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29 November 2007 / Lord Neuberger
Issue: 7299 / Categories: Opinion , Profession
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Attracting talent

Lord Neuberger discusses the findings and implications of his report on entry to the Bar

The Working Party on Entry to the Bar has spent the last 14 months considering how to improve access to one of our most historic and important professions. As its chairman, it has been my job to assist and co-ordinate the working party’s progress as it considered every aspect of the way in which the Bar should attract, recruit, and retain those people with the most suitable abilities and commitment.

AWARENESS AND ACCESS

Our final report, Entry to the Bar, published this week, identifies ways in which the Bar can expand its current initiatives to encourage, and then recruit, students who come from less privileged backgrounds, while simultaneously raising the standards of training for (and selection of) barristers. We have focused our efforts on reinforcing the Bar’s commitment to quality at all levels, and on introducing more far-reaching and co-ordinated initiatives to improve awareness and access for those from less advantaged backgrounds.

For too long, the Bar has been perceived

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

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Private wealth and tax team welcomes cross-border specialist as consultant

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Freeths—Richard Lockhart

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Infrastructure specialist joins as partner in Glasgow office

NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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