An experienced barrister was paid £7 an hour - less than the minimum wage - for a piece of work that took 15 hours, according to a shocking report from the Bar Council on the personal cost of doing publicly funded family work.
Today’s report from the Bar Council on family legal aid also reveals the work barristers do for free to prepare for a case. Position statements, which can take three to four hours to draft, is unpaid, as are schedules of allegations or written questions to experts, written submissions, case chronologies, attendance notes and emails.
‘One family barrister described how she was asked to draft a skeleton argument overnight. It was eight pages long, took most of the night, was not acknowledged by the court the next day, and she knew she would receive no money for doing it. This is not an unusual occurrence,’ the report says.
The work also comes at the cost of a healthy work-life balance. ‘I invariably work at least a day at the weekend - minimum of two hours but could be up to 12 and averages around six hours. I work between 8pm and midnight at least two nights a week and am often working before court in the morning - from 6am,’ one barrister said.
One barrister blamed work for a ‘serious medical event’ in court. Another barrister suffered burnout twice: ‘I’ve had problems where my throat has started to close up when I’m in court because I’m just so exhausted. I have chest pains, chest palpitations, [and] panic attacks.’
While the government is uplifting fees for housing and immigration work, lawyers specialising in family legal aid are still waiting for a decision on their pay. The report notes that fees have not risen since 1996, and were reduced by 10% in 2011/12.
Urging the government to increase legal aid rates and set up an independent pay review body, Bar chair Barbara Mills KC said: ‘The people working within the system are collapsing and this cannot be ignored or tolerated.’
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