Why these 15 barristers want to shake up the bar

afr.com:

A group of highly regarded barristers from Sydney’s leading chambers have struck out on their own in a move they hope will shake up the legal industry and encourage more women and diverse candidates to join the white male-dominated bar.

The new chambers – named Omnia, the Latin word for “all” – will officially open on January 8, occupying a much-vaunted space replete with avant-garde art, a modern fitout, and (mercifully, for former residents of the darkened halls of the Phillip St legal precinct) floor-to-ceiling windows.

From left: Nicola Gollan, Kunal Sharma, Sarah Andrews, clerk Robert Leach, Georgina Westgarth, Jane Buncle, Kate Morgan SC, Michael Hodge KC, Christina Trahanas, Rob Davies, Amy Munro, Shipra Chordia, Sonia Tame, Robert Pietriche, Sera Mirzabegian SC and Joe Edwards.  Peter Rae

Omnia’s 15 barristers say change is needed at the bar – which lags commercial firms in gender parity and where significant financial barriers to entry have entrenched it as a place of privilege – to attract new talent and “future-proof” the profession.

Michael Hodge, KC, who came to prominence as one of the counsel assisting the Hayne royal commission, says the group “have an idea of how a modern chambers should look, and the values it should embody”.

Despite women making up almost two-thirds of law graduates, the bar has been much slower than the commercial firms to see representation flow through, with women making up only a quarter of the NSW Bar.

Nearly half of the latest bar practice course were women, a record number, but the number and value of briefs awarded to women, and the gender split of appearances in superior courts, remain stubbornly low, particularly at the commercial bar.

Sera Mirzabegian, SC, who will move to