Barbara Mills KC becomes first black person and first family law practitioner for 35 years to be elected Vice Chair of Bar Council 

Barbara Mills KC has been elected as the Bar Council's Vice Chair, becoming the first family law practitioner to be selected for the position in 35 years and the first black person and first person of colour.

Mills, who is joint Head of Chambers at 4PB, vowed to focus on the family bar during her tenure.

Her practice has an emphasis on children cases, and sees her regularly instructed by local authorities and guardians in complex care proceedings. She often advises and acts in cases with an international element. 

She was called to the Bar by Inner Temple in 1990 and took silk in 2020. She also sits as a Deputy High Court Judge and has been a Recorder on the South Eastern Circuit for over ten years.

Commenting on her election, Barbara Mills KC said: "When Baroness Hallett became the first woman to chair the Bar Council in 1998, I was inspired and uplifted, but it seemed like a hopeless dream for me. So, I am deeply honoured and humbled to have been elected as the next Vice Chair."

Mills added: "As the first specialist family practitioner to take up the position for 35 years, one of my main areas of focus will be to raise the profile of the publicly funded family Bar, following in the footsteps of the excellent work undertaken in recent years to shine a spotlight on challenges faced by the publicly funded criminal Bar.

"My second area of focus is to continue the vitally important work on equality, diversity and inclusion at the Bar. Since we published the Race at the Bar report we have seen some progress but there is so much more to be done across race, gender, disability, and social mobility where the scales require rebalancing."

Mills will take up her position on 1 January 2024.

The current Vice Chair, Sam Townend KC, has been elected unopposed as Chair of the Bar for 2024.

Lorinda Long has been re-elected as Treasurer for 2024.

Adam Carey