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01 October 2025
Issue: 8133 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , International , Health & safety
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Bar chair highlights increasingly hostile environment for lawyers

Barristers have been targeted with death threats, rape threats, threats to their family members, physical surveillance and threats from politicians, chair of the Bar Barbara Mills KC has reported

Lawyers’ organisations from around the world gathered in London this week to discuss dangers facing the legal profession. The event, hosted by the Bar Council and Law Society to mark the beginning of the legal year, featured speeches from the presidents of the Istanbul and American Bar Associations, Law Society of Zimbabwe and the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific.

Mills said: ‘There are patterns of intimidation that show we are facing an increasing hostile environment for lawyers globally.

‘That's why we are now focused on the safety and protection of lawyers at this year's Bar leaders’ event. Bar and Law Society leaders are coming together to share experiences, to learn from each other and to offer support that is coordinated across jurisdictions.’

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NEWS
The Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP, and Solicitor General, Andy Slaughter KC MP, marked the 25th anniversary of Pro Bono Week by joining lawyers, charities, students and parliamentarians at events celebrating voluntary legal work
Witness evidence can be compromised by AI before a solicitor sees the draft, leaving safeguards focused on authorship incomplete
Possession claims are entering a new digital era, with procedural traps awaiting practitioners who assume familiar rules still govern every step
A polished legal defence may owe more to artificial intelligence than legal merit—and creditors risk paying the price in delay and expense
An indemnity costs battle with a £20m gap could reopen an important question: what weight should an approved budget carry?
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