Hardwicke Chambers is the latest to take members from soon-to-be-dissolved London commercial and chancery set 11 Stone Buildings (11SB), confirming today it will take a junior barrister quartet and 11SB’s business development manager.
Q&A: Sir Frank Berman KCMG QC on the Bar, the challenges of nature and London’s status as a disputes hub
Having attended Legal Business’s first International Arbitration Summit in September to debate issues on investor-state disputes, Sir Frank Berman KCMG QC (pictured) of Essex Court Chambers talks to Sarah Downey about the highlights of his 50-year career, London’s status as a disputes hub, and the future of the Bar.
Called to the bench: White & Case partner Ian Forrester QC made an EU judge
White & Case partner Ian Forrester QC has been appointed as the UK’s judge at the General Court of European Union, succeeding judge Nicholas Forwood QC. Forrester QC, who is based in Brussels will sit at the court based in Luxembourg from October of this year. Continue reading “Called to the bench: White & Case partner Ian Forrester QC made an EU judge”
‘Differing practice interests’: strategic tensions emerge as 11 Stone Buildings votes to dissolve
London commercial and chancery chambers 11 Stone Buildings (11SB) is set to dissolve on 30 October 2015.
Justice Eder returns to Essex Court after early retirement from the bench
Having taken early retirement from the bench in April after just four years of service, former High Court judge Sir Bernard Eder has returned to private practice at his former set, Essex Court Chambers, where he will serve as an arbitrator or mediator in disputes.
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Bar Council finds gender parity for barristers ‘unlikely to ever be achieved’ on current trends
The Bar Council has published two reports into gender diversity at the Bar highlighting challenges facing female barristers and finding that on current trends gender parity in Queen’s Counsel (QCs) ranks will not be reached in ‘the foreseeable future’.
‘The BSB needs to be unafraid to be radical’: Bar regulator looks to overhaul training
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) is looking to carry out the ‘most sweeping reforms to Bar training in a generation’ after research found that parts of the current system were viewed as ‘an absolute disgrace’ and ‘exploitative’.
Bar avoids advocacy fee cut as MoJ pushes on with further legal aid reductions against Law Society warning
The Bar is set to avoid further reductions in advocacy fees as the Ministry of Justice confirmed that it would make further cuts to criminal legal aid but for solicitors only – a move condemned by The Law Society which said it was ‘deeply concerned not only for the immediate future of the justice system but for its continued survival.’
Reassessments: Bar Standards Board asks QCA to look at re-accreditation for QCs
As the on-going dispute over its Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) rumbles on, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has asked that Queen’s Counsel Appointments (QCA) consider developing a system of re-accrediting criminal silks as the body seeks ways to ‘protect the public from poor standards of advocacy’.
Continue reading “Reassessments: Bar Standards Board asks QCA to look at re-accreditation for QCs”
Q&A: New IBA president Rivkin talks protecting legal privilege and tackling judicial corruption
Debevoise & Plimpton co-head of arbitration David Rivkin has set himself up for a busy two years as the president of the International Bar Association (IBA), the largest legal network in the world with more than 40,000 members, as he seeks to win climate change sufferers refugee status, dent judicial corruption and protect legal independence from government hacking. Rivkin talks to Tom Moore on his plans for the body.