I had the pleasure of representing Bridging the Bar at this year’s Reshaping Legal Services Conference. This Conference was a great opportunity to see and hear about the work that is being carried out by legal professionals and organisations to ensure a more inclusive and welcoming profession while also acknowledging there is still more work to be done.
What is Bridging the Bar?
Bridging the Bar (BTB) is a legal charity with one aim: to create a diverse Bar which reflects our diverse society. BTB furthers this aim by bridging the gap between aspiring barristers from non-traditional backgrounds and the skills, experience and networks required to develop a career at the Bar. We support students whom, owing to their disability, ethnic background, socio-economic background, education, sexuality or other characteristics, belong to groups which are statistically underrepresented in the profession. This is predominantly done through our BTB Academy.
The Academy takes on 100 aspiring barristers from non-traditional backgrounds and provides them with work experience opportunities, mentoring, personal development workshops and access to resources that will assist them to increase their chances of securing pupillage, whilst also preparing them for professional life at the Bar. This programme runs during the academic year and relies on volunteer practitioners as well as Chambers to help us provide these opportunities for our candidates. During the Academy’s pilot year we found that those who participated in our programme were 3x more likely to secure Pupillage.
The Reshaping Legal Services Conference:
This year we were grateful to be invited by the Legal Services Board to attend the Reshaping Legal Services Conference as an Exhibitor. This was a great opportunity to showcase the work BTB has been doing as well as learn from other organisations who share BTB’s view of furthering inclusivity in the legal profession.
We were able to have fruitful discussions with prominent figures in the legal profession about the work that has been done to make the Bar accessible to aspiring barristers. These discussions also explored the barriers faced by aspiring barristers from non-traditional backgrounds who want to access the Bar and what can be done to change things for the better. An example discussed was the lack of wheelchair accessibility at the Bar which spans from inaccessible Chamber buildings to inaccessible courtrooms. While things like wheelchair accessibility can be overlooked at times, as they do not affect a high number of aspiring barristers and practitioners, it is important to highlight these barriers during conversations about inclusivity in the legal profession to ensure we are working together to eliminate these barriers so that everyone feels welcome to join and access the Bar.
Attending the Reshaping Legal Services Conference as an Exhibitor was a great opportunity for us to have these important conversations and build connections that will help us in progressing our aim of diversifying the Bar.
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