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Simon Regis CBE, Chair of the Bar Council Employed Barristers’ Committee, sets out his three key priorities for the year ahead
I have the honour this year to have been appointed Chair of the Employed Barristers’ Committee (EBC), following in the footsteps of the many esteemed colleagues who have preceded me. The EBC is the voice of the employed Bar at the Bar Council – noting, of course, that we also have employed barrister members of the Bar Council in their own right. While I am a proponent of the One Bar principle, it is also important to understand that some matters touch our side of the profession in a different way to our self-employed counterparts.
At the outset, I want to acknowledge the achievement of having an employed barrister – Heidi Stonecliffe KC, herself a former EBC Chair – serve as Vice Chair of the Bar in 2026. To my mind, Heidi taking up this position makes the year even more auspicious for employed barristers, and for me personally, especially as she so effectively demonstrated her powers of persuasion in encouraging me to stand for this role. This sits alongside 2026 being an awards year for the employed Bar, and I am looking forward to the nominations and to celebrating the outstanding achievements of the nominees and winners later in the year. The recognition and value that the awards bring to employed barristers as individuals, and to the organisations they work for, should not be underestimated (and I say this, in part, as a former winner myself).
I would like to thank our former Chair, Sara George, for leading the committee in 2025 with verve and passion. I also want to give a special shout‑out to our secretariat colleagues at the Bar Council, in particular Nathan Trotter and now Ruth Lovett, without whom the committee would not be able to function as effectively as it does. I am looking forward to working with my Vice Chair Amelia Clegg, who is also Chair of the Young Barristers’ Committee for 2026, and will bring that vital experience from the junior end of the employed Bar.
Turning to my priorities for the coming year, I will be focusing on three of the recommendations that came out of the Bar Council’s 2023 Life at the Employed Bar Report. Firstly, creating communities of employed barristers – seeking to enhance the networks and support that we have for the employed Bar. Secondly, tackling bullying and harassment which has been brought into sharp focus as a result of Baroness Harriet Harman KC’s independent review into bullying, harassment and sexual harrassment at the Bar. Finally, increasing judicial appointments, as we know that many colleagues at the employed Bar want the opportunity to be able to take up judicial roles.
I have previously spoken about my own journey of disengagement from, and eventual re‑engagement with, institutions at the Bar. In my earlier years of practice, I did not feel part of a community as a direct result of being an employed barrister. With my employers providing a de facto legal community I felt more affinity with, my disengagement was easier to maintain. But I believe that creating and maintaining a strong employed Bar community alongside your organisational community is important. It bears repeating but we make up 20% of the practising profession.
The 2023 report acknowledged the progress made on recommendations from the previous report in 2016 around networks, in particular working with the Inns of Court and the Bar Association for Commerce, Finance & Industry (BACFI). It also referred to building on the LinkedIn network that has been established and working with the Circuits and the Inns of Court. My own Inn, Inner Temple, has an active Employed Bar Forum and I am aware that the other Inns have similar forums. Recognising these strong foundations, I want to focus on how we enhance the progress that has been made. The Employed Bar Awards, for example, is a fantastic community and networking focal point, but we should also continue to develop and promote other ways to strengthen and showcase our community outside of that biennial awards cycle.
One of the ways in which the EBC maintains engagement with colleagues is via our regular newsletter, which I know colleagues do engage with. We also have a regular slot in this very magazine to give a perspective from the employed Bar. That said, I am very open to new ideas as to how we can further develop our networks and opportunities at the employed Bar, leveraging the influence of numerous role models from our branch of the profession.
The 2023 report noted:
‘The perception of a more diverse and inclusive workplace can mask some serious issues facing those at the employed Bar – bullying, harassment and discrimination… There are clearly opportunities for the employed and self-employed Bar to find common cause in tackling bullying, harassment and discrimination in both arms of the profession.’
Many of us will have read the Harman Report, which also recognised that there were some aspects of bullying and harassment specifically directed at and experienced by employed barristers.
In adopting a whole Bar approach to address this issue, we will also need to ensure that we do not lose sight of the particular context and needs of employed barristers. This will require working with public sector employers and law firms to better understand their policies and programmes designed to tackling bullying, harassment and discrimination, while acknowledging that these will apply organisation-wide as opposed to being specific to employed barristers. Given the spotlight that the Harman Report has shone on this issue across the Bar as a whole, I expect that this is high on everyone’s agenda.
The 2023 report recommended that the Bar Council should work with the Judicial Appointments Commission and other stakeholders to both remove barriers to judicial appointment and promote and support applications from employed barristers. While I am aware of talks, information sessions and presentations organised around judicial roles, a more targeted approach may need to be taken to support those from the employed Bar to consider and make those applications.
I was fortunate enough to take part in the Pre-Application Judicial Education (PAJE) programme in 2019, a scheme which is focused on lawyers from underrepresented backgrounds to ‘further explore the realities of being a judge as well as any perceptions they may have on barriers to a future judicial career’. I can attest to the course providing important insights into what life could be like if I wanted to pursue a judicial career, whether salaried or fee-paid.
As much as I would like to advocate for a programme like this just for employed barristers, I am not convinced that everyone would benefit from it and I would happily settle for the key learning points from the programme to be synthesised and disseminated – maybe one for an AI model to take forward!
Wishing my employed Bar colleagues a productive and successful 2026, I am looking forward to working with you and for you.
