ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the stages in a barrister’s career beginning with his admission to an inn of court and ending with his elevation to the bench of the Supreme Court of Judicature. The various stages of a career at the English bar include the professional training of barristers; the opening stages of practice; the expansion of provincial bars; and the receipt of important professional offices and ranks. The chapter then examines the various factors that contributed to a barrister’s success in the law. Recently social scientists have attempted to use sophisticated statistical methods to identify those factors in a lawyer’s background, both professional and pre-professional, that contributed to a successful career. The most amorphous of all the determinants of professional success is luck. The chapter provides a comparison between the bar and medicine with regard to their internal coherence and unity.
