This was one of many focuses announced by the newly appointed Barbara Mills KC, as she addressed a packed Inner Temple Hall with her inaugural speech as chair of the Bar. Mills etched her name in history last week, when she became the first Black person to hold the post, the fifth ever woman and the first family law practitioner since 1988.
Alongside her, she has Kirsty Brimelow KC as vice-chair and Lucinda Orr – a partner at City law firm Enyo Law – as treasurer. Together, they make up the first ever all-female lineup of office in 131 years of the Bar Council’s existence.
She firstly wants “to raise the profile of family law and to help the government in its motion to have violence against women and girls.”
Immediately calling focused support for domestic abuse and child abuse support services, Ms Mills also specified the need for “trauma-informed measures such as installing screens in all court buildings and providing trauma-awareness training for Cafcass officers and case progression officers,” alongside the rollout of the Pathfinder courts which have been piloted various places across the UK.
Her second priority looked “to pass on the benefits of respecting our [barristers’] wellbeing enough to make it a skill and a core part of effective practice management as a barrister.”
Ms Mills admitted that the work barristers take on every day is “intense and highly pressured”, and it is no wonder that the relentless pressure, high expectations and the competitiveness required of barristers leads to “unmanageable fatigue, burnout and illness if left unchecked.”
She continued: “I would like to explore ways to offer barristers coaching or supervision – which provides the barrister with the opportunity to have regular confidential check ins with a professional.
“It seems to me that whilst much is said about wellbeing now, the emphasis remains centred around crisis management.”
In an ideal world, the now leader of the Bar would like to movement towards the destigmatisation of wellbeing, “losing its stigma of weakness and elevated to the same non-negotiable level as having an accountant or having insurance.” She believes that there is significant interest in the idea of proactive coaching for those at the Bar, and that its benefits could be “transformative”.
Ms Mills also made reference to a working group that would look to explore some of these options, chaired by Charlotte May KC.
Her third and final priority was to ensure that the profession made “further strides in our pursuit of equality, diversity and inclusion”.
The debate over the amendment of core duty 8 of the Bar Standards Board (BSB) remains a key point of contention for the new Bar Council chair. Ms Mills has voiced her stance on the issue, stating that while she understands the regulator’s desire for faster progress, she does “not believe their new proposals will achieve the intended aim”.
She continued: “Secondly, we are concerned that the framing of the proposed core duty, to impose a duty to deliver a more diverse profession, is unlawful and misguided.
“We are concerned that the proposed regulations may hinder progress in this area given what we believe to be ambiguity and potential ineffectiveness of the regulations as proposed.”
Ms Mills did recognise that not all barristers would agree with her on the EDI conversation, and has extended an open invitations to those who want to engage in any meaningful dialogue on the issue.
Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have permeated various industries, and the legal profession is no exception...
