The Mitchell judgment* has triggered an explosion of litigation, with arguments raging over the meaning of various words and phrases contained within it. Wigapedia marks the fall-out from a decision that has shocked the legal world with a commemorative bingo card.

INSTRUCTIONS

Just print out this handy bingo card and mark off each word or phrase when said by you, your opponent or your judge.

!PRIZES!

A Single line: Two week extension to serve your witness evidence

Full house: Other sides case struck out and 20% uplift on your fees

*The Mitchell judgment saw the Court of Appeal uphold a decision to deny the law firm representing Tory MP Andrew Mitchell its £500K costs in the "Plebgate" libel action because it submitted budget documents a few days late. As is explained in '6 qualities that wannabe litigators must possess following the Jackson reforms', the ruling has put the frighteners on litigators throughout the land, with its effect likely to be felt for some time yet.

New figures show huge drop in permanent positions for rookie barristers.

Update: Incredible 64% fall in tenancies is based on incorrect data say Bar Council and BSB, as they issue an apology.

The number of newly registered tenancies has plunged from 541 to a mere 194, according to the latest Bar Barometer.

The drop of 64% was recorded between 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 — the most recent year for which figures are available. In previous years the average number of tenancies has been around the 500 mark, underlining the extreme irregularity of this decline (which can be seen in the graph below).

Strikingly, the much-reduced group of new tenants are far less diverse than in previous years. In 2010/2011 women accounted for 52% of new tenants, but in 2011/12 the figure fell to 38%. Ethnic minorities made up 12% of new tenants in 2010/2011 but in 2011/12 that ratio dropped to 8.8%.

The Bar Barometer — which was published jointly this week by the Bar Council and the Bar Standards Board — shows no corresponding fall in the number of available pupillages, which continue to hover around the 450 mark, albeit declining slightly. In 2011/2012 there were 438 first six and 475 second six pupillages registered, while in 2010/2011 there were 446 first six pupillages and 477 second six pupillages registered.

Meanwhile, in another rather shocking development, Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) numbers have risen by almost a quarter (23%). 1,732 students enrolled on the BPTC in 2011/12, up from the previous year’s figure of 1,407.

A Bahamas-based baby barrister broke new ground on social media yesterday.

The result? Yet another victory!

Impressive stats as they may be, is documenting your pupillage on Twitter really such a great idea?

Incredible 64% fall in tenancies is based on incorrect data say embarrassed regulators, as they issue an apology.

The Bar Council and the Bar Standards Board (BSB) have just issued this statement admitting a major error in their newly-published Bar Barometer regarding tenancy numbers:

“The recently published Bar Barometer listed the number of new tenancies for 2011/12 as 194. This figure is incorrect. We are in the process of confirming the final figure, but current indications are that it will be more closely aligned with previous years. We are seeking to understand how this error occurred and are looking at related statistics which may require amendment as a result. We will issue a further update as soon as we can and apologise for this mistake.”

Legal Cheek, Legal Futures, Lawyer2B and the Law Society Gazette all carried stories based on the incorrect data.

Places on the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) massively outnumber available jobs on this year's Pupillage Gateway, especially in the regions.

The 2014 Bar Barometer, which was released at the end of last week, revealed that BPTC numbers have risen by almost a quarter to 1,732. There is no geographical breakdown of the figures, but this is how approved BPTC places (of which there are over 2,000 full and part-time) are distributed according to region.

Here is the breakdown of pupillages currently available through the Pupillage Gateway — which opened last week — according to regional circuit.

The figures support a statement made by 9-12 Bell Yard head Mukul Chawla QC at last month's 'If I knew at Inner Temple' event.

"There are circuits which are pupillage deserts" says @MChawlaQC #IfIKnew

— Legal Cheek (@legalcheek) March 24, 2014

Chawla was referring specifically to Wales and the Midlands. But other regions, such as the North East and the West Country, don't fare a great deal better. And although there may be more available pupillages in London and the South East, there are also many more BPTC places in the capital.

It's important to remember that some chambers advertise for pupillages at other times of the year. And if — and it is a huge "if" — pupillage numbers were to hold up this year, then those additional pupillages would take the total number up towards the 436 mark recorded in 2011/2012, the most recent year for which statistics are available. But given the legal aid cuts and the associated chaos in which the criminal Bar is currently mired, a significant decline in total pupillage numbers this year looks likely. 24% of pupillages are in criminal law, the highest proportion of any practice area.