The Bar Council’s 2023 Life at the Employed Bar Report
Employed Bar Awards and Bar Council resources and support tailored to employed barristers
Employed Barristers’ Committee
Counsel magazine’s employed Bar section
See also ‘Judicial pathways for the employed Bar’, Venetia Jackson, Counsel October 2023
I have the honour this year to have been appointed Chair of the Employed Barristers’ Committee (EBC), following in the footsteps of the many esteemed colleagues who have preceded me. The EBC is the voice of the employed Bar at the Bar Council – noting, of course, that we also have employed barrister members of the Bar Council in their own right. While I am a proponent of the One Bar principle, it is also important to understand that some matters touch our side of the profession in a different way to our self-employed counterparts.
At the outset, I want to acknowledge the achievement of having an employed barrister – Heidi Stonecliffe KC, herself a former EBC Chair – serve as Vice Chair of the Bar in 2026. To my mind, Heidi taking up this position makes the year even more auspicious for employed barristers, and for me personally, especially as she so effectively demonstrated her powers of persuasion in encouraging me to stand for this role. This sits alongside 2026 being an awards year for the employed Bar, and I am looking forward to the nominations and to celebrating the outstanding achievements of the nominees and winners later in the year. The recognition and value that the awards bring to employed barristers as individuals, and to the organisations they work for, should not be underestimated (and I say this, in part, as a former winner myself).
I would like to thank our former Chair, Sara George, for leading the committee in 2025 with verve and passion. I also want to give a special shout‑out to our secretariat colleagues at the Bar Council, in particular Nathan Trotter and now Ruth Lovett, without whom the committee would not be able to function as effectively as it does. I am looking forward to working with my Vice Chair Amelia Clegg, who is also Chair of the Young Barristers’ Committee for 2026, and will bring that vital experience from the junior end of the employed Bar.
Turning to my priorities for the coming year, I will be focusing on three of the recommendations that came out of the Bar Council’s 2023 Life at the Employed Bar Report. Firstly, creating communities of employed barristers – seeking to enhance the networks and support that we have for the employed Bar. Secondly, tackling bullying and harassment which has been brought into sharp focus as a result of Baroness Harriet Harman KC’s independent review into bullying, harassment and sexual harrassment at the Bar. Finally, increasing judicial appointments, as we know that many colleagues at the employed Bar want the opportunity to be able to take up judicial roles.
I have previously spoken about my own journey of disengagement from, and eventual re‑engagement with, institutions at the Bar. In my earlier years of practice, I did not feel part of a community as a direct result of being an employed barrister. With my employers providing a de facto legal community I felt more affinity with, my disengagement was easier to maintain. But I believe that creating and maintaining a strong employed Bar community alongside your organisational community is important. It bears repeating but we make up 20% of the practising profession.
The 2023 report acknowledged the progress made on recommendations from the previous report in 2016 around networks, in particular working with the Inns of Court and the Bar Association for Commerce, Finance & Industry (BACFI). It also referred to building on the LinkedIn network that has been established and working with the Circuits and the Inns of Court. My own Inn, Inner Temple, has an active Employed Bar Forum and I am aware that the other Inns have similar forums. Recognising these strong foundations, I want to focus on how we enhance the progress that has been made. The Employed Bar Awards, for example, is a fantastic community and networking focal point, but we should also continue to develop and promote other ways to strengthen and showcase our community outside of that biennial awards cycle.
One of the ways in which the EBC maintains engagement with colleagues is via our regular newsletter, which I know colleagues do engage with. We also have a regular slot in this very magazine to give a perspective from the employed Bar. That said, I am very open to new ideas as to how we can further develop our networks and opportunities at the employed Bar, leveraging the influence of numerous role models from our branch of the profession.
The 2023 report noted:
‘The perception of a more diverse and inclusive workplace can mask some serious issues facing those at the employed Bar – bullying, harassment and discrimination… There are clearly opportunities for the employed and self-employed Bar to find common cause in tackling bullying, harassment and discrimination in both arms of the profession.’
Many of us will have read the Harman Report, which also recognised that there were some aspects of bullying and harassment specifically directed at and experienced by employed barristers.
In adopting a whole Bar approach to address this issue, we will also need to ensure that we do not lose sight of the particular context and needs of employed barristers. This will require working with public sector employers and law firms to better understand their policies and programmes designed to tackling bullying, harassment and discrimination, while acknowledging that these will apply organisation-wide as opposed to being specific to employed barristers. Given the spotlight that the Harman Report has shone on this issue across the Bar as a whole, I expect that this is high on everyone’s agenda.
The 2023 report recommended that the Bar Council should work with the Judicial Appointments Commission and other stakeholders to both remove barriers to judicial appointment and promote and support applications from employed barristers. While I am aware of talks, information sessions and presentations organised around judicial roles, a more targeted approach may need to be taken to support those from the employed Bar to consider and make those applications.
I was fortunate enough to take part in the Pre-Application Judicial Education (PAJE) programme in 2019, a scheme which is focused on lawyers from underrepresented backgrounds to ‘further explore the realities of being a judge as well as any perceptions they may have on barriers to a future judicial career’. I can attest to the course providing important insights into what life could be like if I wanted to pursue a judicial career, whether salaried or fee-paid.
As much as I would like to advocate for a programme like this just for employed barristers, I am not convinced that everyone would benefit from it and I would happily settle for the key learning points from the programme to be synthesised and disseminated – maybe one for an AI model to take forward!
Wishing my employed Bar colleagues a productive and successful 2026, I am looking forward to working with you and for you.
The Bar Council’s 2023 Life at the Employed Bar Report
Employed Bar Awards and Bar Council resources and support tailored to employed barristers
Employed Barristers’ Committee
Counsel magazine’s employed Bar section
See also ‘Judicial pathways for the employed Bar’, Venetia Jackson, Counsel October 2023
Simon Regis CBE, Chair of the Bar Council Employed Barristers’ Committee, sets out his three key priorities for the year ahead
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