ON THE morning of January 6th many courts across England and Wales sat silent. For the first time in their history, barristers in effect went on strike, in protest at the government’s plans to slash legal aid. Following cuts introduced in April 2013, which are intended eventually to shave £320m ($525m) from the civil legal-aid bill, Chris Grayling, the justice secretary, wants to lop £220m off the criminal side.

Barristers insist that the government’s reforms, notably cuts of 17.5% to most of their fees, will wreck a profession already in crisis. For most practising criminal law, legal-aid work is far from lucrative. Fees have stagnated since the 1990s. Falling crime rates mean barristers are competing for less work. The cuts will hurt defendants too, barristers plead. Lower fees may force barristers to take on more work and cut corners. Miserly salaries could eventually deter bright young things from entering the criminal legal profession at all.

Yet the cuts could also speed change in the criminal-law business. The market is oversaturated with barristers. Chambers make money out of lengthy, complex cases dealt with by senior barristers. To ensure that duty solicitors pass them such cases, however, they must also be willing to take on many less profitable ones. A clutch of junior barristers deal with these, sometimes spending more on travel than they are paid.

In future solicitors may well argue more criminal cases in court. Subject to passing additional tests, they are now able to do so in crown courts and above. Increasingly, young people attracted to criminal law may prefer to train as solicitors and qualify as solicitor advocates. Law firms are more likely to pay for students’ training; barristers’ chambers offer almost no money to support those preparing to join them. At present, 11,000 of the 120,000 practising solicitors do criminal work on either the prosecution or defence side. Of them, about 5,000 have the right to argue criminal cases in higher courts.

The cuts could also prompt barristers, who are technically self-employed, to go into partnerships with solicitors, suggests Richard Moorhead, a professor of law at University College London. The 2007 Legal Services Act explicitly enables such arrangements. Barristers opposed that reform and they have so far shown little enthusiasm for change. In future they may have little choice.