Employed barristers can now do pro bono work, the Bar Council has confirmed. The professional indemnity insurance provider Bar Mutual has approved cover for the employed Bar, enabling in-house practitioners to work pro bono via the Bar Pro Bono Unit or the Free Representation Unit. Andrew Langdon QC, who called for the extension of cover earlier this year, said: ‘By making this small change, Bar Mutual have not only freed up many barristers… it has also given those people, often in dire straits, who cannot afford a lawyer a potentially wider pool of barristers who may be able to help them.’
17 November 2017
Employed go pro bono
MOVERS & SHAKERS
NLJ Career Profile: Nikki Bowker, Devonshires
Nikki Bowker, head of dispute resolution at Devonshires, on career resilience, diversity in law and channelling Elle Woods when the pressure is on
Ellisons—Sarah Osborne
Leasehold enfranchisement specialist joins residential property team
DWF—Chris Air
Firm strengthens commercial team in Manchester with partner appointment
NEWS
The government will aim to pass legislation banning leasehold for new flats and capping ground rent, introducing non-compulsory digital ID and creating a ‘duty of candour’ for public servants (also known as the Hillsborough law) in the next Parliament
An Italian financier has lost his bid to block his Australian wife from filing divorce papers in England on the basis it was no longer her domicile of choice
Reforms to the disclosure regime in the business and property courts have not achieved their objectives, lawyers have warned
The Law Society has urged ministers to hold a public consultation on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the justice system as a whole
Ministers have proposed bringing inquest work under a single fee scheme for legal help and advocacy legal aid work
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