The newly appointed Chair of the Bar Council has called for renewed collaboration between barristers and solicitors to promote a fairer allocation of work at the Bar. Speaking at the start of her term, Kirsty Brimelow KC identified briefing practices as a key area where collective action could help address structural inequalities within the profession.

Brimelow’s remarks reflect long-standing concerns about how work is distributed across the Bar, particularly in relation to women, junior practitioners, and those from underrepresented backgrounds. While progress has been made in widening access to the profession, disparities in the allocation of briefs continue to affect career development, earnings, and retention. The new Chair has emphasised that meaningful reform in this area depends not only on the Bar itself, but also on the role of solicitors as gatekeepers of work.

Central to this agenda is closer engagement with the Law Society. Brimelow has indicated that cooperation between the two professional bodies will be essential if fairer briefing practices are to be embedded across the legal services market. By encouraging solicitors to take a more active and transparent approach to the choice of counsel, the Bar Council hopes to foster a culture in which opportunity is more evenly distributed.

The focus on briefing sits alongside a broader programme of reform outlined by the new Chair, which includes addressing pay gaps, improving wellbeing at the Bar, and supporting Chambers in reviewing internal practices. In particular, attention has been drawn to the cumulative impact of uneven briefing on long-term progression. Where certain groups are consistently overlooked for complex or high-value work, the effects can compound over time, reinforcing disparities in seniority and visibility.

Brimelow has also highlighted the importance of practical measures to support fairness, including greater awareness of briefing data and more open conversations between solicitors and Chambers about expectations and expertise. Rather than prescribing rigid rules, the emphasis has been placed on collaboration and professional responsibility, with the aim of achieving cultural change that is sustainable and widely supported.

The renewed focus on fair allocation comes at a time when the barristers profession continues to navigate wider pressures, including increased workloads, recruitment challenges and ongoing concerns about access to justice. Within this context, ensuring that work is distributed equitably is increasingly viewed as central to supporting a resilient and diverse Bar. For junior barristers in particular, access to a broad range of instructions can be decisive in building skills, confidence and long-term viability in practice. However, the truth is it is going to be very difficult to reform age old practice and relationships let alone navigate the internal office politics of who is fed what by whom. Any initiative needs to be monitored, audited and actually have teeth if it is to succeed.

The success of the Bar Council’s initiative will depend on the extent to which solicitors engage with and support these aims. If sustained cooperation can be achieved, the call for fairer briefing practices may mark an important step toward addressing entrenched inequalities and strengthening professional relationships across the legal sector. As Brimelow’s tenure begins, the issue of how work is distributed at the Bar is firmly positioned as a shared responsibility rather than an internal concern of Chambers alone.

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