We Set the Bar

Fighting for Equality, Empowerment and Change Within the Legal Profession
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-5292-2128-2
Verlag: Bristol University Press

Buch, Englisch, 224 Seiten, Format (B × H): 140 mm x 216 mm

The Bar has a long-standing reputation for being the preserve of public-school educated, white men. Power and privilege can create abuses of power. from discrimination and disadvantage in entering the profession, to toxic work practices, sexual harassment, judicial bullying and more.

In her trademark outspoken style, Jo Delahunty K.C. reveals what life at the legal aid Bar involves and identifies what can be done to change its culture and image for the better, reshaping the traditional image of a barrister in terms of the diverse profession it should be.

By celebrating the highs, but not concealing the lows, of a life in law, Jo’s love letter to her profession ‘sets the bar’ for action: what we can learn from the past and what needs to be done in future to galvanise it into a united, egalitarian, healthy environment for all.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Delahunty, Jo

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtsethik
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtssoziologie, Rechtspsychologie, Rechtslinguistik
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsgeschichte, Recht der Antike

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction

Wigs and Gowns

A Life in the Law

Power and Patronage

Power Inside the Courtroom

The Next 100 Years

Advocating for Change

Epilogue: Is It Worth It?

Über Autor(innen)

Delahunty, Jo
Jo Delahunty Q.C. is Emeritus Gresham Professor of Law, at Gresham College, London. and is one of the UK’s leading barristers specialising in child protection law and contentious cases. As a single parent from a working-class family and its first member to go to university, she has carved out her own path, defying and challenging the script for class and gender to rise to the heights within the legal profession. She is an Ambassador for Bridging the Bar and Patron of the Association of Women Barristers and informal mentor to many at the Bar She has spent her career challenging preconceptions of what it is to be a barrister through her actions, achievements, public speaking and writing, including public lectures covering topics including becoming a barrister, the reality of being a legal aid lawyer, and shining a light on issues of diversity, equality and fairness in the family justice system. Outspoken about the use and abuse of power at the Bar, she now uses her position as a Silk to speak out.

Professor Jo Delahunty KC, Emeritus Gresham Professor of Law, is one of the UK’s leading barristers, specialising in child protection law who, over her 40 years at the Bar, has chosen to champion the vulnerable, using her status and public platforms to speak out about wrongs in her working world. Being the child of a single parent from a working-class family and the first to go to university, she has defied the script for class and gender to challenge inequality and injustice, through her actions, achievements and public speaking. By writing about the realities of a life in law, confronting issues such as sexual harassment, bullying and lack of diversity she Sets The Bar for others to follow. in 2025, she is shortlisted for the prestigious Family Law KC of the Year https://www.familylawawards.com/website/16755/shortlist/ and DEI: Outstanding Contribution for the Chambers UK Bar Awards https://chambers.com/events/chambers-uk-bar-awards-2025