To think people dont understand why there is a Barristers strike?

[jammywagonwheel]

Following an article about Criminal Barristers striking most of the readers comments seem to be about the fact some of them earn £64,000. The comments are mostly and that they are being entitled as they earn twicethe national wage and should not be paid more than a teacher. Newly qualified Barristers can earn as little as £12,000. I think people are failing to understand how difficult it is to recruit and retain Criminal Barristers when many will simply switch from Criminal law to private practice and the basis for our criminal justice system will be under under threat.

If the right to appropriate representation is no longer achieveable, what do we do?

AIBU to think most people dont undertand the impact this could have?

They really don't. The majority of the public see us as greedy fat cats.

I think there's a feeling that their squealing because of the squeeze on legal aid and a lot of people don't believe legal aid cases are a cause for sympathy .

Also it's very hard to feel sympathy for a barrister when some can't put food on the table .

I hear what you say that some maybe on a low wage but I've never met a poor barrister

How many criminal law barristers have you met?

Only my cousin

One random news article I've just found says that in the first three years, they earn less than minimum wage.

They absolutely don’t understand. Much of their view is coloured by the perception of the profession being elitist and very much “it’s who you know not what you know”.

The Times are reporting that some are on below minimum wage. I have been following Secret Barrister on Twitter and it’s utterly depressing the current state of the justice system. Of course we need people to be able to get representation. Like so many services most people rarely interact with I think most people not only don’t understand but have no interest in it at all.

I really it don’t understand how they only earn £12k as a graduate. Is that actually true? If so then yes they deserve a massive pay rise.

@Overthebow

It is true. The pupillage year is split into two - the first 6 months is effectively an unpaid internship and always has been. They can only earn money in the second 6 months.

@SemperIdem

Not quite. There is usually a pupillage award which covers the first six.

I definitely agree people don't understand. They are fixated on the £64,000 bit and refusing to recognise that many do not make minimum wage. Barristers have invested an awful lot of time and money into their education to do their job. It is totally ridiculous that the effort does not result in a decent wage.

I caught an interview with a barrister on the radio the other week who explained the situation really well, how badly paid a lot of them are - they’re self employed and only get the fee after the end of cases which can go on for months and months.

Maybe property/financial law barristers etc can earn loads but not the unsexy criminal case barristers.

Quite an eye opener!

@RumpoleoftheBaileys oh I forgot about that! You are right.

It’s not much though, if I’m recalling correctly?

Is this a perception. I went to a University open day and the law lecturers actually stood in front of 100s of potential law students and said if you dont already have contacts in a legal firm you may as well not bother studying law as you won't get a job.

How can anyone earn less than minimum wage? That's illegal.

I think the difficulty is that SOME criminal barristers are very well paid, which gives an impression they all are

I'm not sure on this point, but I wonder if the £12,000 figure is misleading. If Legal Aid payments are made in arrears, then is it possible they only receive £12,000 in their first year, but have earned more ie will receive the rest in due course?

Well, OF COURSE I'm not intimately acquainted with the pay scales of every industry that's striking.

That's normal. And I didn't expect it to be the homework of the week to find out.

I'm not saying this to be a twat, I'm just pointing out that these issues are in fact niche, and the general population are suffering compassion fatigue. I don't know what the answer is, but you can't force people to learn or are very easily.

@Ricardothesnowman they are self employed, so minimum wage legislation doesn't apply

@Ricardothesnowman - because we are self-employed

I left the criminal bar two decades ago. Decision made after getting up at 4 am to travel to a provincial crown court. Cost of ticket £98. Brief fee for taking case: £45.
and it’s only got worse since then.

@TullyApplebottom The good old days of the £46.40

Agree, but (ironically for a barrister) the spokesperson I heard on the radio this morning failed to make the most important point, which is that ultimately barristers leaving the profession means poorer access to justice for those who can least afford it. It would have helped if they'd chosen a barrister with a less plummy accent, too - plenty of them about in criminal law.

As to how much criminal barristers earn, I've known a few and I think I probably outearned most of them (I'm in-house outside London, so not on megabucks). One declared bankruptcy as he couldn't meet his outgoings out of his earnings.

Well it’s like Doctors, the public assume they are all stinking rich too. Junior Doctors pay is actually pretty crap, and their outgoings just to be able to work are fairly substantial. It takes years before they make any decent money, and even then Consultants are much less well off these days than they used to be.

@Hellocatshome

I didn’t mean to imply that perception was incorrect, I read law, I know it is completely accurate.

I'm all for paying teachers well the job they do is important but a) teachers really aren't well paid so shouldn't be used as a benchmark and b) I would think that criminal barristers should earn excellent money. I imagine it to be an extremely skilled (and harrowing) job, it seems to be following the pattern of other professions of letting women and people of colour in and then drastically slashing the wages they earn.