Call to the Bar

Every barrister, whether in practice or not, has one thing in common. They were all called to the Bar at some stage or other.

Current debate

There is some debate at the moment as to exactly when you ought to be able to call yourself a barrister. Traditionally you have to have complied with your membership of an Inn of Court as regards call to the Bar, passed the Bar finals exam and gone through the call ceremony. The four Inns of Court are Lincoln's Inn, Grays Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. Complying with the requirements involves joining the Inn and eating a certain number of dinners there over a set period of time. (This is not about ensuring that prospective lawyers are properly nourished: it is about meeting barristers and fellow student members and getting something of the sense of belonging to a profession). Thus after the call ceremony you could call yourself a barrister even if you are never in practice and never do pupillage (the training period).

Detrimental to foreign students

Now there is a suggestion that you should only be allowed to call yourself a barrister if you complete pupillage. I am against that, not least because many foreign students do the Bar finals so that they have qualified as an English barrister before returning to their own countries to practise as lawyers there. They learn about how the English Bar thinks lawyers should conduct themselves, and often retain links with their Inn and those they studied with. These links are of benefit to both their own legal systems and ours. If the rules are changed it may not be so attractive for them to do the Bar finals, and this is likely to weaken a link which benefits everyone.

Called to the Bar

Assuming you have eaten the dinners (or more accurately attended them - no one checks whether you eat the food!), and have passed the series of exams which allow you to become a barrister, then you go through the call ceremony. It is like being awarded a degree. Apart from the fact that the dinner and celebrations afterwards tend to be even more riotous.

A curious incident

A curious incident happened during my call to the Bar. There is always a judge to formally call you to the bar. During the ceremony that I attended in 1981, the judge was Sir Robert Megarry. Not only a distinguished judge and noted property lawyer (having written or part written various leading property textbooks) but also someone with a keen interest in legal history, tradition and the like. (He has written a number of books in the Miscellany at Law series which are well worth reading). My parents were there. As a first generation university graduate and professional, this was a big moment for me and for them and I was determined that nothing would spoil it.

The students are given an order in which go up. The judge recites your name and gives you your certificate. When I went up Sir Robert Megarry stated "I call Charles Fong to the Bar of England and Wales" and gave me the certificate. I obviously knew that I was not called Charles Fong. The audience plainly thought that I did not look as though I was likely to be called Charles Fong, because there were a few suppressed titters of laughter when the name was read out. However, I was determined not to let the side down. I did not think it was my place to correct Sir Robert Megarry, or have anyone able to say that the first time a member of the Booth family became a professional he let the side down and breached protocol. I therefore accepted my certificate.

My name is Fong!

The next person who went up was a Chinese student who, on being told "I call Michael John Booth to the Bar of England and Wales" exclaimed loudly and with an edge of panic in his voice "my name is Fong". Gales of laughter swept through the entire audience, and even Sir Robert could not suppress a smile. Mr Fong was then called under his proper name.

First time in history

Afterwards I was talking to Sir Robert and a senior barrister, both of whom were saying that as far as they were aware this was the first time in the long history of the Inn that this had ever happened. What they were discussing was whether in accordance with protocol, having been called to the bar under the name of Fong, I was now obliged to practise under the name of Fong. This was no doubt tongue in cheek, and eventually Mr Fong had the correct certificate with his name on, and I had the one with Michael John Booth on.

A future Silk?

After the celebrations at the Inn I ended up in a club with two others, both called on the same night, one of whom had been a good friend of mine during Bar finals. I am afraid that my state was such that at the end of the evening my friend (a barrister called Richard Wilson, who has since taken silk himself) had to help me up the steep steps from the club. Once in the fresh air, I managed to sprint to catch the last tube. I do not think my fellow travellers recognised, in the slightly ill looking young man in a suit, a recently qualified professional. Still less a future silk.

Michael J. Booth QC