In January’s Counsel magazine, I set out my key priorities for 2024:
- Expanding engagement: I will work hard to engage with junior practitioners across England and Wales to understand what they need from us and identify solutions. We are embarking on a new engagement strategy with the Bar Council, which will include two new events for pupils and newly qualified practitioners in early 2024.
- Strengthening partnerships at home and abroad: we will continue to build bridges with colleagues in other jurisdictions and deliver the Anglo-Dutch Exchange and International Weekend. I will personally meet with every junior circuit representative and junior representatives of Specialist Bar Associations to discuss how the YBC can better represent junior members.
- Driving professional support and development: I will put our existing support materials front and centre and champion additional and new ways to offer professional support and development that are tailored for the post-pandemic era.
- Making the Young Bar’s voice heard: I will personally work with the Chair of the Bar and senior stakeholders across the profession to make sure the young Bar is driving the conversation around fees, regulatory and ethical developments, professional support, and community engagement at the junior level, with a particular emphasis on equality of opportunity for all.