Access to the Bar, Access to Justice: The Role of Chambers

How can we expect young barristers to wait three or four years for pupillage—often without pay, clear guidance, or any job security?

This isn’t about a lack of talent or potential. It’s about who can afford to wait. For many barristers—particularly those without financial backing—the current route to the profession is simply not sustainable.

We say we want to widen access to the Bar. Yet we continue to operate a system that, in practice, quietly excludes many bright and capable candidates from less privileged backgrounds. This is not meritocracy. It is systemic disadvantage.

And the implications go far beyond the profession itself.

Access to the Bar affects access to justice.

If the Bar remains open primarily to the well-connected or financially secure, we risk losing the diversity of experience and perspective that is essential to fair representation. A profession that does not reflect the society it serves cannot fully meet its obligations to that society.

We, as senior barristers—and through the chambers we lead—must recognise our part in this. The prolonged period before pupillage, often unsupported and unfunded, creates a barrier that is difficult to justify.

It is time to consider practical, responsible alternatives that maintain standards while improving access. These might include:

• Broadening the pathways to pupillage, allowing chambers more flexibility in training future barristers while maintaining transparency and regulatory oversight
• Exploring supervised practice frameworks, akin to apprenticeships, as recognised qualifying routes that are structured, fair, and properly accredited
• Providing paid professional opportunities in chambers for those awaiting pupillage—recognising them as part of the profession and investing in their development
• Implementing structured mentoring and career development programmes, led by chambers and the Inns, with clear guidance and accountability
• Committing to internal reviews of recruitment and training practices, to help identify and reduce unintended barriers to entry

The Bar Standards Board, the Inns of Court, and the Bar Council all have important roles to play. But change must include chambers' input and open feedback.

If we are serious about equal access to the Bar, we must back it with action. Because without it, access to justice will remain uneven—and ultimately, unfulfilled.

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