Committee vacancies

Services Appointment Panel/Bar Representation Committee: One Vacancy

One vacancy for a practising barrister, specialising in either arbitration or mediation and with relevant committee experience, to sit on the Bar Council’s Bar Representation Committee and act as the Joint Chair to its sub-panel, the Services Appointment Panel

The Bar Council is seeking a practising barrister to act as the Joint Chair to its Services Appointment Panel (the “Panel”), which was in January 2021 to support the administration of the organisation’s Appointments Service. The purpose of the Appointments Service is to enable parties to ask the Chair of the Bar to appoint a barrister to act as an arbitrator, mediator, or expert in respect of a dispute between themselves and one or more others.

As the Panel reports directly to the Bar Council’s Bar Representation Committee, the Chair will also be expected to attend the meetings of the latter, with a view to providing it with regular reports of the Panel’s work. The Panel and the Committee meet two and four times per annum respectively, and both groups are supported by the Bar Council’s Director of Services.

Further information about the Committee can be found here. The main purposes of the Panel are to:

  • work in rotation to draw up a shortlist of appointees for the Chair of the Bar to select from, having first received an anonymous summary of the relevant dispute from the Services Team.
  • assist the Services Team with the creation of annual marketing plans for the promotion of the Participant Databases, which will contain the names and contact details of those barristers who are happy to be appointed, on a pro bono or paid basis, depending on the source of the dispute.
  • advise the Services Team on the effectiveness of any third party (including chambers) alternative dispute resolution clauses that seek for an appointment to be made by the Chair of the Bar.
  • keep under review the documentation and website content associated with the Bar Council’s Appointment Service.

For 2024, the Bar Council would be interested to hear from any practising barristers who have both significant experience in arbitration and also have some experience of chairing a committee or similar group of persons. The latter need not be in chambers, or within the applicant’s place of work.

How to apply

Applicants should send a copy of their CV accompanied by a short written statement of no more than 200 words setting out their suitability for the role and describing their skills and experience to the Bar Council’s Director of Services, Carolyn Entwistle, at [email protected].

The Bar Council is committed to ensuring diversity in the make-up of its committees.  Applications are particularly welcome from members of those groups who are underrepresented at the Bar.

If you are interested in the role and would like to have an informal discussion about it before making your application, please contact Carolyn at the address listed above.

The deadline for applications is 10:00 on Wednesday 13 December 2023

 

Bar Council Regulation Panel vacancies

Vacancies for practising barristers from a range of practice areas preferably with experience of or an interest in regulatory issues impacting the Bar.

The purpose of the Regulation Panel is to meet the Bar Council’s strategic aims and objectives in particular to represent and support barristers by creating a tailored and proportionate regulatory environment that meets the needs of a specialist Bar and which maintains high ethical and regulatory standards.

The Panel aims to meet about four times a year and reports directly to the Bar Council’s General Management Committee. Chaired by the Bar Council’s Vice Chair, Barbara Mills KC and supported by the executive’s regulation team, the Panel will

  1. Influence regulatory developments through drafting consultation responses and engaging with regulators, government officials and other bodies;
  2. Critically analyse regulatory proposals and developments that impact the practice of barristers, and;
  3. Act as an advisory body to the Chair and Executive on wide ranging issues impacting the Bar. Recent work includes guidance on AI and responding to a House of Lord’s Inquiry on Regulation, BSB proposals for the regulation of chambers and discussions about Legal Executives’ titles and regulation.

Please see the Terms of Reference for full details of the aims and work programme.

The Bar Council would be particularly interested to hear from any practising barristers with expertise or an interest in the areas of professional regulation, competition and consumer issues. A desire to assist the Bar Council to represent its members and maintain cost effective and proportionate regulation is also helpful.

 

How to apply
Applicants should send a copy of their CV accompanied by a short written statement of no more than 200 words setting out their suitability for the role and describing their skills and experience to the Bar Council’s Head of Policy, Regulatory Issues, Ethics and Law Reform, at [email protected]. If you have expertise in the areas of professional regulation, the Legal Services Act 2007 or competition law, please detail this in your statement.

If you have any questions about the role or work of the working group please contact Sarah Richardson on [email protected].

The deadline for applications is 5pm Wednesday 17th January 2024.

Applications will be presented to the Chair of the Panel who will select the successful candidates.  Consideration will be given to matters of equality and diversity and we welcome applications from under-represented groups and those on circuit. Please note that all meeting will be hybrid so you can join online if convenient.