A guide to relevant organisations and links
Advocate is the pro bono charity for the Bar. They match members of the public who are unable to obtain legal aid and cannot afford to pay, with barristers who are willing to donate their time and expertise in deserving cases.
Support from Chambers and individual Members of the Bar is crucial to their success. For those golfers amongst you, ABC hold an annual charity golf day to help raise funds for Advocate
The Bar Council is the barristers’ representative body. They do not set regulatory frameworks for the Bar, but their core work focuses on lobbying the government and Whitehall on matters of relevance to the present status and future of the Bar.
Barristers were originally governed by the General Council of the Bar and the individual Inns of Court. From January 2006, standards for admission to the bar and disciplinary proceedings were administered by the Bar Standards Board.
The BSB regulates barristers and specialised legal services in England & Wales. It is responsible for setting standards of conduct for barristers. The BSB’s functions were originally carried out by the Bar Council, until the BSB was created as an independent regulator in 2006. The BSB is not legally separate from the General Council of the Bar, but is set up so as to be independent of it.
The BSB also authorise BSB Entities (also referred to as Alternative Business Structures or ABS’s for short). They are not sets of Chambers, but are bodies licensed by the BSB, who are owned and managed by authorised individuals and others. This can include a mix of professionals such as barristers, solicitors and accountants. Their activities are broadly similar to sets of Chambers
Causidicus is a specialist secondment company, who source short and long-term placements for domestic and international law firms and in-house legal department, exclusively from the ranks of he Bar.
This site provides access to the daily lists for the Rolls Building, RCJ, Crown Court, Magistrates Court, County Court and Employment Tribunals.
There are also useful directories for sets of chambers, law firms and the above courts. Access to the court lists is free, but their premium services require a subscription.
The site contains lots of very useful information about the justice system and the courts, and includes a list of term dates for the legal year
The London Legal Networking Group
The LLNG comprises barristers, solicitors, paralegals, in-house Counsel, Clerks and court staff, along with many other legal professionals from across the sector. It is dedicated to bringing people together from all sectors of the legal industry, to meet and network in an informal environment.
The Legal Practice Management Association
The LPMA was founded in 1996 with the intention of providing supportive networking forum for this involved in, or seeking involvement in, legal practice management.
The Association holds regular events on topics relevant specifically to the legal sector, including seminars, an annual one-day conference and networking events. A number of more senior clerks are members of both the IBC and the LPMA.
An independent charity which raises funds for free legal advice services in London and the South East. They support free legal advice centres across that area through the provision of grant funding etc. Amongst other fund-raising events, The LLST organise the London Legal Walk each year, which sees thousands of walkers from law firms, chambers and legal charities taking part. Definitely worth taking part.
Practice Management Excellence
PME provide industry leading personal development training for barristers, clerks and chambers’ support staff.
