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​Rising to the challenge

20 January 2017 / Andrew Langdon KC
Issue: 7730 / Categories: Opinion , Profession
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Andrew Langdon QC sets out his aims & aspirations for his tenure as Chairman of the Bar 2017

 

I come to the Chairmanship in 2017 from the perspective of a Circuiteer initially drawn in to the Bar Council by the fight against legal aid cuts, now with my eyes open to other changes to the landscape upon which our still small profession operates. While we will withstand the challenges we face—as we have always done—we nonetheless need to identify and meet them, especially when, as presently they appear to deter the recruitment and viability of the junior Bar.

An ageing profession

I am struck by the fact that as a profession we are ageing. The statistics show that every five years since 1990 the size of the profession overall has increased, but in the last 10 years the number of those in practice under 10 years’ call has slightly decreased, more markedly so for those under five years’ call. One suspects that withdrawal and reduction of legal aid funding, the changes to the

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
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