Barristers in Wales and England have been invited to play their part in shaping the way their representative body, the Bar Council, supports the profession’s needs by completing a survey about their working lives.
Due to launch on 20 April 2021, the major survey of the profession will look at career progression, working practices, wellbeing, amongst other issues facing the profession. The anonymous results will help the Bar Council better meet the needs of the profession it represents.
Derek Sweeting QC, Chair of the Bar Council, said:
“A lot has changed since 2017. The impact of Covid-19, the major backlog in the courts, Brexit and a move towards remote working were not areas of concern to barristers the last time we carried out such a survey.
“This is a census for the Bar. Although, unlike the national census, there’s no mandatory requirement to participate in it, it’s an opportunity for individual barristers to tell us, their representative body, their experiences of life at the Bar and give us a clear indication of what they need from us to support their respective practices and make life at the Bar easier.”
The Bar Council’s Working Lives survey will play a part in shaping Bar Council policies, training programmes for the Bar and how the organisation seeks to influence government policy and other decision makers on issues affecting the profession.
More information will be sent to Bar Council members and via Legal News Wales when the Census launches later this month.
