First Black barrister elected to chair Bar Council
updated on 14 June 2023
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Barbara Mills KC has been elected as vice chair of the Bar Council 2024.
Mills, who was born in Ghana, isn’t only the first Black person and first person of colour to hold this position, but she’s also the first specialist family practitioner in 35 years to take up the role.
Mills was called to the Bar in 1990 by Inner Temple and took silk in 2020. Since then, she’s secured a number of achievements and key positions, including:
- deputy High Court judge;
- recorder on the South Eastern Circuit;
- member of the Bar Council’s Equality, Diversity and Social Mobility (EDSM) Committee;
- co-chair of the Bar Council’s Race Working Group;
- governing bencher of Inner Temple; and
- member of Inner Temple’s EDSM and international committees.
Mills is also joint head of chambers at 4 Paper Buildings and specialises in complex children’s cases – often with an international element. In addition to her previously listed achievements, Mills is a fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and co-editor of the International Family Law Journal.
Describing her feelings towards being elected as the Bar’s next vice chair, Mills said she’s “deeply honoured and humbled”, adding that this once seemed like “a hopeless dream”.
Two particular areas Mills has pledged to focus on during her appointment are:
- raising the profile of the publicly funded family bar; and
- equality, diversity and inclusion at the Bar.
Mills will take her seat as vice chair from 1 January 2024 alongside current vice chair Sam Townsend KC and re-elected treasurer Lorinda Long.
