Barristers in chambers are regulated by the Bar Standards Board.

You can search the Barristers’ Register on the Bar Standards Board’s website by clicking here.

The Barristers’ Register is an online database which displays details of all barristers authorised to practise in England Wales and who have a current practising certificate. The register will display dates for which a barrister’s practising certificate is valid. It includes information about a barrister’s practising status, their practising address, the reserved legal activities they are authorised to undertake and whether they have been the subject of any disciplinary findings which are published on the website.

Alternatively, you can contact the Bar Standards Board on 020 7611 1444 to ask about this (or e-mail: ContactUs@BarStandardsBoard.org.uk ).

The register and other useful information can all be accessed by using the Legal Choices website. Legal Choices provides support by giving you independent and factual information about legal issues and lawyers.

Equality and Diversity

In accordance with the Bar Standards Board (BSB) Handbook, St Philips Chambers is committed to collecting, monitoring, and publishing anonymised diversity data relating to its workforce. This includes all members of chambers, pupils, mini-pupils, and employees.

Diversity data is collected using the BSB’s model questionnaire, which invites individuals to voluntarily disclose information relating to protected characteristics and socio-economic background. Participation is entirely optional, and individuals may choose to withhold any or all information.

Chambers ensures that:

• All data is collected and stored securely and confidentially
• Responses are anonymised and aggregated before publication
• Individuals cannot be identified from any published data
• A clear explanation accompanies any published summary, outlining the purpose of the data collection, the response rate, and the steps taken to protect confidentiality

Chambers publishes a summary of this anonymised data at least once every three years, as required by the BSB. The data is used to inform chambers’ equality and diversity initiatives, monitor progress against our EDI objectives, and identify areas for improvement in recruitment, retention, and workplace culture.

The Equality and Diversity Officers, in conjunction with the Chambers Administration Committee, are responsible for overseeing this process and ensuring that it remains compliant with BSB rules and best practice.

Diversity Data Statement – St Philips

In line with our obligations under the Bar Standards Board Handbook (rC110), St Philips Chambers conducted a voluntary diversity data collection exercise in 2025. This initiative reflects our commitment to fostering an inclusive and representative working environment for all barristers, pupils, staff, and mini-pupils.

Purpose of Data Collection

The purpose of collecting diversity data is to:

• Understand the composition of our workforce
• Identify areas for improvement in recruitment, retention, and progression
• Inform our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy and action plan
• Promote transparency and accountability across chambers

Response Rate

A total of 64% of individuals responded to the questionnaire including employees, pupils and barristers. Participation was entirely voluntary, and respondents were free to withhold any information.

Confidentiality

All responses were anonymised and aggregated before analysis. No individual can be identified from the published data. The data was handled in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 and chambers’ confidentiality protocols.

Key Findings 

A total of 130 individuals completed the diversity survey, comprising 102 barristers and pupils (out of 159) and 28 staff members (out of 44), resulting in an overall completion rate of 64%.

In our most recent diversity data collection exercise, the following anonymised insights were gathered from barristers who participated in the survey:

• 20% of barristers identified as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic
• 43% of barristers identified as women
• 54% were the first generation in their family to attend university
• 69% of barristers attended a state school
• 29% had caring responsibilities exceeding 19 hours per week

Among staff members:

• 50% identified as women
• 79% attended a state school
• Data on first-generation university, caring responsibilities, and disability was omitted due to fewer than 10 responses

Across the combined group of respondents:

• 21% identified as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic
• 45% identified as women
• 71% attended a state school
• 48% were the first generation in their family to attend university
• 25% had caring responsibilities

These findings reflect strong representation from state-educated and socio-economically diverse backgrounds and reinforce chambers’ commitment to inclusive recruitment and equitable access to the profession.

These findings help us better understand the lived experiences of our members and inform our ongoing work to promote equity, access, and inclusion across chambers .

Where fewer than 10 individuals selected a particular response, data has been omitted or aggregated to preserve anonymity and some diversity categories have been omitted from this summary to protect individual confidentiality, in line with BSB guidance.

Actions Taken

Based on the findings, chambers has:

• Enhanced outreach to underrepresented groups in pupillage recruitment
• Reviewed accessibility of our premises and digital platforms
• Expanded flexible working and wellbeing support
• Scheduled unconscious bias and inclusive leadership training

We will continue to monitor and publish diversity data every three years and use it to inform meaningful change across chambers.

What We’re Doing to Make a Difference

These findings reinforce our commitment to widening access to the Bar and improving representation within chambers. Over the past three years, we’ve taken meaningful steps to reshape our recruitment processes and deepen our outreach:

• Our pupillage recruitment has been designed to reduce bias, with anonymised assessments, structured interviews, and clearer selection criteria.
• We actively collaborate with social mobility organisations and community-led projects to make the profession more accessible to aspiring barristers from underrepresented backgrounds.
• Chambers regularly hosts mock interview workshops, CV writing sessions, and mentoring programmes to support candidates navigating the early stages of their legal careers.
• Internally, we’ve established working groups that support our EDI strategy and ensure that the lived experiences of minority groups are heard and reflected in our policies and culture.
• We are investing in listening and learning, creating space for honest dialogue and feedback to improve the working experience of all members and staff.
• Working towards the UK government Disability Confident Employer Scheme Accreditation

We remain committed to publishing diversity data every three years and using it to drive meaningful change. Our goal is not only to meet regulatory expectations but to lead by example in building a more inclusive Bar.

