The first meeting of the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions, part of the Commission on social mobility and chaired by the Rt Hon Alan Milburn MP, has been welcomed by the Chairman of the Bar.  

Bar initiatives, which are ongoing, have included a partnership with the Social Mobility Foundation, which enables talented children from low income families to experience life at the Bar first hand.  Barristers mentor children from such backgrounds and the profession is working with universities and schools to ensure that students have the necessary knowledge about the Bar on which to base career decisions.

Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury chaired a working goup which, in November 2007, made 57 recommendations to improve access to the Bar and these recommendations are being actively implemented.

The Chancery Bar Association recognises that the Bar can only prosper if it can attract the brightest candidates, whatever their background.  The Association is committed to fostering links with universities with the aim of promoting diversity at the Chancery Bar and dispelling some myths that might still surround the profession.