England: No pomp, more circumstance

Training sessions at Middle Temple have seen members taught how to listen in a conversation rather than impress others with their intelligence.

The scheme is intended to make the profession appear “up-to-date, modern and vibrant” and is part of a wider attempt to introduce corporate thinking to the bar.

Adrienne Page QC, who helped organise the training, said that barristers were thought to be “aloof and pompous” at parties and networking events, which are becoming more important for securing work.

She told The Sunday Telegraph: “The advice emphasised the value of listening, creating relationships by asking people questions about themselves and their work; finding common ground.”

“What is it that makes a client come back to a barrister time and again - is it just that they win the cases?

“Not necessarily.

“It’s also about the barrister’s ability to relate to the client, to have that friendly conversation outside court.”

In 2016, 70 per cent of cases heard in the Commercial and Admiralty Courts involved at least one party from outside of England and Wales.

But some barristers fear that Brexit may cause clients to take work elsewhere, prompting initiatives such as this.

Comedian and former barrister Clive Anderson moderated the session at Middle Temple, the advertisement for which stated: “We argue that barristers need to move away from describing themselves as self-employed, to instead labelling themselves ‘legal entrepreneurs’ and behaving as an entrepreneur would”.

Ms Page said: “Big corporate solicitors have the resources to provide training and development in soft skills.

“For the bar, Middle Temple’s Survive and Thrive series fulfils that role for barristers, many of them in small sets of chambers.”

She added: “The bar is definitely changing. There was a time when we weren’t allowed to have business cards and weren’t allowed to entertain solicitors.”

Photo credit: By Diliff - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0