Remove senior designations, say 56% of those who participated in Bar & Bench survey

In February this year, Bar & Bench launched the Senior Designation survey. Designed by senior counsel and former ASG, Indira Jaising, the survey sought public opinion on the current system of senior designations.

Over thirty questions were asked, ranging from the participant’s education, place of practice, and opinion on possible bias within the system of designations.

Who took the survey?

A total of 807 participants took part, of which, 92% were lawyers, 2% were law students/in-house counsels and the remainder 6% was non-lawyers. In all, only 19% of the respondents were women.

Location 

The participants were spread across the country with almost 50% in Delhi, about 20% in Maharashtra, and 12% in Karnataka. The balance was spread across Tamil Nadu, Punjab & Haryana, Gujarat and West Bengal.

Here are some of the findings.

1. 56% say remove senior designations altogether

A little over half the respondents (56%) feel the system of senior counsel should be done away with, and there should only be one category of advocate.

2. Are designations discriminatory? 

Participants were asked whether the practice of senior designations was discriminatory, and if so, what were the perceived grounds of discrimination.

While gender (52%), caste (45%) and religion (32%) were some of the perceived grounds, it was political ideology (75%) and social status (74%) that topped the charts.

Furthermore, nearly 87% believe that the chances of being designated are higher if one has a Senior Advocate in their family.

3. Method of designation

Close to 65% of the respondents felt there is a need for judges to consult bar associations before making any designations, and 81% feel that candidates should be interviewed before the designation takes place.

One of the common criticisms of the current system is lawyers being designated  in courts other than the one they regularly practice in. More than 85%  agreed that designation should only take place in the court where the lawyer practices

But the more pressing need is that of uniformity: 96% believe that there should be a uniform criteria across all High Courts for designation as a Senior Advocate.

Read the entire report, along with some of the suggestions received, below.