INTERVIEWDavid Nolan, Bar Council chairman
‘I SHOULD PUT on a tie,” says David Nolan when we meet in the Bar Council offices. It’s the last week of the summer recess and he’s gearing up to assume, officially, the duties of Bar Council chairman, which he took over this month. He tells me that although he may be in his element in a courtroom, giving media interviews is a new foray. “I’m as nervous as a kitten,” he says.
As with most barristers, it’s hard to imagine Nolan being nervous. When asked what drew him to the law, he says that as a child he was a bit precocious. “I wasn’t stuck for a word.”
Now, with close to 30 years’ experience as a member of the Bar, and almost a decade as a senior counsel, Nolan’s peers have elected him as their representative.
Nolan is keen to use his new platform as chairman to dispel some misconceptions.
“The general public perception of the Bar is entirely misleading,” he says.
It is not, he argues, a “sheltered profession”, populated with high-profile millionaires. “The vast majority of barristers are unknown and have a very ordinary level of income.”
It’s certainly the case that barristers’ fees are under pressure. The State, which is one of the largest consumers of legal services in the country, has slashed its rates in the last two to three years. For instance, in terms of legal aid, family law fees have been cut by as much as 40 per cent.
But what about the big commercial cases being heard in the courts almost every day of the week? Surely they provide extremely lucrative work?
Nolan says the top commercial cases generally involve banks, most of which are controlled by the State, or insurance companies, and neither category can afford to pay the rates of the past.
Clients in general are becoming more demanding when it comes to fees – “everything is open to negotiation”. Nolan adds that he’s never heard of a barrister who has pulled out of a case purely because a client couldn’t afford to pay their fees.
However, most members of the public will find it hard to muster up sympathy for a profession which is seen as having lined its pockets through State-funded tribunals. “That was then. This is now,” Nolan says. “That’s a thing of the past.”
He says the public impression of millionaire barristers does not reflect the present realities for most members of the Bar.
Of its 2,361 members, some 2,040 are junior counsel. Just 321 have “taken silk” and been admitted to the Inner Bar as senior counsel. And of that elite group, only a very small proportion command the sort of fees that make the headlines. Neither is it a profession of “old fuddy duddies”, he says. The majority of barristers are under 40, and some 46 per cent have less than seven years’ experience.
While he is proud of his profession, he acknowledges that the Bar has to prepare for change. “I think this is a crossroads for the profession.” He is referring, in large part, to the Legal Services Regulation Bill.
While in favour of modernisation, he has a number of reservations about the proposed legislation. For instance, an impact assessment commissioned by the Bar Council earlier this year found that the cost of the proposed new Legal Services Regulatory Authority would be between €5.3 million and €8.6 million, which seems excessive compared with international norms.
“We want to work with the Minister to get the type of regulatory structure that is appropriate to a country of four million,” he says. The Bar Council’s fear is it will have to bear excessive costs, which will inevitably trickle down to the general public. “We want independent regulation that is fit for purpose, value for money, and that is not a burden on barristers.”
The Bar Council, which is essentially a co-operative of self-employed individuals, is also sceptical about the proposal to create new business structures such as legal partnerships – which would see barristers and solicitors set up practices together – and multi-disciplinary partnerships. “Given the size of the country, is it appropriate that we would have large multi-disciplinary firms combining tax, accounting, barrister and estate agents’ services? Is it something we need in Ireland? My instincts tell me that’s not the way to go.”
He believes the best model is the current one, whereby barristers supply their services as sole traders, as it keeps costs down and prevents conflicts of interest from arising.
Despite the challenges facing the profession, its relatively high attrition rate, the unpaid “devilling” work in the early years, and the long hours, something about the Bar continues to hold an irresistible draw for many people. Some 180 new entrants have started in King’s Inns this term.
Perhaps it’s the pomp and circumstance, or the theatrics of the courtroom, that attracts people, but Nolan believes it’s a vocational calling. “It’s a unique profession. I say to younger members, ‘we’re not in the business of making chocolate bars or selling land. We’re in the business of representing the public and giving them access to court’. It’s a tremendously important role that we play,” he says. “The vast majority of my colleagues look upon the Bar as a vocation.”