On the upside, let's not forget that as many as 50% of BPTC students don't figure in the pupillage hunt. Most of the international BPTC students (who make up almost 30% of people on the course) return to their home countries to look for work. And a significant proportion of the 20% of BPTC students registered as EU-domiciled are likely to go elsewhere after graduating. So the odds of getting a foot in the door at the Bar aren't as utterly horrendous as they can seem.

But with an overflow of unsuccessful applicants from previous years to compete against, alongside hotshot wannabes applying ahead of actually starting the BPTC, bagging a pupillage remains a long shot for students without top academics (i.e. a first class degree) and excellent advocacy ability (demonstrated with public speaking prizes). Remember, you can always qualify as a solicitor first and then go to the Bar.

Simply by talking about law, Cornerstone Chambers barrister Ann Tayo is able to morph into a bewigged and gowned version of her casually-dressed self.

Those interested to study in further detail how Tayo does it can view the transformation in more detail at 4:26 in the clip below.

The Armada, Shakespeare and Blitz devastation: as experienced by the Inns of Court.

1. The creation of the Inns

Gray's Inn must have one of the oldest timelines on Facebook. If you scroll down far enough you journey all the way back to 1388, when the first records appear of members of Gray’s Inn, Middle Temple and Inner Temple graduating as "Serjeants-at-law". Note, in the 14th Century Inns of Court scene below, the urban giving way to countryside around Kings Cross, before extending into the verdant rural hills of Highgate and Hampstead.

2. Plundering the Armada

When Gray's Inn member Admiral Lord Howard of Effingham defeated the Spanish Armada he lugged back some wood from one of the losing galleons and had it fashioned into the "Armada Screen" (pictured) — which still stands at the end of Gray's Inn hall.

3. Work of up-and-coming playwright aired

The first performance of Shakespeare’s 'The Comedy of Errors' took place in Gray’s Inn Hall in 1594.

4. The original law school re-brand

In 1600 Gray's Inn ditched its underwhelming original logo (pictured below) for an exciting new griffin logo in order to attract more visitors to the shows and plays in its hall.

5. Couldn't they have settled it in court?

In 1701 a man was killed in a duel in Gray's Inn's gardens, which, incidentally, had been by laid out a hundred years previously by Sir Francis Bacon. The victor, Captain Greenwood, was subsequently convicted of manslaughter.

6. World class Inns of Court dinner schmoozing

Future world leaders Sir Winston Churchill (then Minister of Munitions) first met Franklin Roosevelt (then Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy) in Gray’s Inn Hall in 1918.

7. World War Two Devastation

Two decades later and Gray's Inn got levelled during the Blitz. Having been previously removed in case of a strike, the stained windows were undamaged. The Armada Screen was also saved.

8. Phoenix from the ashes

Happily, the hall was quickly re-built. In 1956 a young Queen Elizabeth II enjoyed law student Christmas revels in the hall.

9. Chris Gray's Inn.

The granting of honorary bencher status to the first ever Lord Chancellor hasn't actually appeared on Gray's Inn's Facebook timeline yet...It happened at a ceremony on 11 December 2012.

When attempt to fish toy from water with umbrella failed, in-house barrister Steven Molloy threw himself into canal and seized furry turtle — generating applause from passers-by.

There were incredible scenes in Newbury this week, where a barrister dramatically leapt to the assistance of a little girl who had dropped her toy turtle into a canal.

Charles Hoile Solicitors' in-house barrister Steven Molloy (pictured) had just returned from court to his firm's canal-side offices when a colleague alerted him to the emerging drama on the towpath outside.

Grabbing an umbrella, quick-thinking Molloy — formerly of Oxford's 13 King’s Bench Walk Chambers — dashed to the scene and took control. But when his bid to retrieve the toy turtle from the bank was scuppered by a fast current, the barrister was forced into a split second re-appraisal of the situation and, fully-suited, plunged into the murky depths of the Kennet and Avon canal.

Seizing the turtle, Molloy then fought his way back through the torrent and onto shore, where he was greeted with a big round of applause from the grateful public.

