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Nichola Higgins named by Legal Week as one of the up and coming young barristers

Legal Week have surveyed over 200 solicitors, barristers, Queen's Counsel and Senior Clerks to find those young barristers whom are considered to be up and coming. Nichola Higgins who is also chair of the Young Barristers' Committee (YBA) is one of those noted as leading the way.

Interviewed for the Legal Week article, Nichola has two immediate concerns for the young bar. One is how young legal aid lawyers will react to reductions in remuneration, which she fears will impact upon the diversity of the Bar and discourage some from remaining barristers. This, she says, "may lead to a dip in quality in the future", although such arguments, conveyed to Lord Chancellor Ken Clarke by Bar Council chairman Peter Lodder QC in a letter in October, were bluntly rejected.

Her second concern is the junior Bar's share of the advocacy market, as "there are fewer instructions coming in family and criminal legal aid cases" Higgins stresses: "The bar for talent at the junior Bar is set extraordinarily high - higher every year," but, to safeguard its future, "it is important that young barristers can continue to build a practice".

She says: "Remuneration is only one half of the equation. Young advocates also need to practise advocacy, otherwise the Bar will shrink beyond all recognition." To prevent this, Higgins stresses greater diversification as articulated by Lodder in January.

Nichola chose criminal law because it "deals with the liberty of the subject, and that liberty is sacrosanct" She says: "lt is important to keep the struggle between authority and liberty in check A conviction can have devastating consequences for both the individual and their family ultimately you cannot regain the time you have lost as a result of losing your liberty."

Recent career highlights include a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) overseas corruption case, the culmination of a four-year investigation into the London reinsurance market The case brought together insurance practice, company law, allegations of corruption in the payment of kickbacks in placing reinsurance, and a high profile prosecution, leading to a negotiated plea agreement, one of the very first agreed in the SFO's history. One QC calls her "extremely bright and a hard worker; a rare but devastating combination", while one solicitor says she fights "very hard in court on the client's behalf', including standing up to judges.

Read the article in full:

• Bright lights, big city - meet the young barristers making their mark [Adobe PDF]

18 November 2011

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