“We are heading into some form of bad weather,” says Paul Cooklin, senior practice manager of 3-4 South Square, London’s pre-eminent insolvency set. He is not just talking about the general economic climate, for which the ever-impressive workload of his chambers can be a useful barometer, but the specific out-look at the commercial Bar.
“Big sets will get smaller,” he predicts. “The Bar will contract – not just the criminal Bar, but the commercial Bar too. There will not be enough work around. Sections of the commercial Bar will move to law firms, young barristers will decide not to go the whole course, and a number will move in-house.”
