Counsel

About Counsel

Counsel is the official monthly magazine of the Bar of England and Wales, published since 1985 and largely written by and for barristers. Owned by the Bar Council and published by LexisNexis on its behalf, it covers the issues facing the Bar and the legal system — alongside profiles, conference reports, practice guidance, personal finance, arts reviews, chambers' announcements and an "agony uncle" column for lighter moments. It is read by legal professionals of all ages, from law students to senior judges, as well as policymakers, government figures and key influencers.

The magazine was founded in 1985 by Gavin Purves of Swan House Chambers, who edited it until 1988, beginning life as a quarterly produced by barristers themselves before becoming a professional monthly under Butterworths — now LexisNexis. Its current editor is Sarah Grainger, with Elsa Booth as commissioning editor. Its official website is counselmagazine.co.uk.

Founding in 1985: A Journal of the Bar, by the Bar

Counsel was founded in 1985 by Gavin Purves, a barrister at Swan House Chambers, who served as its first editor until 1988. The founders set out to produce a journal of the Bar, by the Bar, about the Bar — and believed this required a practising barrister as editor supported by an editorial board of barristers. The first issue, Michaelmas 1985, appeared quarterly and had what the magazine's own retrospective called "a brave beginning and a leisurely feel."

That first issue set the template: three pages on time off in Tuscany, motor car reviews, the Lord Chancellor on appointments procedure, photographs of packed AGMs, and practical advice on how the personal computer was becoming the barrister's friend — alongside the founding exhortation that "it is up to us to do all in our power to ensure that the Bar retains its rights of audience." The determination to defend the Bar's position was, as the retrospective noted, never out of print.

From Barrister-Run to Professional Publishing

Nobody anticipated the burden of work required to keep up the momentum. With success it became apparent that the founders would struggle with the barrister-editor model: the magazine had become a business with a substantial turnover, and it was time to pass the baton. From October 1988 the journal went bi-monthly and eventually monthly, produced by a professional team at Butterworths — now LexisNexis — backed by a larger editorial board, today the Policy and Editorial Board.

The transition was not without growing pains: one senior member of the Bar complained the magazine was as interesting as a grocery list, and there were times when worthwhile copy was hard to come by. But the board members carried their substantial and thankless burden valiantly, often writing articles themselves, and the magazine endured — "thanks to the efforts of many over the years, not all of them from the Bar."

Owned by the Bar Council, Published by LexisNexis

Counsel is owned by the Bar Council — the General Council of the Bar of England and Wales — and published by LexisNexis on the Council's behalf from Lexis House, 30 Farringdon Street, London. It is supported by an independent Policy and Editorial Board, mainly drawn from practising barristers representing a wide cross-section of the Bar, whose role is to drive the magazine's editorial direction and advise the publisher.

The magazine is distributed to barristers who pay their voluntary Bar Council member services subscription (the Bar Representation Fee), with print issues going direct to subscribers each month and high numbers of non-subscribers reading it on the free-to-view website. The Bar Council periodically tenders the publishing contract, inviting bids for the publication and distribution of its official magazine.

Editorial Scope: The Bar and the Justice System

Counsel's analysis and opinion keeps readers informed of changes to the legal services market, with editorial coverage focused on legal and professional issues: the funding of the Bar, regulation, legal aid, diversity, wellbeing, and the great constitutional questions affecting the justice system. Its Practice Toolset section offers vital guidance to help barristers achieve their ambitions and work smarter using the latest techniques and market innovations.

Around that professional core sits a rich magazine mix: high-profile interviews, news, letters, profiles, lifestyle and personal finance features, book and theatre reviews, chambers' announcements and tenancy vacancies, satirical content, and the "agony uncle" column. Contributions come from all sections of the Bar, including pupils and law students — the magazine is, in its own phrase, the Bar's professional forum.

Bar News and the Pull-Out Section

Each issue contains the Bar Council's own publication, Bar News, as a pull-out inner section — carrying news from the Bar Council, guidance and advice for members of the Bar, and notices of forthcoming events. The combination gives readers both the independent journalism of the magazine and the official communications of their professional body in a single package.

This dual function reflects the magazine's unique position: it is simultaneously the Bar's own magazine and a genuinely editorial publication, with an independent board and professional editors. Navigating that duality — serving the institution while holding it to account — has been central to its character since 1985.

Readership and Influence

Counsel describes itself as highly influential and thought-provoking, read by legal professionals of all ages — from law students to senior judges — as well as policymakers, key influencers and members of the government, with a wider general readership beyond. Its audience is highly engaged with the brand in print, online and on social media.

That influence rests on authorship: its authors are thought leaders and experts in their fields, largely drawn from the Bar itself. When Counsel publishes intelligent opinion on the key issues affecting the Bar and justice, it speaks with the profession's own voice — which is why those in a position to drive change pay attention.

Editorial Leadership

The magazine's current editor is Sarah Grainger, with Elsa Booth as commissioning editor. They lead a professional editorial operation within LexisNexis, working with the Policy and Editorial Board of barristers that sets the magazine's direction. The board's membership, appointed by the chairman of the Bar and reviewed every three years, is drawn from a broad cross-section of the profession.

The consultant editor role has been held by figures including David Wurtzel, under whom the magazine's retrospective judged it to meet much of its original concept. The continuity of professional editorial leadership, combined with the board's practitioner oversight, preserves the founders' vision of a journal genuinely of the Bar.

Digital Presence

Counselmagazine.co.uk is the magazine's free-to-view destination website, carrying current and previous issues alongside news and articles. Print subscribers receive the monthly magazine direct, while the website extends its reach to the wider legal world and general readers interested in the law.

The brand's engagement across print, online and social media reflects its ambition to be not just a members' magazine but a public voice for the Bar — intelligent, thought-provoking and accessible to anyone associated with the legal industry.

Forty Years of the Bar's Magazine

From Gavin Purves's quarterly of 1985 to today's monthly multimedia brand, Counsel has been the Bar's own magazine for four decades. It has chronicled the profession's battles — over rights of audience, legal aid, regulation and reform — and provided the forum in which the Bar debates its future.

As the official magazine of the Bar of England and Wales, published by LexisNexis for the Bar Council, it remains what its founders intended: a journal of the Bar, by the Bar, about the Bar — and, as its own history puts it, "your professional forum."