Description
CALLING ALL ASPIRING BARRISTERS AND STUDENTS INTERESTED IN ADVOCACY!
Welcome to Bar Society's page supported by Bristol Student Union.
Inner Temple Inn of Court trip 22-23
About us
Founded in 2010, The University of Bristol Bar Society is the second largest law society within the Law School and have grown year-on-year. It is the only one tailored towards students interested in a career at the Bar. We provide networking opportunities with barristers, judges, and alumni, and also host a wide range of competitions designed to improve advocacy regardless of career path.
Our Motto - NO BAR TO THE BAR
Our goal is to demonstrate to students that the Bar is becoming increasingly diverse and is a viable career path for individuals of all ambitions and aspirations. The Bar Society welcomes everyone from all backgrounds and ages, including non-Law students.
Patron
We invite an esteemed individual who holds an honorary position in the legal field every year to serve as the patron for our society.
Lord Dame Victoria Sharp was the Patron of the Bristol Bar Society for the previous academic year of 2023-2024. She was called to the Bar in 1979, took silk in 2001, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by the University of Bristol in 2014. In 2019, Dame Sharp was sworn in as President of the King's Bench Division, a momentous appointment as it marked the first time a woman held this position. She is highly regarded in her field and has delivered judgements on a number of prominent cases over the years.
We are delighted to announce that for 2024-2025, The Rt. Hon Lord Reed of Allermuir, President of the Supreme Court will serve as patron for the Bar Society.
Annual Networking Dinner
We will be hosting our 13th Annual Networking Dinner this year which is the biggest event for Bar outside London! It has barristers and students in 1:1 from diverse backgrounds including our alumni. Our Patron addresses the evening, and a three-course meal is served with an open bar in a beautiful venue.
We are actively working towards making the ticket prices the lowest possible. For activity funds hardship contact us through email and we will do our best to help you.
Five pillars of the society
1) Careers and Networking
Throughout the year we give our members the chance to speak to practitioners perspectives on life at the Bar. These events prove to be some of our most popular and are a great way to gain insight into the profession in a more informal environment.
We host talks and panels on various subject areas and also have a famous Meet the Barristers event in Term 2 where barristers from a big case come and have a chat about the same.
Our weekly Newsletter provides our members with a list of all the opportunities available and also provide a comprehensive careers section on our website- Bristolbarsociety.co.uk to help them with their applications and questions about mini- pupillages, pupillages and the BPC/BTC/BVS and the GDL.
We are collaborating with UOB Careers Service this year and bringing more sought through career events to you!
2) Advocacy
We host both internal and external advocacy competitions along with a renowned Advocacy training Programme (ATP)
Internal- Essay Writing Competition, Different Moots for 1st, 2nd and 3rd year students, Speed mooting, Judicial Review Moot, Plea in Mitigation, Mock trial, Inter society Law Cup. We also are bringing back the Annual Charity Moot this year where law lecturers participate to raise funds for a charity organisation.
External- Intervarsities with esteemed UK Universities. We are delighted to collaborate with Law School this year to advertise and promote the big competitions on national and international level and have the best teams representing the university for the same.
ATP- Our training programme is specifically designed for students with no experience in Advocacy and through a series of workshop and a competition at the end, we hope to impart the necessary knowledge with the help of legal professionals.
The unique element of our society is that we have no student judges in all of our competitions (unless an emergency) to have fair judging in all aspects.
3) Student Socials
We pride ourselves in fostering a close-knit community with our members and have various alcoholic and non-alcoholic events throughout the year including during Christmas and Easter festivities.
We are introducing a Family Scheme this year for better exchange and fostering of like-minded individuals.
We will also be proving the members with official Bar soc merch on order after freshers week.
List of some Welcome Socials for 23-24
- Freshers Boat Party!
- A Murder Mystery Give it a Go!
- Welcome Fair Stall
- Law Fair Stall
- Faculty Nights stalls
4) Diversity and Inclusion
Despite the fact that times are changing, we acknowledge that many still perceive barriers to success in this profession-whether due to gender, financial background, ethnicity, or sexual orientation among other things, and we want to do all we can to remove those barriers for all.
In the academic year 2020/21 our society introduced the BAME, Female and LGBTQ+ Mentoring Scheme which will continue into this academic year too. This involves pairing up students with barristers who will receive 1:1 mentoring during the academic year for their careers and future endeavours.
