Barristers to go on strike?

[CleverClogs]

I wonder if they'll picket the courts.

http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/bar...-strike-monday

[enquirer]

Re: Barristers to go on strike?

So you judge everybody by a couple of people you have met? What a sad outlook on life. Please do let me know what you do for a living so that I can judge all of them by the same measure.

On the other hand, it's a random selection and a 100% fail rate.

[Eloise01]

Re: Barristers to go on strike?

I have dealt with several, and had good reason to despise all of them. Naked greed and incompetence being but two.

So you judge everybody by a couple of people you have met? What a sad outlook on life. Please do let me know what you do for a living so that I can judge all of them by the same measure.

[enquirer]

Re: Barristers to go on strike?

It also pays for all the pro bono work we do.

Total income of all UK barristers cross referenced to the value of pro bono work done?

... but anyone who thinks that being a barrister is "easy money" clearly isn't a barrister and doesn't know any.

I have dealt with several, and had good reason to despise all of them. Naked greed and incompetence being but two.

You are using the same argument any "employer" uses to cut "wages" - they earn too much anyway. It doesn't hold no matter what income people can earn. If they are earning it they are earning it. Driving down "wages", whoevers wages you are driving down, has adverse consequences. I am suprised at you for supporting such a notion. So much for your moral highground!

This is the socialist mentality of the 1970's. If I decide that I am worth £1m a week, then I am, and if I don't get it, I've been robbed. All out, brothers!

[jon1965]

Re: Barristers to go on strike?

I don't begrudge paying top prices to get top advice/treatment.They don't get to the top by accident,they study,train and deserve to reap the rewards. If you don't want to pay the prices find another one.

The problem with that is you get two tier justice

[jon1965]

Re: Barristers to go on strike?

Legal aid is a farce anyway. As a defendant you are just a paycheque to a barrister.

Having said that i think we need to remember that many law firms are not exactly making lots of money, and if you are an equity partner you will have invested heavily in the firm and you may be liable should it go under. That risk in itself should be worth good remuneration.

Re: Barristers to go on strike?

I don't begrudge paying top prices to get top advice/treatment.They don't get to the top by accident,they study,train and deserve to reap the rewards. If you don't want to pay the prices find another one.

[MIKE770]

Re: Barristers to go on strike?

I can't see anything wrong with that, its a shame we don't have the same over here.

Must admit they did a good job on my studded Boots in the Army in the early 1960s.

Re: Barristers to go on strike?

If you consider the US system, where prisoners are used as slave labour, the answer is clearly Yes.

I can't see anything wrong with that, its a shame we don't have the same over here.

[Eloise01]

Re: Barristers to go on strike?

Of course, they could always ... lower their prices. No? So much for the moral high ground.

Of course. And cut the wages of their staff. People are always very quick to complain about barristers fees, but they forget that fee earners support a wage and bill chain. The cost of a barrister is actually the cost of a barrister, legal executives, legal secretaries, investigators, cleaners, and a whole host of staff, plus offices, equipment, business rates, and so on. It also pays for all the pro bono work we do. So yes, they could cut their fees - and they will also cut their overheads.

I wasn't claiming any moral highground, but anyone who thinks that being a barrister is "easy money" clearly isn't a barrister and doesn't know any. Eighteen hour days, no weekends... No I am not complaining about my financial situation, and I never complained about the "job" either. But judging people based on what you think they earn is ignorance, not morals. My retirement wasn't so much funded by 30+ years of hard slog in the law, but by personal circumstances which I would swap the money for in an instant to have my husband back. And being unwilling to spend many more years working ridiculous hours while life passed by because the the demands of the job when I could afford not to.

You are using the same argument any "employer" uses to cut "wages" - they earn too much anyway. It doesn't hold no matter what income people can earn. If they are earning it they are earning it. Driving down "wages", whoevers wages you are driving down, has adverse consequences. I am suprised at you for supporting such a notion. So much for your moral highground!

[enquirer]

Re: Barristers to go on strike?

It reduces justice to a cash equation - if you cannot afford it you cannot have it [...] The brightest and the best barristers will not be easily accessible to the general population unless they have money / insurance or some other means of paying.

Legal Aid always was a farce. Millions for the Maxwells, a symbolic pretzel for ordinary people.

Some will leave the field, and others won't enter it.

No easy money.

Of course, they could always ... lower their prices. No? So much for the moral high ground.

There won't be any CFA companies springing up to take up the slack because there is no money to be made in criminal law, as there isn't in large parts of employment law (take a good look how easy it is to get CFA in things like personal injury compared to employment law).

Consider government proposals for 'law centres' in Tesco.

Re: Barristers to go on strike?

Camerons 21st century britain again i have to wonder when he will bring back the workhouse and debtors prison

He's too cheap to build any.

He'll probably get the private sector to build them instead.

[enquirer]

Re: Barristers to go on strike?

Camerons 21st century britain again i have to wonder when he will bring back the workhouse and debtors prison

If you consider the US system, where prisoners are used as slave labour, the answer is clearly Yes.

[wales01man]

Re: Barristers to go on strike?

Cutting the legal aid bill will affect the poorest in society?
Camerons 21st century britain again i have to wonder when he will bring back the workhouse and debtors prison

[Eloise01]

Re: Barristers to go on strike?

Perhaps you ought to consider the serious side of this matter. The changes in legal aid seriously threaten the fundamental right to every person to a fair trial and to legal representation. The results of drastic realignment of legal aid schemes has already been widely seen in other areas of law. In employment law it is next to impossible to get legal aid, and many very good cases fail to proceed because individuals lack the skills and knowledge to represent themselves. In other areas of law it is possible to obtain legal aid, but often only the nigh on destitute can get it and many others who are not well off, but not quite "poor enough" cannot get legal aid or get very limited support. When these things happen, it doesn't reduce the cost to the client or to the state - it reduces the availability of lawyers willing to represent poor people. And that limits the rights of many sections of the population to good quality representation and fair trial. It reduces justice to a cash equation - if you cannot afford it you cannot have it. If you want evidence of that, have a look at the public defenders office system in the USA. If you cannot afford a lawyer one will be appointed for you - but you won't have a choice about who you get; they will all have a case load that means you are just another number and if you are really lucky they may have read your case file before they get to court; and with a few exceptions they are either the tired old hacks who cannot cut it in other fields or private practice, or the young (and therefore inexperienced) cutting their teeth before moving on to the more lucrative areas of law.

This "strike" is not about "poor barristers" complaining about their income being threatened. It is an attempt to highlight changes that strike at some of the most fundamental principles of British law and justice, and to bring them to the attention of a wider audience. To the attention of the people whose rights will be curtailed by the changes, and the rush of the government to sneak these changes through. If they happen we will be one step closer to the US system, in principle if not in fact. The brightest and the best barristers will not be easily accessible to the general population unless they have money / insurance or some other means of paying. Some will leave the field, and others won't enter it. There won't be any CFA companies springing up to take up the slack because there is no money to be made in criminal law, as there isn't in large parts of employment law (take a good look how easy it is to get CFA in things like personal injury compared to employment law). So that will mean that the only way of cutting costs sufficient to the potential income generation will be "industrialising" the process of legal representation, with a subsequent reduction in quality and care.