ALMOST HALF of all barristers are now taking up to seven years to earn enough to break even, according to one of the founders of a young barristers’ committee of the Bar Council.
Sophia Purcell BL said it was now taking up to seven years to break even at the Bar, and those qualified for seven years or less now make up over 46 per cent of its members.
She is one of a group of young barristers who felt the Bar Council, the representative body for barristers, needed to involve young barristers more and be made more aware of their problems, which have been exacerbated by the economic crisis.
The group proposed to the Bar Council the setting up of a young barristers’ committee, and this has been accepted by the council.
She pointed out that 1,063 of the 2,303 members of the Bar have been in practice for less than seven years.
Almost 39 per cent are practising less than five years, and 55 per cent less than 10 years.
Therefore, while the headlines still show that a certain number of barristers are charging and earning astronomical fees, a very large number of barristers are struggling to make a living.
The young barristers’ committee is elected by those practising for seven years or less.
According to the proposal to the Bar Council, it will liaise with the council on issues such as training and entry to the Bar, pupilage, fees and public funding, practice management, regulatory issues, rule changes and equality and diversity. It would also forge links with similar bodies internationally.
Ms Purcell said it had always taken up to five years for a young barrister to break even, but that period had lengthened and it had become harder to survive in the meantime. Young barristers build up very significant loans for living expenses, she said, and they are still living at home into their 30s.
The fees paid by the State have been cut across the board, which has serious implications for those at the bottom of the fee ladder.
“There has been a 23 per cent cut in legal aid fees. It’s €28 for one remand hearing, and normally you get one or two a day. You could be hanging around Balbriggan or Bray all day, and that €28 covers travel costs, lunch etc,” she said. “If it’s cut any further it won’t be worth going.”
Most young barristers do other work, like lecturing, but the competition for this has intensified, with both unemployed solicitors and barristers seeking it, while the colleges are cutting back. “DIT has no tutorials at the moment,” she said. “You also need to be around the courts so even if you do not have much on that day, you need to see what is going on and be available for a handover .”
Large numbers of young barristers are volunteering for work with NGOs like Free Legal Aid Centres and community law centres, she said, even though it is unpaid.
The young barristers’ committee does not envisage any structural changes that might lead to a better distribution of the work. She does not consider the chambers system in England and Wales, where young barristers join a chambers as a pupil, as an alternative to the sole trader model in Ireland. “In England and Wales only one in three of those seeking a pupillage get in. Even if you do get one for a year you do not get a tenancy in the chambers afterwards. Here if you can establish yourself you can give it a go,” Ms Purcell said.