Criminal courts risk crisis as barristers lured away by huge corporate pay

London: The court system is really feeling the heat right now. Barristers are leaving their posts to chase after better pay in corporate law, and it’s causing some serious issues. Mary Prior KC, who heads the Criminal Bar Association, has raised the alarm about this trend.

She pointed out that many young barristers start their careers driven by a sense of duty. But after a few years, that passion fades, and they start looking for jobs that pay better and offer a more manageable work-life balance.

This shift is leading to a shortage of criminal barristers in the UK, which is making the backlog in Crown Courts even worse. Right now, there are over 73,000 cases piling up, a situation that worsened during the pandemic.

Mary Prior emphasized that the number of people needing legal help is growing every week, but the number of barristers available to take on cases is dwindling.

Meanwhile, pay for commercial barristers has skyrocketed, thanks to fierce competition between British and American law firms. Some top chambers are offering pupilages with salaries reaching up to £100,000 a year, which is a far cry from what criminal barristers earn.

Most of them rely on legal aid fees, which have stagnated. Trainee barristers often start at the minimum pay, which is around £24,203 in London and slightly less elsewhere in the UK.

Christopher Clark, a recruiter in the legal field, noted that since legal aid cuts, pay for criminal barristers has been on a downward trend. Many have jumped ship to City law firms for much better compensation.

Despite the lower pay, there’s still a high demand for criminal barrister training. The Inns of Court College of Advocacy is even offering discounts to trainees who choose to defer their studies, making it a bit easier on their wallets.