According to the BSB’s latest quarterly performance report, the contact and assessment team received almost 580 reports between April and June 2025 - the highest numbers recorded in any quarter since 2021.
BSB Director General, Mark Neale, told board members that the spike was largely drive by contentious posts made by barristers on social media platforms in response to ‘international events’ - a lot of which relate to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Neale said that such cases are “inherently complex”, requiring the BSB to balance freedom of expression with potential damage to the reputation of the Bar.
He explained that these situations often “require external legal advice”, citing the difficulty in determining whether social media content crosses the threshold into professional misconduct.
To handle the spike in casework, the BSB has reinforced its CAT team and engaged an external law firm to assist.
The report warned that the regulator’s workload is increasingly vulnerable to “unpredictable fluctuations”, particularly from external events that provoke high volumes of complaints.
The report stated that “these fluctuations cannot sensibly or economically be managed through permanent hirings,” unless they become a long-term trend
As a result, the senior leadership team will now review how to provide greater short-term operational resilience without placing unsustainable pressure on permanent staffing levels.
The regulator’s overall performance continues to face scrutiny from the Legal Services Board (LSB), following previous criticism over delays and inconsistencies. This quarter, the BSB met 12 of its 20 performance targets, with two narrowly missed.
While the quality of regulatory decision-making remains a strength, efficiency and caseload management remain areas of concern.
On a more positive note, the report recorded progress in the BSB’s authorisation processes:
However, the backlog remains a problem, due in part to a spike in applications for admission to the Bar by transferring qualified lawyers (TQLs).
The BSB said it has taken steps to address the issue, processing twice as many TQL applications as it did during the same period last year.
