Overdue adoption of contextual recruitment for pupillages clouded by fixation on “virtue signalling”

The first barristers’ set to address elitist discrimination at the Bar by adopting contextual recruitment practices has been accused of “virtue signalling,” according to its head of chambers.

As Legal Futures reports, Michael Coburn QC of commercial chambers 20 Essex Street said his set had been accused of “virtue signalling” and an “empty show of commitment to a good cause, unaccompanied by anything of substance. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are trying to do our bit, and there seems nothing wrong in anything that signals to the world that the Bar is continuing to evolve the methods by which it can be made open to all, irrespective of anything but talent.”

Contextual recruitment is an evidence-based system designed by diversity organisation Rare to enable talented applicants to compete on a level playing field. It uses information on candidates’ backgrounds and experiences to put their academic achievements into context and identify high performers compared to their peers at the same institutions. Rare’s contextual recruitment system is already used by over 50 law firms, but the Bar, as ever, is slow to change.

For many candidates who aspire to become barristers, the fact that one small, data-led step toward widening access to careers at the Bar has been immediately discussed in terms of virtue signalling will be a depressing indication of how far this profession still has to go to shake off its elitist reputation.