Sticking together

'The times they are a-changing' sang Bob Dylan in 1964. How right he was: alternative business structures; regulators getting full independence from the Bar Council and Law Society; so-called legal aid 'reform'; outsourcing of legal and business services '“ and so on. Whether we like it or not both solicitors and barristers must change and adapt or suffer or even die.

I have endeavoured this year to stimulate change in the Bar. For decades soothsayers have said the Bar will decline, but year on year it has expanded. And the fundamentals of the Bar are strong; we are in relative terms a low cost-based profession of high-quality specialist practitioners. Competition for places at the Bar has never been fiercer and the quality of applicants remains ferociously high. All of this means the traditional way of working between barristers and solicitors is under scrutiny. I believe that although there will be some repositioning of that relationship over the next few years, the two professions will remain largely complementary and we will continue to need each other.

Entrenching traditional skills

Our independent regulator, the Bar Standards Board (BSB), with close cooperation from the Bar Council, has embarked upon a wholesale review of our rules and the way in which we work to see if they still pass muster in the public interest. We have already relaxed most of the previous restrictions on conducting litigation and the BSB recently published a consultation on full direct access and entity regulation. There is every likelihood that the Bar will follow these paths because extensive evidence emanating from a comprehensive survey conducted by the BSB shows strong support for the Bar having far greater freedom in the way in which it practices.

But, importantly, all of these changes are designed to entrench the Bar in its traditional skills '“ i.e. advocacy and litigation and specialist advice. We are not going to become solicitors.

Jostling and jockeying for position

Some of the changes we are introducing will directly affect the way in which we work with solicitors in the near future. For example, in the expected re-tendering of criminal defence contracts by the Legal Services Commission (LSC) which will occur in the next year or two the Bar will, for the first time, directly bid for contracts with the LSC. The Bar Council is working hard to develop new business models which preserve the Bar's traditional strengths of independence but which give it bidding vehicles so that it can participate in the tender processes. In short, we will seek to become contract holders.

I have watched with interest the readers' comments sections on websites which have been following some of my articles, interviews and speeches to the above effect. I read one commentator who said he did not think that the criminal Bar either would or could participate in bids. He added that in the new bidding processes solicitors would get bigger and would take more and more advocacy in house. Such views are misplaced. The criminal Bar considers it has no choice. Indeed the very comment that solicitors will instruct the Bar less is the very reason why the Bar will radically change.

I confidently expect the overwhelming majority of sets in England and Wales that undertake criminal legal aid will bid next time around. Many solicitors alreadyunderstand this. Many have started tentative discussions on how the Bar and solicitors can cooperate fruitfully. I welcome such discussions.

A few firms (in Liverpool, Birmingham and London) have actually issued threats to some fairly large sets that if they bid in new bidding rounds they would be blacklisted from future work. This is silly. I have asked chambers to send me details of such threats and have in turn raised the issue with ministers.

The truth is that in these very difficult times we need to work together, and sensible practitioners will do so.

ABS '“ big deal

On ABSs the Bar is not unduly concerned; notions of external investment and multi-disciplinary partnerships are likely to be of marginal interest. On the other hand chambers are, with the Bar Council's active encouragement, looking at different types of more modern business structures. These have stimulated a great deal of interest among clients and we will continue to work hard on this to ensure the Bar is a modern profession very much open for business.

A winning combination

So, the Bar is changing. We are working to modernise and to make ourselves more accessible and more attractive to our clients, including, of course, solicitors. Some firms find this a threat. They should not. The Bar and solicitors have worked together successfully for generations. This is true at home and also abroad. When I travel internationally I find the reputation of English solicitors is second to none. Many of the largest firms on the planet are based in London. When those clients abroad speak about our profession they talk of that holy trilogy of an independent high-quality judiciary, high-powered and universally competent solicitors, and skilled and specialist advocates. That is a winning combination. Long may it continue.