Feted as a "hero" by local paper Newbury Today, Molloy said:

“I thought that losing a favourite teddy at that age and in that way could be quite traumatic for a child. I knew I could save it if I was quick.

“The girl’s face just lit up, she was so happy. Her mum thanked me over and over again. The girl was all smiles.

"I had hoped to be able to fish it out of the water with the end of the umbrella, but it was too far away and was being carried off by the current, so I just thought 'it’s now or never' and jumped in.”

Henry Hendron's "ringside" coverage of the Nigel Evans trial lands him in hot water.

Strand Chambers' Henry Hendron has committed a "a very serious contempt of court" while blogging about the sexual assault trial of Nigel Evans, which saw the Tory MP acquitted of all charges yesterday.

Hendron attended the trial as a friend of Evans and wrote "daily coverage" from a "ringside view from within the court house". But his musings “startled” alleged victims as they prepared to give “extremely personal evidence on potentially embarrassing matters," said Evans' own lawyer, Peter Wright QC. He added that Hendron's comments were "irresponsible and jeopardised the trial process."

The judge in the case has reported Hendron to Attorney General Dominic Grieve, saying: “This is a prima facie contempt of court and it could influence jurors too. This is a very serious contempt.” It has since been confirmed that the A-G won't be issuing proceedings.

Hendron has now deleted the blog posts in question. In court yesterday he apologised and told the judge that he had referred himself to the Bar Standards Board (BSB):

“I’m deeply, deeply sorry for a huge misjudgement, it was not intended to cause harm. I am not a criminal barrister, I am a civil barrister. I put a blog online with the full intention of commenting in an upbeat manner for my friend Nigel Evans and it was not designed to cause any difficulty.

“Some of Oscar Pistorius’s friends had done something similar. As soon as it was drawn to my attention by Mr Wright as a possible contempt I took it down straight away. I didn’t put my mind to it, I’m sorry it has wasted the court’s time, I have self-referred myself to the Bar Standards because I recognise it is a serious situation brought about by my lapse of judgement.”

In the meantime, Hendron may consider brushing up on courtroom rules and etiquette by consulting this YouTube video that he created in 2012 to help novices with procedure at trial.

Inn of Court issues Facebook plea after textbooks go missing.

Spotted any cash-strapped law students/lawyers making off with textbooks from Gray's Inn? Send your leads to Gray's Inn Library.

Bringing together the cat selfie template that exploded on social media over the weekend and today's QC appointment ceremony.

23 Essex Street Chambers' Mark Fenhalls QC celebrates with first junior clerk Sarah Reynolds.

Annette Henry QC, Sandip Patel QC and Lisa Wilding QC of Furnival Chambers.

Francis Taylor Building's James Pereira QC.

Leslie Thomas QC of Garden Court Chambers.

Felicity Gerry QC of 36 Bedford Row Chambers, with her children.

Charles Hale QC of 4 Paper Buildings.

9 Gough Square Chambers' Jacob Levy QC and pals.

Congratulations to all the new silks! Here, by the way, is the original cat selfie:

Don't imitate approach of Gerrie Nel, urge three silks on Twitter.

Gerrie Nel may have impressed the world's media with his "pitbull" style, but the Inns of Court aren't keen on how he operates. Last night 9-12 Bell Yard chief Mukul Chawla QC warned wannabe lawyers that Nel's approach wouldn't translate well to the courtrooms of England and Wales.

To all you aspiring advocates: Do not try to xx like Mr Nel in the Pistorius case. You won’t last 2 mins b4 you lose the trust of the court.

— Mukul Chawla QC (@MChawlaQC) April 14, 2014

This morning 11KBW silk Sean Jones QC went even further, claiming that he has seen litigants-in-person "do a better job" than Nel.

@debbiematthews1 @MChawlaQC he's produced one of the worst cross-examinations I've ever seen. I've seen LiPs do a better job.

— Sean Jones (@seanjones11kbw) April 15, 2014

Meanwhile, Cloisters Chambers' Caspar Glyn QC has expressed surprise at the passivity of Judge Thokozile Masipa in the face of Nel's aggression.

@MChawlaQC @ACWilloughby @seanjones11kbw @carlgardner Why is Nels being allowed to do this?Even Mr Scannell at London East would stop this.

