Never in living memory has there been such a period of change and reform at the Bar as we have seen in the first years of the 21st century. The upcoming reform of the silk system, the long-awaited establishment of a Supreme Court and the ongoing shake-up of the system by which the UK appoints its judges have all rocked the Bar to its foundations.
Increased government scrutiny has forced barristers to consider embracing partnership, public access and the loss of self-regulation. Meanwhile the increased commercialisation of law has placed economic, as well as political, pressure on barristers to change the way they organise, develop and market themselves and further reforms have eroded the divide between the Bar and its once poor relation, the solicitors’ profession.