Anti-Racist Statement

St Philips Chambers affirms its commitment to recognising, addressing, and eradicating all forms of racism. We affirm that racism is dehumanising to everyone it touches.

We understand that bias can be unconscious and unintentional and that racism is the combination of social and institutional power in combination with racial prejudice. We acknowledge that identifying racism as an issue does not automatically mean that those involved in the act are racist or intended the negative impact.

As an anti-racist organisation, we will strive to identify, discuss, and challenge issues of race, colour, and ethnicity, and the impact they have on clients, staff, and members. We will challenge ourselves to understand and correct any inequities we may discover and gain a better understanding of ourselves.

We are resolved to affirm explicitly, and in united solidarity, our identity as an anti-racist organisation.

We are committed to individual and institutional exploration and examination of implicit bias and systemic advantage and oppression such that our anti-racism commitment be reflected in the life and culture of St Philips Chambers through our policies, programs, and practices.

We commit to the development and implementation of strategies and best practises to dismantle racism and ethnic oppression within all aspects of our organisation, community, and society.

A key element of our commitments is to create a working environment in which members, staff, and clients from all backgrounds can live and work free from prejudice, discrimination, and marginalisation.

To achieve our commitments, we will build on the work outlined in the Bar Standards Board’s Anti-Racist Statement to:

• Engage with members of Chambers from diverse backgrounds to complete a race equality audit in order to identify potential barriers to race equality.
• Design and implement positive action measures where auditing shows an underrepresentation of, or adverse impact on, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, following the guidance of the Bar Council on positive action.
• Implement comprehensive anti-racist training for all barristers and staff, supporting the implementation of practical, tailored strategies to have a positive impact on behavioural and cultural change.

This statement has been made to demonstrate our commitment to holding ourselves accountable and taking action. Organisations claiming to be anti-racist must expect to be judged by the results of their actions and not just their intentions. St Philips Chambers is prepared to undertake that challenge.

Wellbeing

Barristers in chambers are regulated by the Bar Standards Board.

In any modern business, managing wellbeing is non-negotiable. St Philips take the wellbeing of its barristers and staff very seriously.

In April 2018, St Philips established its Wellbeing Committee formed of 4 barristers, 2 clerks and 1 member of the administration team. The aim of the committee is to: (a.) further the interests of barristers, clerks and non-clerking staff members in respect of their physical, mental and emotional health; (b.) to promote opportunities for their personal and professional development; and to (c.) promote the cohesion and wellbeing of chambers.

The Wellbeing Committee identified 3 key needs which it felt required investment in order to continue to move forward as a successful, modern set of Chambers, with barrister and staff welfare at the forefront of its strategy:

1. The need for barristers to feel part of a cohesive unit; to ensure retention, motivation and the avoidance of burn-out. This would keep barristers healthy and happy, which would lead to increased efficiency and quality of work; and reduce sudden absences on grounds of stress etc. It would also foster a cohesion and team spirit at a time when agile/remote working is becoming more prevalent (thereby reducing their ‘face-time’ in chambers);
2. The need for the clerks, especially junior clerks, to be given opportunities to develop and improve. Again, this was to not only to encourage retention and to promote Chambers as a responsible employer, but also to drive performance in the clerks’ room and within the administration team;
3. The need for staff to be rewarded and appreciated. Again, this is to improve retention and motivation, promote chambers as a responsible employer, and to create a happier workforce which would, in turn, reduce the amount of management time taken up with staff issues.

What have Chambers done since the inception of the Wellbeing Committee?

• Established a formal partnership with Chaplaincy Plus, a local charity that provides chaplaincy and listening services for barristers or staff; The only Chambers in the country to do so;
• Created a budget solely for the purpose of promoting wellbeing;
• Secured visible support from the Head of Chambers and the management committee (“The Board”);
• Introduced a regular ‘chambers tea’ which, outside of London, is relatively unusual – and recognised the need to continue to facilitate social events where barristers and staff can mix;
• Set up in-house sporting activities (boxing, Yoga and running to name but a few);
• Hosted a seminar on the topic of “Making A Difference in a Performance Culture”, presented by the previous FD of a multi-national ‘household name’ company, with more seminars and workshops to come;
• Introducing staff incentive schemes (‘extra mile’ award);
• Facilitated participation in mentoring and tutoring of talented low-income A-Level/GCSE students via The Access Project (hosting an information session, and signposting those who wish to volunteer);
• Ensued that a mix of people from across Chambers undertook formal mental health first aid training, to truly be able to identify the myriad of symptoms associated with mental health.

In September 2018, Chambers was awarded a ‘Certificate of Recognition’ from the Bar Council, with the Wellbeing at the Bar Working Group commenting: “St Philips has a well-considered approach to wellbeing, establishing a committee with senior level buy-in to drive forward initiatives and maintain focus. We were particularly impressed with links made to a local charity that provides chaplaincy and listening services for barristers or staff.”