The Different Faces of the Bar - Four Journeys into Law

In the first event of its kind, the Secret Barrister, Chris Daw QC, and two of the Bar Council's #IAmTheBar Social Mobility Advocates, Rachel Spearing and Natasha Shotunde, will come together for a live-streamed panel discussion on social mobility and access to the Bar.

The event will take place on 5 December 2018 at the Bar Council, with an audience of students in attendance. It will be heavily interactive, with anyone interested in the law or a legal career able to submit questions to the panel in advance, and with more coming on the night from the live audience and through Twitter.  School students are welcome to get involved, as well as college and university undergraduates and those already on the GDL, BPTC or in pupillage.

The panel members will share their own journeys into law, from a diverse range of backgrounds, and explain the challenges they overcame to access the Bar, the trials and tribulations of life within the profession, with their top tips for a successful career. This is a vital event for those who are considering or currently pursuing a career in law, and builds on various social mobility initiatives that the Bar has been pursuing recently, including the #IAmTheBar campaign, which the Bar Council launched in summer 2018, and Raising the Bar, a short film with Chris Daw QC, which featured on the BBC's The One Show.

Details are below: 

Time of event:            6:30pm to 8pm

Format:                       6:30pm to 7pm - Introducing the panel - four journeys into the law

7pm to 7:30pm          Panel answering advance email questions

7:30pm to 8pm          Live questions from the room and via Twitter 

At the Bar Council and live streamed online via Bar Council channels (link to be Tweeted by the Bar Council in advance) 

Panel:

The Secret Barrister  ( @barristersecret) is a specialist criminal advocate and author of the bestselling book; Stories of the Law and How it's Broken.

Chris Daw QC(@crimlawuk) is a leading fraud, regulatory and criminal barrister, who regularly appears on television and radio to talk about the law and social mobility.

Rachel Spearing and Natasha Shotunde are busy and successful junior barristers, who are also 2018 Social Mobility Advocates for the Bar Council's #IAmTheBar campaign.

Email questions in advance to Isabel Biggs at Serjeants' Inn - [email protected]

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. Further information is available from the Bar Council Press Office on 020 7222 2525 and [email protected].

2. The Bar Council represents barristers in England and Wales. It promotes: 

  • The Bar's high quality specialist advocacy and advisory services

  • Fair access to justice for all

  • The highest standards of ethics, equality and diversity across the profession, and

  • The development of business opportunities for barristers at home and abroad.

The General Council of the Bar is the Approved Regulator of the Bar of England and Wales. It discharges its regulatory functions through the independent Bar Standards Board 

3. I am the Bar is a campaign set up and launched by the Bar Council in Summer 2018, to profile the experiences of those who have succeeded at the Bar from non-traditional backgrounds.  The campaign is designed to:

  • Raise the profile of social mobility and support fair access to the Bar, to encourage aspiring barristers from non-traditional backgrounds. 

  • Highlight efforts made to improve access to, and diversity within, the profession.

  • Support efforts to improve insight into the profession by drawing together profession-wide social mobility efforts across chambers, Inns, other organisations and individual barristers.