— Caspar Glyn QC (@casparglyn) April 14, 2014

The full conversation thread about Nel's style is here.

Exclusive: Criminal set Dyers Chambers — which specialises in high value fraud and serious crime — withdraws its pupillage for 2015.

With its well-hedged practice that spans not just high end crime, but regulatory and public law work, Dyers Chambers is the sort of criminal set that appears more resistant than most to the legal aid cuts.

But, in a worrying move for wannabe barristers, the London-based set has pulled its pupillage for next year. Dyers, which boasts four QCs on its roster, says the move is directly due to the legal aid cuts. A statement on Dyers' website, which appeared on Monday, reads:

"Unfortunately, and as a direct result of massive and sustained reductions in public funding, Chambers have reluctantly decided that we cannot at present offer a pupillage starting in October 2015. That decision will be kept under review, and further developments published here and more widely."

The withdrawal follows a host a cancelled legal aid pupillages last year, with Charter Chambers, Guildhall Chambers and the now defunct Tooks Chambers all abandoning their graduate recruitment last year because of the cuts.

When contacted by Legal Cheek yesterday, Dyers declined to comment further, other than to confirm that its pupillage for this year has been filled and will run as normal.

"Hot" and "arrogant", yet ultimately "scum": The British public's view of solicitors, barristers and law students is rather confused (commentary in red).

LAW STUDENTS ARE...

SOLICITORS ARE...

BARRISTERS ARE...

Meet Chris Grayling, a Kent-based maths tutor and writer who has endured a tough time from the nation's lawyers of late.

Not only does Chris share the Justice Secretary's name, but they also have a hairstyle in common.

As a result, poor Chris often finds himself @-ed in tweets intended for his politician namesake.

To his great credit, Chris responds with impeccable politeness.

Even when being urged to give himself up to a baying mob, Chris is all charm.

The good news is that Chris finds the whole thing quite amusing.

Indeed, these days he sometimes pops up for a chat with his new lawyer pals unprompted.

Be nice to him tomorrow.

Follow @chrisgrayling

The David Cameron-on-the-phone meme that has been sweeping the internet today has arrived at the legal profession (starring the PM's brother, Three Raymond Buildings' Alex Cameron QC).

Here is Cameron's original cringeworthy tweet that spawned the meme.

I've been speaking to @BarackObama about the situation in Ukraine. We are united in condemnation of Russia's actions. pic.twitter.com/7Rk2k8iOIK

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) March 5, 2014

There is more information about tomorrow's legal aid strike here.

23 Essex Street junior Vicky Gainza finds the Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) threat to withhold work from striking barristers scary — but not as scary as the alternative of doing nothing to prevent the government's legal aid cuts.

26 year-old barrister Vicky Gainza (pictured above) could have followed her mates from university into a lucrative job at a big-paying magic circle law firm. Instead, she opted to follow her heart and join the criminal Bar.

Bad move, you may think, but Gainza — who graduated top in her college from Cambridge University in 2009 — doesn't regret her choice because she still "cares passionately" about what she does. Accordingly, despite struggling to get by on earnings of around £20,000 last year, she is going nowhere...for now, she told me when we caught up for a chat over coffee in King's Cross.

"I will stick around for as long as I can afford to pay my rent and my travel," she says. "I care passionately about what I do, and that is the reason why, when many of my very talented classmates from university have gone on to careers in magic circle law firms, I chose to come to the criminal Bar."

However, when pushed Gainza acknowledges that there may "come a time when I need to start thinking about another a viable career option," adding: "If I'm forced out it will be the Bar's loss."

Few would surely disagree with her, including — one imagines — the CPS, which last week issued a warning to barristers that they may lose work if they strike. The threat, made by Chief Crown Prosecutor for London Baljit Ubhey, unnerved Gainza, but not to the extent that she considered abandoning her participation in the day of action.

"At this stage we're more worried about what would happen if we didn't take a stand...so yes, it is a concern but actually I think the good relationships our chambers and other chambers have with the CPS will survive any perceived letting them down on Friday."

Other barristers are making the same calculation as they prepare for tomorrow in a climate of unprecedented anger. Despite the government's legal aid cut announcement, the determination of formidable characters like Gainza suggest that this one is far from over.

Listen to my conversation in full with Gainza in the podcast below.

