Most barristers open to working for ABSs, survey reveals

Most barristers are considering or might consider working in an ABS, a survey of 3,000 barristers for the Bar Council and Bar Standards Board has revealed.

Asked whether they were considering working in an ABS, 21 per cent of self-employed barristers said yes, with a further 43 per cent saying they would 'maybe' consider it. Only 36 per cent ruled it out.

Support was strongest for barrister-only entities (BOEs), with 58 per cent of barristers considering it and 28 per cent responding with a 'maybe'. LDPs received the least support, perhaps because of the fear that they would be dominated by solicitors.

The figures were similar to those for employed barristers, who made up 22 per cent of respondents to the survey, but employed barristers were less keen on working for BOEs.

Criminal barristers were the most enthusiastic about new business structures, while those doing commercial and international work were the least enthusiastic.

Barristers specialising in crime were the most likely to suffer from declining workloads. A total of 49 per cent of criminal lawyers said their gross billed income had declined in the last two years, with 26 per cent saying it had decreased 'substantially'.

Only 19 per cent of civil and commercial barristers said their income was going down, and a slightly higher proportion, 28 per cent, of family barristers. A narrow majority of personal injury and professional negligence barristers, 55 per cent, said their income was rising.

Michael Todd QC, chairman of the Bar Council, said the survey showed a 'keen interest' from the profession in ABSs as a means of meeting the demands of the current legal services market, and said the Bar Council would seek to 'support and facilitate these changes'.

He went on: 'The results of the survey show that the profession is more diverse now than ever, but that more can be done to support working parents, as we are doing through our campaign for a Bar Nursery for example.'

Baroness Ruth Deech, chair of the Bar Standards Board, said Barrister's Working Lives reinforced her belief that 'the new equality and diversity rules are needed to ensure appropriate parental leave measures are in place, there is fair allocation of work within the self employed Bar and improvements to recruitment processes are made'.

Deech added that the results of the survey showed the BSB was also right to consult the profession on entity regulation.