There are 2,273 full time Crim Barristers according to @thebarcouncil shrinking from 2,553...

The number of new practitioners (0-2 yrs in practice) has decreased year on year for the last 3 years.

The Criminal Bar is aging and not being replaced.

Here is another stark warning:
“There is no significant profit development after around 13 years practice unless a barrister becomes a silk”
Average profits decreases as a barrister’s experience increases after 7 years.
And there are good commercial reasons not to be a QC.

I urge all Criminal barristers (and other barristers) to read the @thebarcouncil ‘s response to the Criminal Legal Aid Review.

My vintage - the “middle” years of 8-22 call has shrunk by 33% from 2015/6 to 2019/20.
That’s sobering.

There’s a problem coming I can see. This is the cadre who do Sexual Offences -work which is too senior for most of the U7 year call but not enough to get a leader or QC on board. And not everyone in this bracket does this type of work with a backlog/deluge mounting.

Assuming we can take the strain.
We keep holding it together with goodwill & professionalism. Unpaid.

But how long before that snaps? Or more vote quietly with their feet? This will go with a whimper rather than a bang by which time it’s too late.

I have now stress eaten a punnet of blueberries.