“The profession is dying,” says one frustrated contributor to legalweek.com’s Talkback section as the debate rages over the dearth of pupillages available to Bar students. “Why has it taken so long for a committee to be established to deal with a problem that has become progressively worse over a span of many years?” asks another.
To be fair to the Bar Council, it has been agonising over this issue for a long time. In 2002 an independent inquiry recommended imposing a levy on barristers to help fund needy students through their training. It was shot down by an angry profession that resented being asked to stump up for what it regarded as somebody else’s problem.
