I know a great many people who have tried but failed to establish careers at the Bar. I know of virtually no former solicitors who have tried but failed. I believe that only those with supreme confidence in their ability to make it through the lottery of the Bar’s recruitment process should try to do so direct. Everyone else should be a solicitor first.
There are many advantages to the solicitor route. First, there is the experience: would-be barristers learn what their (professional) clients need. They learn about funding and, in particular, the demands of legal aid. They see, first hand, which barristerial working practices work and which do not. They learn what annoys. They learn about forms, about letter writing, and about litigation tactics.
