For the first time ever, the Bar Council's award winning outreach programme, the Bar Placement Week, has opened in Liverpool. Bar Placement Week is a unique programme designed to give talented sixth-form students from under-represented backgrounds an insight into life as a barrister. 

The Bar Council has successfully run the scheme in London for eight years and recently extended it to Manchester and Leeds, as well as Birmingham and Bristol. Opening access to the profession is a stated priority for the Bar Council and this is just one of many initiatives that is run in partnership with leading charities to realise that goal. 

A programme has been designed for the week to include careers talks, advocacy training, a talk with a local judge and three days shadowing a barrister in court and in their chambers. 

Chairman of the Bar, Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC, said: "The Bar is a small and specialist profession and opportunities to gain career experience like this can be few and far between - especially outside of London. I am delighted to see barristers giving up their time to offer students this unique opportunity.  

"Extending the reach of Bar Placement Week can help open the way for students who may not have considered a career as a barrister. This initiative is about widening the talent pool and showing those with potential, irrespective of their background, what it means to be a barrister. For all we know, the QC's of tomorrow could be amongst those taking part in this programme." 

The Bar Placement Week won the Award for Diversity and Inclusion at the Halsbury Legal Awards 2014. 

Ends

Notes to Editors: 

Further information is available from the Bar Council Press Office on 020 7222 2525 and [email protected]. 

The Bar Council represents barristers in England and Wales. It promotes:  

  • The Bar's high quality specialist advocacy and advisory services
  • Fair access to justice for all
  • The highest standards of ethics, equality and diversity across the profession, and
  • The development of business opportunities for barristers at home and abroad.

The General Council of the Bar is the Approved Regulator of the Bar of England and Wales. It discharges its regulatory functions through the independent Bar Standards Board