Long hours and low pay are driving juniors from the criminal bar, top barrister warns

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By Rhys Duncan on

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‘Fed up of having to pay to work’


It’s no secret that life at the criminal bar is hard. Often relying on legal aid funded work, many barristers find themselves working long hours on distressing cases with little compensation at the end of it all.

These problems are only made worse, a top junior barrister has warned, by the exodus of barristers, leaving more poorly-paid work behind and piling the pressure on those already struggling.

Writing recently for Counsel magazine, Joanna Hardy-Susskind, junior barrister at Red Lion Chambers, has offered a harrowing insight into why people are flocking to different areas of practice, and the impact that this is having on the criminal bar.

Conducting her own form of exit interviews, Hardy-Susskind spoke to a number of anonymous colleagues who had left, were tempted to leave, or had diversified their practices in recent years.

The first issue? Pay. Barristers who spoke to Hardy-Susskind spoke of “working for free”, tackling work at a “shocking rate”, and trying to manage a “culture” of doing extra work for no pay. One went as far to say that they were “fed up of having to pay to work”, with others struggling to keep on top of mortgages and childcare.

One more senior barrister noted that the compensation for work and respect for criminal barristers had “dwindled”, and with the working conditions deteriorating they “started to dread getting up in the morning”.

Those who have been following the issues at the criminal bar for a while will remember the strikes that took place in 2022 that only came to an end when barristers narrowly voted in favour of a 15% pay rise for legal aid work.

On top of the poor pay other interviewees cited the distressing nature of work. “Back-to-back” sexual offence trials that are both “physically and emotionally gruelling” were a particular target for criticism, especially in the absence of fair pay. Others said they were simply tired of being the “public face of a crumbling system”.

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A particular issue with the chaotic and unscheduled nature of the criminal bar is caring and familial responsibilities. Fathers Hardy-Susskind spoke to felt they were “physically or figuratively” absent from families, with the work they were doing “isolated and insular”.

Mothers also had great difficulty navigating a return to work, with one person commenting that, when she attended chambers to collect some paperwork with her baby, she was welcomed with a scolding of “I had not realised this was a nursery.” When looking to a more senior barrister for help she was asked “where is the father in all of this?”

“I am at a stage in my life where I want to have a family…,” another barrister commented, “and partly I feel like with this job I am not sure how I would ever manage to have a child and actually be there to raise my child.”

The “final straw” for others was their treatment by judges. One junior recounted being publicly berated by a judge for now knowing where his opponent was. “That was a moment of clarity, I realised how ridiculous the criminal justice system was, how petty, how backward, and how unhealthy.”

Wrapping up her expose, Hardy-Susskind added that:

“We have been conditioned to sacrifice perfectly normal activities like eating, sleeping and caring for children to keep a very poorly paid show on the road.”

The impact of this exodus of barristers? Back in 2019 there were 71 cases that could not proceed because of a lack of counsel. Last year this number hit 1,436.

5 Comments

Former criminal barrister.

Abandon the criminal bar. Let the criminal justice system collapse. Most citizens don’t care.

Why subsidise the government, when it cannot be arsed paying adequate fees?

Al

I sometimes get into bother for saying that public services, including the Crim and Family Bars, are providing Guillotine Insurance.

So many services, health, legal, etc are now only functioning because of the good will of the people involved. And what thanks do they get? Some performative clapping. But heaven help should they be audacious enough to actually be asked to be paid for what they do.

So, yes, I can see the temptation just to turn round and say ‘sorry you were raped, but there won’t be a trial until 2028’ or ‘I know your child is in prison for a crime they didn’t commit, but there wasn’t anyone to defend them.

And then point out that if they have a problem with that, here’s the names of the MPs who voted for that.

Not-struggling criminal junior

It is possible to make a very good living at the Criminal Bar, even at the very junior end, IF you happen to be at the right Chambers.

This does not mean snobby closed-shop Chambers full of privately educated white men- it means modern, dynamic, diverse, and (most importantly) well-run Chambers.

They do exist.

I’m a member of one.

If you’re struggling but good at your job and don’t take the attitude that the world
owes you a living, take the plunge and shop around.

There are London based criminal sets with fixed percentages under 17% and no rent where even very junior tenants can be grossing in excess of £100K.

Do your research.

Let’s not perpetuate the myth that the entire Criminal Bar is struggling because some Chambers haven’t modernised their working practices.

I left years ago and now coin it

Agreed. If there are considerably less barristers about as the article suggests and the level of work available has remained the same (together with the enormous backlog) then six figures gross is achievable with some hard graft.

Ideas to clear the Crown Court backlog

For all either way cases at the Crown Court where the defendant is on bail, and as a temporary measure until the backlog is reduced:

1. Allow all criminal barristers and solicitors of at least 10 years experience in criminal practice to sit as Recorders without any further assessment;

2. Allow all criminal solicitors of at least 2 years experience to have rights of audience in the Crown Court;

3. Press into service all redundant but otherwise functional court rooms in public buildings across the country (often in town halls eg Oxford or closed but not sold off eg Aylesbury);

4. Don’t require the expense of installing a DARTS recording system in the above (Magistrates’ Court proceedings aren’t recorded anyway). Instead use a portable
sound recorded for any points of law and otherwise rely on the Judge’s/counsel’s notes.

No cells/cell staff would be required as the above would only be needed for bail cases.

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