HOW CAN YOUR BARRISTER HELP YOU AS A LITIGANT IN PERSON?

DIRECT PUBLIC ACCESS GUIDANCE

INFORMATION ABOUT OUR BARRISTER’S SERVICES AND COSTS

COSTS – FIXED FEES FOR WORK TO BE CARRIED OUT

When your instructions are accepted, we will carry out the work as agreed between us, you will be provided with a client care letter with the terms and conditions and the cost for the work to be done. The cost is a fixed fee. This means there is a fee to do the work agreed which is fixed plus VAT and no other hidden costs.

It is important to note that your fixed fee is based on the papers you have provided via the dropbox facility, the time for consideration and preparation of those documents to enable the barrister to quote a fixed fee based on the work to be carried out.  Once a fixed fee is quoted, if there are further documents which need to be considered we reserve the right to charge an additional cost and if agreed with you, a separate client care letter will be provided. All litigants in person are entirely responsible for ensuring that they provide the barrister with all of the available documents in their possession relevant to the work to be carried out and failure to do so may result in the advice and/or the work carried out falling short of the best advice.

Please note the provision of a quote is not an acceptance of instructions. An acceptance of instruction is fixed upon you signing and the return of the public access agreement together with cleared funds within the time limit.

In the client care letter, you will also be provided with online bank details and a time limit by which you are required to pay the full amount quoted before any work can begin.  It is important for you to note that, instructions are formally accepted in full only at the point we have cleared funds in the bank.

Please note that if you delay and send the fee after the deadline date, we reserve the right to return your fees simply because we may not have the time to carry out the work and therefore, we are not instructed. Please note that any delay may have consequences which affect your case adversely and chambers will not accept any responsibility for any detriment caused by your delay and fees returned.

The cost of instructing our barrister will depend on the complexity of your case, the experience of our barrister, the amount of work involved, and the urgency of the work, the type of hearing, and the amount of papers you have, as this affects the reading time that is required before conference and the level of preparation that needs to be done for the legal advice and/or hearing, as your barrister will need to be fully appraised of all the relevant facts and circumstances, in order to give you the best advice and/or representation.

We aim to provide a quote in the form of a client care letter within 48 hours of your instructions (an email listing the work you want the barrister to do) and your papers being received via the dropbox facility.  Should you not wish to proceed, this leaves you time to find another barrister.

FEES FOR REPRESENTATION AT A HEARING

The same process as above for legal advice is applied to instructions for representation at court with the following exception:

• If a fee is for a hearing, the barrister is normally entitled to the fee whether or not the hearing goes ahead.  If that is the case the barrister should tell you before you agree the fee, and we do so in our client care letter.  We try to be flexible in chambers and will endeavour to reach an agreement with you, however it may not always be possible.

FEES FOR WRITTEN ADVICE OR MEETING

• If the fee is for written advice or a meeting, your barrister will have spent some considerable time in the preparation and consideration of your papers, carried out a merits assessment and legal research and therefore once the work has begun, there is no flexibility with refunds. 
• The fee is paid in advance before the commencement of any work and that includes any email correspondence, telephone or Skype conferences in respect of legal advice.

CONDITIONAL FEE AGREEMENTS

Our chambers does not offer conditional fee agreements.

REGULATED BY THE BAR STANDARDS BOARD

Direct Access barristers are regulated by the Bar Council and the Bar Standards Board and have strict professional rules by which they abide, giving you the benefit of consumer protection and the backing of a professional conduct regime built up over centuries. 

Only the barristers who have achieved a specialist direct access qualification are allowed to work directly with clients.

If you would like more information about how a public access barrister could work with you directly, and/or the Bar Standards Board Handbook – Public Access Guidance for Lay Clients prepared by Bar Standards Board – please click the link .