Simeon Burke, a brother of Enoch Burke and a qualified barrister, has written to the chairman of the Bar council complaining that he is being “effectively shut out” of membership of the Law Library and his ambition to practise as a barrister before the courts.
Mr Burke – who studied law at the University of Galway, Cambridge University, and the Honourable Society of King’s Inns; won prizes as a student; and was called to the Bar in first place in October 2023 – has been trying without success to find an established barrister to take him on as a pupil or “devil”, a necessary step for barristers who wish to appear before the courts.
The Law Library, which represents self-employed barristers, produces a “masters list” of practising barristers who are willing to take on “devils” for a year as part of the mandatory pupillage system run by the Law Library.
“Although I have been actively seeking to locate a master since October 2022 (emailing, calling and meeting with barristers whose names are on the masters list), I have not yet obtained a pupillage for the coming year,” he said.
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Because of his difficulties, he has been in contact with the Law Library Member Relations Team requesting assistance but was told no assistance could be provided other than his being directed to the approved list.
“I am deeply concerned that I am receiving different treatment to that experienced by other applicants for membership of the Law Library who have not established a pupillage arrangement,” he said.
“I am concerned that I am currently being faced with the possibility of being effectively shut out of membership of the Law Library and practice in the courts due to the situation.”
As he is hoping to proceed to Law Library membership in the coming year, he said, he was writing to Bar council chairman Seán Guerin SC “as a matter of urgency”.
In April of this year Mr Burke, representing himself, successfully appealed a conviction in the District Courts for a breach of the peace following a “melee” at his brother Enoch Burke’s case in the Fourt Courts in 2023.
In granting the appeal, Judge John Martin said he was not convinced that the barrister’s “unbecoming” behaviour met the threshold for a public order offence.
Simeon Burke, in his letter to Mr Guerin, quoted from statements from the Law Library where it said newly qualified barristers “can be assured of sourcing a master in order to complete their year of pupillage” and that the Bar of Ireland is “committed to ensuring equal opportunity in the profession; respecting the diversity and individualism of its members; recognising the intrinsic value of diversity at the Bar; and expanding the breadth of its membership”.
A spokesperson for the Bar of Ireland said they had no comment.
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