Francesca Kirby responds to Bar Council’s ‘Life at the Young Bar’ report

The Bar Council have released a report that suggests 1 in 6 young barristers are leaving the Bar. The report by the Careers Research & Advisory Centre (CRAC) was commissioned by the Bar Council and presents a snapshot of life at the Young Bar in 2021. The report explores differences by practice area and captures the experience and views of young barristers on life at the Bar, their aspirations for their future, career development, wellbeing and what this means in terms of how the profession needs to modernise. Francesca Kirby speaking to the East Anglian Times says:

“As a consequence of the backlog, there is a plethora of work around, but at the same time the number of criminal barristers has fallen. In 2019-20 the number of junior criminal barristers decreased from 2,553 to 2,273.Many practitioners have reported experiencing instances where there were no barristers available to prosecute or defend cases. With a shortage of barristers, there is pressure to take on more work to plug the gap. Furthermore, with the fees as they are, to make a living, taking on more work is often necessary. The hours become longer and relentless, eventually leading to burnout in the profession.”

Read full interview here: [East Anglian Daily Times]

Read report here: [Bar Council]