We Set the Bar We Set the Bar - Fighting for Equality, Empowerment and Change within the Legal Profession; Jo Delahunty K.C. highlights problems with the legal profession, including entry discrimination, toxic work ...

We Set The Bar. We make a difference.

bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/we-set-the-bar

Please hear me out. You don’t have to agree but do engage with the issues at stake. I believe passionately in the work we do under legal aid in the independent Bar. But we are broken by its demands. We and our clients deserve respect and funding.

It was a brutal & exposing book to write. This article @thebarcouncil.bsky.social gives a glimpse into what drove me to write it and who supports me when I falter- as I do. Our work drains us and our family & friends see the vicarious damage extracted out of duty and passion for our clients.

My job comes with responsibility & duty. One is to speak up & out when I believe justice is at stake in the work I live & breath. ‘We Set The Bar’ is that voice.

Legal aid is the 4Th emergency service but it is dying for lack or investment and institutional respect. Its advocates bring the diversity to the Bar that it lacks. Its principles and its people represent my principles & people. This is my shout out to and for them.

On 31.3.26 @brisunipress.bsky.social published ‘We Set The Bar’. My love letter to legal aid & the people who represent its heart and soul. In 3 days it’s moved to no 3 of Amazon’s legal biographies. That’s a testament to how many people feel the way I do about the work we do for the most vulnerable

Thankyou :)

Just got my copy of Domestic Abuse and the Family Justice System by @jdkc.bsky.social, @brummybar.bsky.social, @ianjmcardle.bsky.social, and Chloe Ashley. Fantastically useful and comprehensive. Current on alienation, latest cases, covert recording, injunctions, overlap with crimes etc.

It makes being a published author real when this happens- as seen in Wildy’s Bookshop window opposite the RCJ.
What a legal institution
What an honour.
‘Domestic Abuse in the Family Justice System ‘ By me @ianmcardle.bsky.social @brummybar.bsky.social @ChloëAshley with @AnitaMehta

So this is starting to happen! #WSTB comes out 31.3.26.Thanks to @middletemple.bsky.social for the welcome at the soft launch last night. Watch out for April’s @thebarcouncil.bsky.social Counsel magazine, @thetimes.com @lawsocietygazette.bsky.social
@lexisnexis.bsky.social @familylaw.bsky.social

4/4 Solidarity isn’t a slogan. It’s something you do- day in, day out. Not for a day.
So don’t just post about it. Do it. It matters. A lot.
#IWD2026 #WeSetTheBar

3/4 I’ve tried to give support. I’m sure I can do better and more. I will try to do it better for more

2/4These acts rarely make it into reports - but they change lives. I have not always received support when I’ve needed it. That was hard then. It hurts now.

It’s #IWD. That requires SOLIDARITY to count
Thread1/4Most women who’ve survived at the Bar can name someone who helped them stay.
A call returned. A recommendation made. A voice saying, “That wasn’t acceptable.
#WomenSupportingWomen #IWDCountdown

I wrote We Set the Bar because I believe this profession can be fairer, healthier and genuinely inclusive - without losing its independence or integrity.
Day by day we must keep talking. Keep listening. And act 2 because word are not enough.
#IWD2026 #WeSetTheBar

#IWD ? Is a day enough ? CHANGE is needed day by day
This week has been about honesty, not indictment.
The Bar can be a remarkable profession - which is exactly why it’s worth fighting for. Change won’t come from pretending the past didn’t happen, but from learning from it and acting collectively.

Most use that power responsibly. Some don’t - and the consequences can shape careers for years. Without transparency and accountability, power protects itself.
A fair profession requires visible, answerable power.
#PowerAndPrivilege #WSTB #WeSetTheBar #IWD

#IWD2026 is nearly on us. And that means we need to talk oPOWER
1/2
Power at the Bar isn’t abstract. It sits with those who allocate work, recommend promotion, and decide who belongs.
#PowerAndPrivilege #WeSetTheBar

Talk to SPOT. Talk to someone you trust who you can be yourself with. Don’t endure abuse. It’s not your fault. Break the Silence #StandTogether #IWD #WSTB

Silence is often mistaken for consent, when it’s more often fear: of retaliation, of lost work, of being labelled “difficult”.

Sexual harassment. Judicial bullying. Careers quietly damaged behind closed doors.
Silence isn’t absence. It’s self-protection.

in the build up to #IWD lets talk about SILENCE
There are things at the Bar that everyone knows - and few people report.
#BreakTheSilence #WomenAtTheBar #WSTB

Lost income, stalled careers, unpaid caring work, exhaustion treated as personal failure. The Bar still rewards constant availability - a model built around lives many women don’t live.
When staying comes at a higher price, equality is only theoretical.
#LegalAid #WeSetTheBar #IWD2026

In the count down to #IWD- reflect on Woman at the Bar and COST
We talk a lot about the cost of legal aid in numbers. We talk far less about the cost to the women who practise it.
#LegalAid #WeSetTheBar #IWD2026

5/
Anger,when grounded in truth, is not a threat to the profession.
It’s a demand that it does better.
If this resonates -your anger is valid.
Don’t stay silent. Don’t let others smother your voice or your experiences. Own them.Share them. Be made stronger by them.
#IWDCountdown #EqualityAtTheBar

4/
Much of what we’ve heard over the years comes with a familiar caveat:
“Don’t make a fuss.”
“Don’t be difficult.”
“Don’t risk your practice.”

3/
Sexism.
Racism.
Judicial bullying.
Sexual harassment.
Naming these isn’t unprofessional.
Ignoring them is.

2/
But anger is what you feel after decades of watching talent wasted, harm minimised and discrimination reframed as “character-building”.

Thread
1/
Anger has a bad reputation at the Bar - especially in women.
We’re told to be calm. Measured. Resilient.
#WomenInLaw #WeSetTheBar

6
If you recognise yourself in any of this, you’re not alone.
If you want to add your voice, I’m listening.