Instructions from Legal Professionals
We accept instruction from solicitors, in-house legal departments and other professional clients representing themselves or a diverse client base including entrepreneurs, small businesses, large corporations, NGOs and local and central Government in the practice areas listed on our website.
The first point of contact is our professional, approachable and experienced clerking team, who are recommended as “always efficient and friendly and very responsive,” “excellent and eminently sensible about capacity, experience and fees.‘ (Legal 500 2022). Led by Matthew Phipps, they are able to discuss the needs of your case then provide clarity on the time, costs and most suitable barrister/s.
Fees and timescales depend on the complexity, urgency and funding of your case as well as the seniority of counsel. For fees, this can vary from a fixed fee for specified work such as an advice, drafting documents or representation at a hearing in Court, to an agreed upon hourly fee for cases which require flexibility. VAT is not applicable to all fees and our clerks can advise on whether it applies on a case by case basis. Generally speaking, the more senior and therefore experienced the barrister the higher his or her fees.
As barristers must carry out all their professional work personally, there will be times when they may not be available or Court commitments may affect the proposed time frame. These are all noted by the clerks and clients kept informed of any changes or potential delays.
Our clerks and barristers ensure that clients are updated every step of the way to avoid unexpected expense or delay.
Instructions from Members of the Public
Direct Access, also known as Public Access, is the name given by the Bar Council to the scheme where anyone – members of the public, firms, companies – can directly instruct specially trained barristers without the use of a solicitor in accordance with the Bar Council’s Public Access scheme. The Public Access Guidance for Lay Clients is available on the Bar Standards Board website here. You can also review a list of authorised barristers on the Bar Council’s Barrister’s Register here.
More information is available on who you can instruct, which practice areas we accept Direct Access instruction in and an idea of costs are available on our dedicated website: www.1cor.directaccess.com.
In brief, we require an enquiry form to be submitted with your contact and case details in order to confirm if your case is suitable for a Direct Access Barrister or whether it would be better dealt with by a Solicitor. If one of our Direct Access Barristers can do it, then a clerk familiar with Direct Access procedures will explain how the process works, who the most appropriate Public Access Barrister for your case is, timing and how much it will cost (e.g. fixed or hourly fees, if VAT applies etc). The time scales, fees and work agreed to be undertaken are clearly laid out in the client care letter sent to direct access clients. Our four step process for directly instructing our barristers is also available to download here.
If you have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact our Chambers Director John Petrie MBE or Senior Clerk Matthew Phipps,
and our complaints procedure can be found here.
This information is available to download as a PDF here.