August 30, 2026 7:00am by David Farrar

Not so sure about this

The headline:

Barrister says maternity leave battle added to neonatal intensive care unit stress

This makes it sound like a lawyer was being asked to go back to work when they had a week old child in neonatal care (which would be horrific if true). But what really happened is:

  • A self-employed barrister (note self-employed – there is no big bad employer here) had her baby turn up early in June 2025. The baby was in NICO. She had been clearing her diary for the next ten months and asked for a client’s trial to be delayed until May 2026 (11 months time) when she would be available.
  • The court set the date for March 2026. She fought against this.
  • The Crown argued the trial should proceed out of fairness to the affected complainants giving evidence, and there was time for a new counsel to prepare.

I don’t think you delay a trial because the defendant’s lawyer is on maternity leave. Lawyers should arrange cover for maternity leave, just as doctors, teachers, nurses do etc.

Absolutely judges should be flexible with scheduling when it comes to clashes with other trials etc. But I don’t think one can have all proceedings involving a defendant put on hold for 12 months because their lawyer goes on maternity leave.