‘Nobody in their right mind would advise a son or daughter to become a criminal barrister,’ says top judge

A retiring High Court judge has spoken of his despair at the state of the criminal Bar and lamented the fact that “top graduates” are deserting publicly funded work in favour of commercial law firms…

Speaking to the Blackpool Gazette, Sir Richard Henriques QC said: “We are losing too many to commercial law as advocates are no longer sufficiently remunerated to attract recruits of the necessary calibre — because of the cutbacks in legal aid.”

He added that “nobody in their right mind would advise a son or daughter to become a criminal barrister,” continuing: “Top graduates aren’t going near criminal law now. Last year there was only one criminal pupillage in the whole of Birmingham. Recruitment is down, earnings down, morale down.”

Meanwhile, at Sheffield Crown Court this morning…