So you want to be a barrister?

The bar is often viewed as an elitist, pompous institution which only those of privileged background can enter. The bar, however, is increasingly trying to transform its ‘stuffy’ image to create a more  'all-embracing' ethos. The bar will be bringing in new incentives over the next few years with the view to encourage applicants from all walks of life.

However, competition is rife, hours are long and combined with increased competition from law firms and the shrinking market for advocacy, the bar is becoming a rocky road to go down regardless of applicants' backgrounds and back accounts.

 Having said this, the bar still connotes a highly-respected, iconic, lucrative profession which  offers rich rewards for those that make it to the top. A particularly attractive aspect of the profession is the fact that you are, essentially, working for yourself. This means that you have the ability, to a degree, to choose when you work and the nature of the work that you do. Of course barristers’ offices, or chambers, are pretty astounding too- The Inns of London being probably one of the most famous of work premises in the world.

So what exactly does a barrister do?

Barristers are involved in disputes of any nature. Most barristers specialise in one area of Law such as finance, family, property or crime. Barristers traditionally settle disputes in court- battling with a colleague on behalf of their client.

Education and Training

You must complete a degree and at least one year of further academic education. If  are called to the bar you officially become a ‘barrister at law’, but to practice and join a chamber you will have to undergo one year’s training as a barrister-the BVC- before undertaking a Pupillage. The expected grade is normally a 2:1. If your undergraduate degree is not law, then you will have to do a year long conversion course- the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)

Once you complete the GDL or law degree you must join one of the four Inns- Gray’s Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple and Lincoln’s Inn in order to be able to enroll on the Bar Vocational Course (BVC)

Whilst studying the BVC (normally one year long and covers skills such as advocacy, negotiation and conferencing) a student must attend ‘qualifying sessions’ at their respective Inn in order to be called to the bar and practice as a barrister.

On a more ‘enjoyable’ note students are expected to attend a large variety of events and activities if they are to accrue the 12 points needed to be called to the bar. The events can range from communal dinners, to lectures to weekends away.

Once called to the Bar, BVC graduates complete Pupillages. These are split into two ‘sixes’ or 6-month slots during which the foundations of a barrister’s future work are cemented. At the end of the two sixes, a pupil may be offered tenacy or a place in chambers, from which to build a practice, but this is not the case for all. Some may have to complete a third six-month slot in order to win tenacy.

How much will it all cost?

To put it bluntly, quite a lot…hence the bar’s association with being a ' profession for the privileged’. A law conversion course can cost more that £7,000  and the BVC costs around £12,000. The only redemption for these costs is the prospect of a plump pay packet once you do actually qualify and start practising! If you’re very lucky- or very talented- there are a number of bursaries and scholarships available to you. The average barrister that is called to the bar is in debt in the region of £30,000-£40,000. A frightening prospect if you are not able to get financial support externally.

Those on ‘sixes’ are paid a minimum £5,000 per six-month slot plus expenses but most of the top chambers in London pay around £35,000 for the year long pupillage. During the second six, a pupil can start to practice as a barrister and earn their own fees.

Statistics

There are around 12,034 barristers in independent practice and 2,856 employed barristers. 70% are male. The number of students applying for puppilage is expected to rise in proportion to the rise in BVC applications.

Future Earnings

There, of course, barristers whose annual salaries hit six figures. Junior barristers in their first year of tenacy at a top commercial set can earn in excess of £100,000 with average earnings of an established barrister being well over £300,000. This, of course, makes the bar highly attractive for future applicants and the prospect of  £30,000 debt upon entering all the more easy to swallow. Of course, barristers that are not involved in corporate law but are trained in criminal or family law earn much less. The criminal and family bar relies on public funding through legal aid so wages are not reflected in the amount of private funding.

Most barristers involved in the latter are often not influenced by monetary rewards but do it for the satisfaction of winning justice for their clients (the stuff that Hollywood legal movies are made of)

A quick roundup

Route

LAW DEGREEBVC( Pupillage)

NON LAW DEGREECONVERSION COURSEBVC (Pupillage)

Education

A-LEVELS  ( HIGH GRADES)
UNIVERSITY DEGREE (2:1 OR HIGHER)

Extra Curricular Activities

Work experience
Interest in legal affairs
Members of law societies at University
Involvement in Pro Bono activites
Involvement in Mooting and Debating

University Life

Attend events and career fairs.
Research Chambers
Research possible funding and scholarship opportunities
Apply for mini-pupillages or vacation work at a law firm.
Be as dynamic and motivated as possible- make your CV shine from the rest by your proven commitment to your future profession.

Final Year Law Students/ Law Conversion Students

Join an Inns of Court
Research postgraduate law schools that offer the BVC
Apply for scholarship/secure your won funding for the course
Make pupillage applications

BVC

Complete the compulsory courses (which can be done full or part time over 1 or 2 years)
Attend the dinners and events needed to accrue the 12 point qualification.
Get called to the bar

Pupillage

You will be working on your pupil master’s cases for the first six months.
During your second six you can appear in court and start charging a fee.
Apply for tenacy (or complete a third six if you are still unsure of which field you’d like to work in)

 A Little Help from the Bar Council...

The Bar Council has published a new booklet explaining how to become a part of the profession.  “It’s your call”, produced in the wake of Lord Neuberger’s Entry to the Bar Working Party Report into access to the profession, will be an invaluable tool for school, university and Bar students looking to find out more about the Bar. 

The guide includes profiles of a BVC student, mini-pupil, pupil barrister, an employed and a self-employed practitioner, a silk, and the Attorney General, the Rt Hon the Baroness Scotland QC.  It explains the different components which make up the profession, including the Bar Council as the representative body, the Bar Standards Board as the regulator, the Inns of Court, Circuits, Specialist Bar Associations and sets of chambers.

The booklet explains “what you need to know before you start”, and provides a range of useful information about the required academic and vocational stages of training.  It also explains the Inns of Court scholarship scheme and how to apply for them.

The guide does not end with pupillage, and looks further to tenancy and Continuing Professional Development.

BVC student Duncan Milne said of the competition to obtain a pupillage. “Don’t be put off by statistics.  They’re everywhere.  Given the chance they’d rule your life.  Keep it in perspective: if something is worth doing, for whatever reason, there’s going to be competition.”

 Interviewed for the guide, Marina Faggionato, a pupil at Queen Elizabeth Building, said of her experience:

 “There is no such thing as an average first six pupillage day.  The work I see varies according to whom I am working with.  With pupil supervisors, the cases are high value and complex, and the number of zeros can make you doubt your eyesight.  Days spent with junior tenants are a reality check; the clients are likely to be fighting over more modest assets.”

 Semaab Shaikh, a junior tenant at St Paul’s Chambers in Leeds, said. “Life at the junior Bar may lack the passion and intrigue that TV dramas would have you believe but that is not such a bad thing as I don’t think many of us would enjoy our job if it involved the plot lines of Judge John Deed!  But life as a barrister at the junior end is anything but dull.  There is drama, excitement and comedy.”

For more information visit: www.barcouncil.org.uk