Advice for parents on careers and courses

Becoming A Barrister

Posted on Mon, 19 May 2008 14:22:47

If there were any winners out of the Paul McCartney and Heather Mills bitter divorce then it can only be the top earning barristers who for months have been battling out over who should get what.

The media portrays barristers rather than their solicitor colleagues as a highly glamorous and well paid profession.

But being a barrister is not unlike having permanent exam stress: hard work, long hours, and tight deadlines. You need to be good at research and capable of assimilating a lot of information very fast before presenting it to a judge or jury.

Despite the pressure, many find it incredibly rewarding, says one barrister, Sinead O�Rourke. �You have to have a very clear understanding of your motivation for going to the Bar,� she says. �The financial rewards are not there in the publicly aided system.� The million-pound-plus cases crop up � but are rare.

On the other hand, you will be helping vulnerable people in their fight for justice. Civil specialists tend to earn more than criminal law advocates. Those employed by the Crown Prosecution Service, earn up to �56,000, but most are self-employed � which means business savvy is a must � and earn between �19,000 and �260,000.

For a leading commercial barrister the sky's the limit and there are some who earn over �3m a year, but average earnings for the 1,742 barristers in the top 30 commercial legal practices last year was �332,000. But the vast majority of do not earn such incredible sums and at the criminal bar earnings can be meagre.

So what do barristers do?

Barristers are essentially concerned with disputes. It is a barrister's expert knowledge of a particular area of law, whether it be crime, corporate finance, IT or sport, that can determine the outcome of a dispute.

Traditionally, a barrister would use their skills in the courtroom, doing battle with a colleague before a judge. That still forms the mainstay of a barrister's business. However, things are changing, particularly in the commercial world. The number of disputes that actually go to trial has been diminishing for a number of years.

What you need to know before you start

It is important to understand the difference between the two branches of the legal profession: solicitors and barristers. The distinction is one which has become more blurred in recent years, but the two remain separate. A barrister specialises in giving advice on detailed issues and representing clients in court. In contrast, a solicitor provides more general initial advice, instructs a barrister (if necessary) and liaises with the client and the barrister;

To be a successful barrister and to decide whether the Bar � the term used for the profession � you need to have intellectual ability, deal with a wide range of people, presentation and advocacy skills as well as the ability to digest large amounts of information in a short time and to handle the stress of long hours, tight deadlines and great responsibility.

Even if you get a considerable volume of work in your early years, payment for it is likely to lag some time behind. In stark contrast to payment timescales, you may be given very little notice of court appearances. Briefs can arrive by fax in the evening, leaving little time to prepare for a case to be heard a hundred miles away the next morning.

What you lose in terms of social life and excessive travelling, you will more than make up for in terms of relief that you are getting enough work.

In addition to normal living expenses, you will also have to budget for your share towards the cost of running chambers. Sometimes this is calculated on the basis of a percentage of income, with the result that young barristers can pay a great deal less than their senior colleagues. However, this is not always the case.

To become a barrister you must first complete a degree and at least one further year's academic training, followed by one year as a trainee barrister, called pupillage. The minimum requirement is a 2:2 undergraduate degree in any subject. If it is not in law then you will have to do a further year's conversion course, called the Graduate Diploma in Law.

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On completion of this stage of training you must join one of the four Inns: Gray's Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple and Lincoln's Inn. Although the Bar Council serves as both the regulatory and representative body for the bar, the Inns are also very important. They are organisations which govern the exclusive areas of London where most barristers continue to work and also serve as the bar's social societies.

To join an Inn, a student must attend a number of 'qualifying sessions'. Previously this was known as 'dining' and eating does form a large part of the criteria. Inns will hold communal dinners, which students must attend, in addition to a number of lectures and educational events, such as tours of the courts. These qualifying sessions will be completed during the final year of educational training required to become a barrister. This is called the Bar Vocational Course (BVC), on completion of which you will be 'called to the bar'. This course gives you practical experience as well as more in depth legal knowledge.

Becoming a barrister is not cheap, although the cost will depend on previous qualifications and discretionary awards from local education authorities (LEA). A law conversion course can cost more than �6,000 at some colleges and the BVC will cost between �7,000 and �12,000. However, LEAs offer means-tested awards, and it is possible to win scholarships to bar schools, which will pay for some or all of the fees.

During the final year of a law degree, or the conversion course year, you should be applying to chambers for a pupillage place. Split in to two 'sixes', or six-month slots, pupillage is when you really learn how to be a barrister. At the end of the year, a pupil may be offered tenancy, or a place in chambers from which to build a practice - but this is not a given and many young barristers find they have to apply elsewhere for a 'third six' before winning tenancy.

Pupils are paid a minimum of �5,000 per six-month slot, plus expenses, but it is usually necessary to save up as it will take a few months of tenancy to start earning money.

There is no denying that the bar is more exclusive than ever, but if you have the talent and the commitment you can find a home. In total there are now 11,564 barristers in independent practice, of which 71 per cent are male. In addition, there are 2,800 e In recent years the proportion of ethnic minority pupils has dropped but women now account for nearly half of new entrants.

In recent years the proportion of ethnic minority pupils has dropped but women now account for nearly half of new entrants.

The pinnacle of a barrister's professional achievement continues to be two little letters: QC, short for Queen's Counsel - possibly the most recognised symbol in the entire English legal system, which serves not only to preserve the romantic appeal of the bar, but also to sell English advocates on the increasingly important international stage.

Finally, mini-pupillages, popping down to the Royal Courts of Justice in London�s Strand or just having a chat with a barrister are great ways to find out more about how they operate. And who knows, it might be you in a couple of years popping off to sunny Walthamstow with a file under one arm and clutching your brief, the envy of your management consultant peers.

Useful websites:

www.barcouncil.org.uk
www.pupillages.com
www.legaleducation.org.uk
www.support4learning.org.uk
www.thelawyer.com/students
www.graysinn.org.uk
www.innertemple.org.uk
www.lincolnsinn.org.uk
www.middletemple.org.uk