A third of barristers want to join new business structures within the next five years but the vast majority want the Bar to remain independent.
A Bar Standards Board (BSB) survey of nearly 2,000 barristers and 141 clerks and practice managers found 88% in favour of the Bar remaining a separate and independent legal profession. Some 35% said they were “fairly likely” or “very likely” to join a new business structure in the next five years.
Nearly seven out of 10 agreed it was important for the BSB to regulate entities as well as individuals. Some 43% of barristers are interested in becoming managers alongside solicitors, while nearly a quarter are interested in management or ownership with clerks or other non-lawyers.
A third of barristers and 57% of clerks thought they had a good understanding of the new business structures made possible by the legal services act.
BSB chair, Baroness Deech says: “Barristers are at the coal face of delivering legal services to those who are most in need and it is imperative that the profession is properly consulted before the BSB makes any decisions on how those services are provided.
“The results show some interesting trends—alongside significant interest in new business structures, the survey revealed the value placed on self-employed practice and on the cornerstones of a separate and independent barristers’ profession. This underlines the importance of producing a comprehensive consultation paper that delves more deeply into the most important issues that BSB entity regulation raises.”
