chambers: 'The evidence is that whilst the commercial and public law bar is planning for growth, curbs in public funding are undoubtedly squeezing practice in the criminal and family bar.'

From next January, chambers will have to pay their pupils a compulsory minimum wage.

Mr Bean warned that this may result in a temporary shortfall of pupillage places, and the knock-on effect would be a lack of junior barristers rising through the ranks in four or five years.

Meanwhile, the Bar Council has overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to dock barristers' earnings in order to fund student places on the bar vocational course.

While the council passed a motion recognising that students should not be prevented from joining the profession because of financial pressures, it nonetheless decided not to proceed with the recommendations of the Mountjoy report published earlier this year, to place an income-related levy on senior barristers to fund training.

Victoria MacCallum