In March, I had already had the first of my quarterly meetings with senior judges and ministers, taken an international trip and made a Circuit visit. More visits were in the diary and, right now, I should have been trying to escalate our access to American markets at the ABA in Chicago. Instead, I am in ‘my office’ (a daughter’s bedroom), excited about my imminent return to the Bar Council building. As I reflect, the entire Bar—chambers, barristers (self-employed and employed)—has faced unprecedented challenges this year. In these extraordinary times, there has never been a more acute imperative for justice to be resolutely upheld and accessible to the public—and the Bar has a crucial role to play.
Financial challenges, clearing the backlog and eyesight tests
It is, therefore, extremely worrying that parts of the Bar are at existential risk. An already weakened publicly funded Bar has been further strained by the pause on trials, drastic reductions in work and the ongoing refusal by
