Under its new chair Kirsty Brimelow KC, the Bar Council will this year revive efforts to ensure a fairer allocation of briefs to women barristers.
In her inaugural speech tonight, Brimelow revealed that she has already met Law Society president Mark Evans to secure the collaboration of solicitors in a renewed campaign over what is a longstanding issue.
Addressing the earnings gap at the self-employed bar, including through fairer allocation, was one of twelve priorities identified by Brimelow for the next 12 months. She will also lead a campaign to improve billing practices.
‘Junior barristers and women often don’t bill to reflect the work that they have done, feeling pressured or lacking confidence to bill the full hours that they have worked,’ said Brimelow. Bar Council research shows that women continue to earn less than men across all experience levels and in every area of practice at the self-employed bar.
Protecting lawyers subject to abuse and intimidation is also high on Brimelow’s agenda. She will press the government to ratify the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer. ‘Only two days ago, a barrister wrote to the Midland Circuit Leader about his chambers receiving anonymous calls, one accompanied by verbal abuse, after he had represented an Afghan refugee convicted of rape,’ she said. ‘Conflating barristers with their clients stabs at the heart of the rule of law and the Bar Council is firm in its support of our barristers.’
Brimelow, a former chair of the criminal bar and Bar Human Rights Committee, said her first priority is tackling the crisis in the criminal courts and legally aided bar. She is leading the bar’s opposition to lord chancellor David Lammy’s curbs on jury trials.
‘The latest government proposals restricting jury trials will not reduce the backlog of cases, built up over years of financial slash and burn of the criminal justice system, but may further erode trust which hangs by the thread of citizen participation in the criminal courts,’ she said. ‘The pragmatic points are that the reduction of juries would have no impact on the existing backlog as it would take effect towards the end of this Parliament. Impact even then is highly uncertain.’
She added: ‘Meanwhile, energy and focus are drained from implementing the urgent reforms now that would decrease the backlog. These include intense case management: successful reduction of the backlog can be seen in courts where there has been proactive triaging of cases led by CPS and police and opening the courts that continue to sit empty by removing the cap on sitting days. If we can implement these reforms in the courts, and have every court room sitting, we can reduce the backlog.’
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