5) The Wig
Our prestigious and admired virtual legal magazine is, “The Wig”. Through insightful narratives penned by esteemed barristers and law students, this publication endeavours to shed light upon the intricacies, challenges, and the very essence of the barrister's journey. It would also include interviews with Chambers, Inns of Courts, and Barristers, Student Features of our Mooting Competition Winners, Words and Advice from our Patron, and more.
The previous committee of the magazine is currently working on the 3rd edition, and we would start recruiting for 4th Edition in mid-September 2024 with an application process.
Our magazine has also been nominated for the Student Publication Awards, 2023
To view our 2 issues, download them from our website:
https://www.bristolbarsociety.co.uk/thewig
The Committee for 2024-2025:
President: Samuel Scriven
Vice-President: Hareesha Kaur
General Secretary: Nathaniel Crawford
Treasurer: Saam Alam
Careers Secretary: Silas Glover
Head of Advocacy: James Dumonbreville
Vice Head of Advocacy: Emma Parkinson
Press Secretary: Florence Bye
Social Secretary: Charles Constantinou
Equality and Diversity Officer: Ben Howell
Membership
Whether you are interested in becoming a barrister, have interest in advocacy or just curious about what exactly it is that people with wigs do, we are here to help. Join today for £15.
Social Media
Follow our Instagram: @bristolbarsoc, Wig - @thewig.barsoc
Website- www.bristolbarsociety.co.uk
LinkedIn- Bristol Bar Society
Reach Out to Us!
We can be reached by email at bristolbarsociety@gmail.com . Contact our President Samuel Scriven at scriven.sam.2023@bristol.ac.uk.
Terms and conditions
Click here to view terms and conditions
Membership Fee Inclusions
Prior to signing up to a Club or Society speak to the Committee to find out what your membership includes and if there are any further expenses throughout the year.
Service Standards
All Club or Society members can expect to receive:
- The opportunity to attend regular meetings, events, activities, trips and socials as arranged.
- The opportunity to stand for a committee position or vote in their elections (Bristol students only).
- For Sports Club – to attend regular training sessions and have the opportunity to be selected for the teams.
Code of Conduct
When joining a club or society you are agreeing to abide by the constitution, general rules, regulations and policies of University of Bristol Students’ Union and also the Club or Society Code of Conduct which sets out the level of behaviour & discipline expected of all Club & Society members.
Refund Policy
Any customer who pays for a membership subscription to a Bristol SU Society, Sports Club, Student Media and initiatives has a 14 day cooling off period from the time and date of purchase during which they have the right to cancel the subscription and receive a full refund. If you do decide to cancel within the 14 days, Bristol SU will refund your payment within a further 30 days of the cancellation. To request a refund please email: bristolsu@bristol.ac.uk
Data sharing (Sports Club members only)
Please be aware that Bristol SU may share data relating to the members of its sports clubs with the Centre for Sport, Exercise and Health (a department of the University). This information may be used for the purposes of communicating direct with these members and/or to cross-reference against SEH's Sports Pass membership records.
As part of Bristol SU's membership of British Universities & Colleges Sports (BUCS) Bristol SU may have to share data on to its sports clubs members so BUCS can, from time to time, communicate with these members.
Data sharing (Societies members only)
If you're joining one of the societies listed below please be aware that your name and email address will be shared with Bristol Hub for the purpose of keeping you up to date with their activities through their email “The Week”:
AIESEC Bristol, AMICUS Bristol, Anti-Slavery Society, Bristol Feminists, Bristol Friends of MSF, Bristol Marrow, Bristol Social Enterprise Society, Bristol Student Action for Refugees, Bristol University Amnesty International, Conservation Group, Bristol University Oxfam Group, Bristol University Sustainability Team, Bristol Volunteers for Development Abroad, Engineers Without Borders, Howard League for Penal Reform Student Society, International Affairs Society, Medsin Bristol, Model United Nations, and Vegetarian and Vegan Society.
For more information on Bristol Hub visit: http://www.bristolhub.org.
If you do not want your details shared with the Hub please email: bristolsu@bristol.ac.uk.
These terms shall be governed by English law and are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts. Nothing in these terms shall exclude liability for fraudulent misrepresentation.
