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Click here for Current Training Courses Click
here for CPD on CD, Mediator
Training Professional education is well established on the Western Circuit. On completion of the academic and vocational stages of their initial training, barristers have acquired the essential knowledge and skills to enable them to supply legal services to clients at a competent and professional level. However this cannot equip a barrister with all the relevant knowledge and skills that will be required throughout the development of his or her career. Barristers need to update and develop specialist areas of knowledge and ensure that their skills are regularly refreshed. They must also have sufficient flexibility to adapt to the changing demands of clients, the profession and their own career. Education and Training Officer Susan Jacklin Q.C. Training Organiser: Michael Bowes Q.C. For details of current courses, click here. The Bar Council introduced the New Practitioners' Programme (NPP) in 1997 for barristers in their first three years of practice. This was extended in 1998 to barristers entering employed practice. The three year period begins at the start of a 3rd six, squatting, tenancy or, if in employed practice, from the day a barrister with a practising certificate starts with a firm. The New Practitioners' Programme requires the completion of a minimum of 45 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) within the first three years of practice, including a minimum of 9 hours of Advocacy training, a minimum of 3 hours of Ethics and at least 33 hours of other CPD activities. Training in both Advocacy and Ethics takes place on Circuit. New Practitioners are taught by members of the Western Circuit training team, with the assistance of leading High Court Judges and Presiding Judges of Circuit. Only Western Circuiteers are eligible to pay the Circuit rate prevailing at the time of booking; all other attendees pay an uplift.
Established Practitioners' Programme In 2001 the Bar Council introduced a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) scheme for established practitioners. Initially limited to those who have completed the New Practitioners' Programme, the scheme now encompasses all established practitioners, regardless of year of call. Each year all established practitioners must complete the programme which consists of at least 12 hours of CPD activities, of which 4 hours must be on accredited courses. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) CPD is work undertaken over and above the normal commitments of barristers with a view to the development of their skills, knowledge and professional standards. The study must be in areas relevant to their present or proposed area of practice in order to keep themselves up to date and maintain the highest standards of professional practice.
All barristers who are called to the Bar and who intend to practice as a barrister in independent or employed practice must complete 12 months pupillage - the final stage of the route to qualification at the Bar. During pupillage, the pupil gains practical training under the supervision of an experienced barrister. Pupillage is divided into two parts: the non-practising six months during which pupils shadow their pupil supervisor and the second practising six months when pupils, with their pupil supervisor's permission, can undertake to supply legal services and exercise rights of audience. For details of current courses, click here.
When your
cheque is received for the Pupil courses, you will be allocated
as Prosecution counsel or Defence Counsel for the Case Assessment
workshop on day 2 of the Advice to Counsel course and the subsequent
Advocacy Training courses. If you do not receive the allocation
within a week of you sending your cheque, please contact Gill
at the Circuit office. Pupillage Courses Training Organiser: Catherine Burrett A pupil must complete an Advocacy Training course which, in normal circumstances, must be undertaken in the first six months of pupillage prior to the grant of of the Provisional Qualifications Certificate; an Advice to Counsel course, and a Forensic Accountancy course. The
Western Circuit runs its Advice to Counsel course annually
in the Michaelmas term. Pupils are addressed by senior managers
from the business sector and experienced practitioners on subjects
relating to new practice. The course is usually subsidised by
the Circuit and their chambers/firm. Pupils from the Western
Circuit will be given preference on all Circuit courses. If
you are not a Western Circuit pupil, you are very welcome to
register your interest in attending a course and will be contacted
if there are places available. If you are accepted on the Advice
to Counsel course and have paid your course fee, no refund is
payable if you subsequently cancel. This
last stipulation is due to the fact that some off-circuit pupils
have been booking onto the course in case they cannot find a
course in London or on their own Circuit. The Western Circuit organises two 2-day Advocacy Training courses on Circuit. Both parts must be completed. The content of the programme gives the required hours of Advocacy Training for pupils, who are trained by experienced Barristers and Judges. All pupils on Circuit are expected to attend the Advocacy Training courses on Circuit. If you book for Part 1 of the course and subsequently find yourself unable to take Part 2 you will have to attend an entire course elsewhere. The Western Circuit encourages all pupils to make a request to their chambers or firm that they attend a Forensic Accounting course during their pupillage. 3-day courses are provided by The Financial Training Company and are held in London and on circuit. (Please note that the Western Circuit does not organise Forensic Accountancy courses). Enquiries should be directed to 020 7651 3752. Click here for further details and an enrolment form. "Mediation is becoming more and more prevalent in modern law as a method of Alternative Dispute Resolution. As such, more and more barristers are undertaking the training so as to provide the best possible service." (Stephen Irwin QC, Chairman of the Bar, November 2004) What is Mediation? Mediation is a way of resolving disputes to the satisfaction of everyone involved without the need of going to Court. Parties are assisted with the help of an impartial mediator. The parties, rather than the mediator, decide on the terms of settlement and it is therefore essential that all parties wish to resolve the dispute. The process is completely voluntary so a party or organisation cannot be forced to take part in a mediation and can withdraw from the process at any time. Mediators avoid taking sides, making judgments or giving guidance. They are simply responsible for developing effective communications and building consensus between the parties. They will help the parties find a solution to the problem. Once a settlement has been reached a mediation agreement can be drawn up. Only an agreement that relates to a claim already issued in a Court can be enforced. In practise however, parties tend to keep to a mediated agreement because they have prepared its terms themselves. With their legal expertise, barristers are ideally placed to mediate any dispute. The Western Circuit has previously joined with Clerksroom in presenting intensive training courses for prospective accredited mediators. Click here for further details The Western Circuit has well established links with both the University of the West of England in Bristol and the University of Southampton, and would like to express its gratitude for the assistance from the administration departments of both Universites in providing facilities for many of its training courses.
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