Future-proofing the Bar

Join us at the opening of this year's Annual Bar and Young Bar Conference. This event will be taking place online only.

This event is part of the Annual Bar and Young Bar Conference 2022. Attendance to this event is free with a full day Conference ticket for Saturday 26 November. 

Find out more about the event and how to book below.

Book your place

Lady Justice scales close up.
When
23 November 2022, 17:15 - 19:00
Event Type
Conference
Where
Online

Join us online for this year's opening of the Annual Bar and Young Bar Conference. Our event speakers, including the Chair of the Bar, Mark Fenhalls KC, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Burnett of Maldon and a panel of industry leaders, discuss how they're working to improve access to justice. The 2022 Conference theme 'future-proofing the bar' will run throughout the discussions as we look at the impact on the profession and what must be done to support it. 

Why attend

  • Hear from the Lord Chief Justice on the priorities for 2023, including clearing the severe backlog of cases and addressing the shortage in judicial resources
  • Hear from leaders from across the justice system on the issues preventing access to and delivery of justice, and what measures must be taken to address the immediate and long term issues
  • Gain insight into the key outcomes of the Bar Council's 'Access Denied: The state of the justice system in England and Wales in 2022' report and the underlying causes of today's crumbling system, including the impact of LASPO 2012  
  • Complimentary attendance for those with a Full day Conference Ticket

Agenda

17:15 - 17:30 Welcome from the Chair of the Bar of England and Wales
17:30 - 17:50 The vision for justice in 2023 and beyond

The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Burnett of Maldon, offers an overview of his priorities for 2023 and into the future.


17:50 - 19:00 Access denied: Fixing our broken justice system

This year’s opening session explores the key themes from the Bar Council’s ‘Access to Justice’ report – namely, the courts, law reform, legal aid, and the challenges facing the profession. Our expert panel will examine the current problems with our crumbling system, and what must happen to future-proof the Bar against them and restore access to justice for all.

Speakers

Chair: Mark Fenhalls KC
Headshot of Mark Fenhalls KC

 

Chair of the Bar of England and Wales

Mark Fenhalls KC is Chair of the Bar of England and Wales 2022. 

Mark’s practice is principally in crime, business crime and regulatory compliance. 

Mark was Chair of the Criminal Bar Association (2015/16) and Leader of the South Eastern Circuit (2019-2020). He is a Bencher of Gray’s Inn and Vice Chair of The Kalisher Trust.


The Right Honourable Lord Burnett of Maldon
Profile photo of Lord Burnett

 

Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

Lord Burnett was appointed Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales on 1 October 2017. He is President of all the Courts of England and Wales and sits in both the Criminal and Civil divisions of the Court of Appeal, in the Divisional Court and also, by invitation, in the UK Supreme Court.

Lord Burnett was called to the Bar in 1980 where he became a pupil and then a member of Temple Garden Chambers. At the Bar Lord Burnett’s practice was in common law and public law. In the early part of his career he undertook a broad range of common law work and thereafter he focused on public and administrative law, personal injury and health and safety law, including acting as junior counsel to the King’s Cross Fire inquiry and to the inquiry into the convictions of the Guildford Four and Maguire family. He was involved in inquiries into the Southall (1997) and Ladbroke Grove (1999) rail crashes and the inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Al Fayed.

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Amean Elgadhy
Profile photo of Amean Elgadhy

 

Legal Aid Barrister of the Year 2022, One Pump Court

Amean specialises in family law with a practice predominately in the Family Court, High Court (Family Division) and the Court of Appeal, undertaking publicly funded work representing parents and children. 

Prior to coming to the Bar, Amean worked at Release – an NGO providing legal services to hard to reach client groups in all areas of common law including housing, welfare benefits and debt advice. 

Amean regularly speaks at Career events through Lincoln’s Inn, he trains law students in advocacy for mock trials at Brunel University and maintains a commitment to undertaking pro-bono work.  He is a member of the Pupillage Committee and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee within Chambers. 

Amean is the first British Yemeni barrister in England and Wales and in 2022 Amean was awarded Legal Aid Barrister of the Year.


Carol Storer OBE
Photo of Carol Storer

 

Freelance consultant and former Interim Director Legal Action Group

Carol was a practising solicitor for many years in local government, a law centre, private practice and Shelter. In 2008 she became Director of the membership organisation Legal Aid Practitioners Group. In 2019-2021 was Interim Director of the charity Legal Action Group. Carol now works as a freelance consultant in the legal sector and is a trustee of Coram Children’s Legal Centre, Advice Services Alliance and the Access to Justice Foundation as well as co-chairing the Legal and Advice Sector Round Table.

Sam Townend KC
Profile photo of Sam Townend KC

 

Vice-chair Elect Bar Council of England and Wales, Keating Chambers

Samuel is Vice-Chair Elect of the Bar Council and will be Vice-Chair in 2023. 

Samuel is a silk at Keating Chambers. Along with mainstream construction, energy and professional negligence work, his particular specialities are offshore construction and marine engineering including dredging, together with infrastructure and utilities. He regularly acts for clients in the courts of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and has a thriving practice in international and domestic arbitration (recently acting in arbitrations to final hearing in Australia, Singapore, Paris, Dubai, the IDRC and a fully remote ICC arbitration), along with all forms of alternative dispute resolution.

Samuel was appointed Standing Counsel for the National House Building Council (NHBC), the market leading insurer of new and refurbished residential properties in the UK, for whom he acts for claims, recoveries and against personal guarantors. 

Samuel is an Accredited Mediator, Adjudicator and Dispute Resolution Board panellist and has acted as Mediator in domestic, international and remote mediations. He also regularly acts as mediation and negotiation advocate.

 

Annual Bar and Young Bar Conference 2022

This event is taking place as part of this year's Annual Conference being held Wednesday 23 - Saturday 26 November. To view all other events taking place visit the main Conference webpage. 

Please note that attendance to this session is free with a full day Conference ticket for Saturday 26 November. 

Prices

Ticket type Online session price
Standard £50
BRF discount £40
Pupils, Students, bands 1 and 2 £24
Pupils, Students, bands 1 and 2 with BRF discount £20

Prices do not include VAT. VAT will be added when you choose your ticket.

Annual Bar and Young Bar Conference sponsors

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Please ensure you read our terms and conditions and privacy statement before booking. This event will be held on the Zoom videoconferencing platform. Please ensure you read our Zoom statement before booking.

This event is taking place as part of this year's Annual Bar and Young Bar Conference, view the full programme of events here.