We asked protesters at today's London demonstration against the legal aid cuts for their seven-second messages to Justice Secretary Chris Grayling.

Actor Maxine Peake (aka Martha Costello QC in BBC legal drama Silk)

"Hands off the justice system Grayling, and stop bullying the poor and dispossessed."

Hilary Lennox and Ariane Adam, barristers at 1 Mitre Court Buildings

"Give us a chance to represent those who most need it."

PJ Kirby QC, barrister at Hardwicke

"I'm a commercial silk, but the attack on the criminal Bar is an attack on the whole Bar and an attack on justice."

Neelim Sultan, barrister at 1 Mitre Court Buildings

"We are the last independent profession left standing. No more attacks on the independent Bar."

Ryan Turner, law student at King's College London

"Chris Grayling, you are the reason I can no longer practise criminal or family legal aid."

Alison Lambert, barrister at 2 Pump Court

"This fight isn't just about lawyers and saving lawyers' fees, this fight is about saving the criminal justice system."

Daniel Blaney, solicitor at ITN Solicitors

"Scrap Trident, and invest in public services including legal aid, which is vital."

Edward Fenner, barrister at FMW Law

"Chris Grayling, stop the cuts, stop destroying the criminal justice system."

Tessa Buchanan, barrister at Garden court Chambers

"Chris Grayling, you're destroying a world class legal system."

Gemma Burns, barrister at 33 Bedford Row

"You won't win."

For updates on the day of action, follow Legal Cheek on Twitter and Facebook.

Lord Neuberger wants to see leading sets hire fewer public school types.

Rare is the junior barrister at a top London chambers without an Oxbridge first — as Fountain Court's member profiles illustrate.

But is such uniformity of educational excellence necessary?

The president of the UK Supreme Court isn't so sure, arguing in his 2014 Rainbow Lecture on Diversity that "sometimes we have too rigid and traditional a view of the qualities required for a particular job".

In the lecture, which was given at the House of Commons yesterday, Neuberger went on to echo frequently-voiced concerns about the dominance of the upper classes at the elite end of the legal profession.

His solution? For top chambers to ditch their informal practice of hiring only graduates with first class degrees — if the applicant went to a state school. Neuberger's precise words were:

"One thing which such chambers (or law firms) might consider is the possibility of requiring applicants to state whether they had been to a state school (or even whether they had received free lunches) and, if they had, not rejecting them if they have a second class degree."

The Supreme Court chief added that the idea was suggested to him by a comprehensive school-educated junior solicitor at a magic circle firm who is on secondment at the Supreme Court. However, Neuberger shied away from giving the proposal his full backing, explaining:

"I have neither the experience nor the evidence to justify positively recommending such a suggestion. It is simply an example of a possible way of encouraging and assisting those from a less fortunate background to enter the legal profession."

At other points in the lecture Neuberger spoke of the legal profession's problems with gender and ethnic diversity, while also predicting that an increasingly conservative social mood could impact negatively on frank discussion of these issues in the future.

The 2014 Rainbow Lecture on Diversity can be read in full here.

A wave of adjourned cases due to the unavailability of protesting barristers has spawned a new term.

Argent Chambers' Richard Bentwood has documented this important linguistic development on his blog.

Grayling Hearing

‘greɪlɪŋ hɪərɪŋ’

noun

1. A term used to describe a non-effective hearing which is adjourned by reason of the non-attendance of defence counsel. eg. Can’t believe I had to go to Maidstone for a Grayling hearing. [circa 2014 after legally inept Lord Chancellor, Christopher Grayling (con) forced bar to remove its goodwill from the CJS]

Legal Cheek anthropologists have traced the first written mention of a "Grayling Hearing" to a Twitter exchange that took place last Wednesday.

@c0unse1 @RebeccaHerber44 @TheCriminalBar So, a Grayling Hearing then.

— Tim Förte (@tim_forte) March 12, 2014

It is estimated that there have been around 200 Grayling Hearings since the criminal Bar launched its "no returns" protest on 7 March. "No returns" means that barristers are no longer accepting "return" briefs from other barristers who are unable to attend scheduled hearings. The informal system has long helped to facilitate the smooth-running of the criminal justice system.

Follow the impact of the "no returns" protest on Twitter.

Tweets about "#NoReturns"