Direct Access: A mature model for delivering legal services

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Direct access is no longer an adjunct to traditional practice; it is a mature and increasingly central way of delivering specialist legal services. Although the cab rank rule does not apply in the same way to such work, and counsel retains a greater degree of choice as to whether to accept instructions, the model has now been established for over 20 years and is widely understood across the profession. Direct access, or public access as it was originally known, was...

Animal law shouldn’t be restricted by borders

  By V Victoria Shroff, KC, Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics The growing loss of wildlife globally should unite countries in the same way the climate crisis demands global cooperation as animals, ecosystems, and economies are interconnected. Examining animal protection laws and practices...

Litigation Funding, PACCAR, and the Battle for Access to Justice

In the context of English law, few technicalities have threatened to derail the machinery of justice as profoundly as the Supreme Court’s decision in R (on the application of PACCAR Inc and others) v Competition Appeal Tribunal and others...

Developments in the public interest defence in defamation

The impact of the rapid development of the digital technology on data usage and its distribution has become one of the central topics of discussion in modern society. Media has evolved to become...

Cognitive Bias: Forensic Science  

Dr David Schudel forensic chemist at Keith Borer Consultants. According to the Oxford English dictionary, “bias” has several meanings, including: “to influence, affect (often unduly and unfairly)”. No one likes to think of themselves behaving...

Bar Council responds to legal complaints case fees proposals  

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The Office for Legal Complaints recently carried out a public consultation on changes to the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) scheme rules, case fees and publishing decisions. Barristers currently represent only 4% of the total of LeO complaint cases. The Chair of the Bar Council’s regulation panel, Stephen Kenny KC, said: “The Office for Legal Complaints’ consultation proposals are too wide ranging, inadequately evidenced, will not necessarily achieve the desired outcomes and would be disproportionately punitive for service providers. What are needed are measures which are tightly focused on reducing the backlog of outstanding complaints. That is the most important issue.  Many of the proposed changes, if implemented, will absorb LeO’s time and resources, and distract from...

Bar Council responds to legal complaints case fees proposals  

The Office for Legal Complaints recently carried out a public consultation on changes to the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) scheme rules, case fees and publishing...

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Orams Revisited

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Effective Control, Criminalisation, and the Misuse of EU and International Law in Cyprus Property Disputes  Opinion Piece by Lennart Poulsen, Barrister at 9BR Chambers  Introduction Few cases in European private international law have been as persistently mischaracterised as Apostolides v Orams. What was,...

Forum Chambers: A Boutique Set taking on the Big Boys

Chambers are a feature of the English legal landscape which have few parallels in other countries. There are just over 400 Chambers, which come in various different shapes and sizes. There are the mega-sets which are large, which commodify the work of many of their barristers, and which often charge lower fees and have lower overheads. Being a barrister at one of those sets can feel like being a cog in a machine, with strategy and career development being...

Synthetic Counsel and the Hallucination Defence

 Judicial Responses to AI-Generated Fabrications in Legal Practice By Nicholas Blomfield The adoption of generative AI (GenAI), ranging from specialist legal platforms such as Harvey and Legora to general-purpose large language models has transformed legal...

The Direct Access Market Has Changed. Has the Bar Kept Up?

  By Rory Nunn, Head of Direct Access, Barrister Connect Introduced in 2004, direct access represented one of the most significant...
Comment & Opinion

From Courtroom to Legislature: The dual paths of influence in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland’s most contentious social questions rarely travel down...

Politicians and Political Parties Jumping on the Immigration Bandwagon Expose themselves as lacking the ability-or the willingness-to think deeply, act responsibly, or offer real...

Immigration is one of the most hotly debated topics...

The Mags Court- Tippin the broken scales

Like many criminal barristers, I entered the profession with...

The Major Political Parties and Their Pledges for the Family Justice System in 2024

  Author: Baldip Singh, Barrister No5 Barristers’ Chambers My trial settled...
In Brief

Bar Council responds to legal complaints case fees proposals  

The Office for Legal Complaints recently carried out a public consultation on changes to the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) scheme rules, case fees and publishing...

AI disputes in 2026: are legislation and case law keeping pace?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly moved from an emerging technology to a key aspect of business operations. Organisations across a variety of sectors use...

Bar Council reacts to new ICC sanctions

The Trump administration has announced new sanctions against the president and a senior lawyer of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Chair of the Bar Council...

The Direct Access Market Has Changed. Has the Bar Kept Up?

  By Rory Nunn, Head of Direct Access, Barrister Connect Introduced in 2004, direct access represented one of the most significant changes to the way barristers...

Synthetic Counsel and the Hallucination Defence

 Judicial Responses to AI-Generated Fabrications in Legal Practice By Nicholas Blomfield The adoption of generative AI (GenAI), ranging from specialist legal platforms such as Harvey and...
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