BSB looks to standardise level of support provided by experienced barristers to new practitioners

A “more prescribed” approach is required to ensure that all newly qualified barristers receive good support and guidance from their assigned ‘qualified person’ (QP), research by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has concluded.

All barristers who have been qualified for less than three years have access to a QP – an experienced practitioner who offers guidance while they are starting out. However, the BSB’s survey found that levels of support provided by QPs varied widely, with some novice barristers benefitting far more from the scheme than others.

Problems include the fact that some QPs are offering advice on advocacy while others are not, while this was also the case for feedback on the mentee’s performance. The research suggests that the BSB needs to look again at the scheme to ensure that its benefits are more consistently provided to new barristers.

Ewen MacLeod, the BSB’s director of strategy and policy, said: “Our research suggests that the level of support made available to newly qualified barristers by QPs varies considerably and that this influences how positively new practitioners think about the requirement. We will use this research to aide our future policy work around barristers in their early years of practice as well as our review later in the year into the rules governing the scope of barristers’ practice. We are grateful to all those who completed the survey.”