Category: Barristers

Alternative Business Structures – ABS

The introduction of alternative business structures is intended to promote “innovation”, and “diversity” in the provision of legal services. A quarter of all legal service providers have introduced a new improved service in the last three years or under an ABS have emerged to offer additional added value services and include other professional service providers such as accountants.

Whilst many legal service providers choose to innovate innovate and offer new services many Barrister’s chambers have chosen to offer their services directly through the public access scheme and continue to innovate around this offering and acknowledge the need for a more “client focussed” approach.

Direct Access Portal

The direct access portal run in association with the Bar Council, the professional body representing barristers allows businesses and individuals the  access  to a register to find a barrister, mediator or arbitrator. Not all barristers are listed, only those who choose to undertake public access work, and they are restricted to what they can do. The direct access portal was designed to make it easier for the general public to access specialist barristers with effective legal representation. It should hopefully provide a point of access, and hopefully break down the  barriers for certain individuals, small and medium sized businesses to instruct barristers directly

Social Media

In Brief, “Direct Access” barristers can represent clients in court and tribunals, they provide specialist legal advice. Many barristers are aware of the benefits of social media and it is now common place for many of them to be using social media platforms to provide legal updates or free information. The changes in technology will continue to drive the process of change and are slowly redefining the mentality of barristers who are slowing tapping into new markets in this way. With the tech environment ever changing, the legal profession will have to keep up, especially with the changes in technology.

Barristers4u

One innovative company, which are making ground breaking headlines, is Barristers4U. They have 1,000 accredited barristers throughout England and Wales and seek to provide clients who have a legal dispute with a wider choice of legal adviser, saving them valuable time and effort in searching and of course cost.

Overall, the wider use of technology to assist clients to search for a solution and legal adviser is on the increase and those able to to deliver in innovative ways will provide  a positive route for all involved.

The Barrister / Solicitor Choice

Many may think barristers and solicitors are almost identical, but it can be said they are far from it. They are qualified legal professionals, who provide support and advice to their clients. Nevertheless, there are subtle differences that can change the circumstances to choose a “type” of lawyer.

Usually, many would ask their local solicitor for legal advice. They are fairly more convenient for them to approach, and are more accessible. Solicitors amount to 181,347 in the UK, compared to the number of barristers totalling to roughly 18,000. Solicitors tend to be everywhere, from your local high street to the corporate city buildings, as there is a demand for their services.

All barristers with practising certificates may work as self-employed, employed or as a dual practitioner. The majority are self-employed and tend to work alone; solicitors can work for different organisations including: commercial or non-commercial law firms, governments, banks and corporations. Both are incredibly important, tackling a wide variety of issues, but they can be argued as “different”.

A solicitor can represent in court, but they usually refer a barrister. Additionally, they would charge a referral fee towards the client. The rules have now changed, as until recently, it was compulsory for clients with a legal dispute to go to a solicitor first. The solicitor would traditionally deal with the preparation of the case, and they would instruct a barrister to represent the client at the hearing. Now, under the Public Access Scheme, individuals can remove the solicitor and go directly to a barrister to represent the client at the hearing. This would be beneficial, as the client would have to deal with only one lawyer, and get their full attention for the case strategy.  Those who had access to Legal Aid were not able to get Public Access; new rules have now widened the scheme if certain conditions are met.

There is a push for barristers to be more accessible to the general public. Many may not know about the recent changes, and Barristers4U provides a clear approach saving huge sums of money for the client.

Cutting out the middle man

It is almost invariable that a business running over a number of years will face the inconvenience of a legal dispute in some shape or form whether it is an issue over a bad debt or a commercial dispute.  Business owners or directors may find themselves dealing with the unfamiliar challenges posed by formal legal proceedings, either as claimant or defendant.  It can often seem that the easiest thing to do is to turn to a trusted solicitor for guidance and advice.  Few people realise that there is now an often more effective option to referring to a solicitor, and that is to instruct a barrister directly.

Historically, barristers were only instructed by your solicitor when it became apparent that specialist legal advice was going to be needed. They were called in to support the drafting of complex legal documents which were outside your solicitor’s range of competence or even for actual physical representation in court.  Now, under the public access scheme, anyone can refer a matter to a barrister without the cost and inconvenience of a solicitor as the middle man.

In many circumstances the parties to the case will know if a matter is likely to end up in the courtroom as an alternative resolution is unlikely, and this is where going directly to a barrister can be the best option.  A barrister, where he has undertaken the additional training,  can write formal letters on your behalf, they can give formal legal advice, can draft legal proceedings and appear in court on your behalf. They can help with other aspects of your case such as sourcing expect witnesses.

There are some activities which only solicitors, and not a barrister can do on your behalf, but if you are able to these things yourself then a solicitor is not necessary to advance your case.  A barrister for example can help you draft legal proceedings but can not file these with the court on your behalf.  Whilst a solicitor could do this simple task for you, you’ll have to pay them for the service, and in many circumstances you may feel able to undertake this yourself with the support of your barrister. Using a barrister would help produce the papers for you to send to the court.

If you consult a barrister directly in respect of your case, they can advise if they are best suited to take it on, or if is the type of matter that a solicitor should handle.  Barristers4U the new service matching those with a need for legal support with the broadest panel of barristers. The service will help match you directly to the expert best placed to give to you the support you need and the greatest chance of success with your case or claim.

If you feel that you’ve not got what you want from you solicitor or feel that your legal issue needs you to cut out the middle man and to go directly to the best legal advice they you can source, then use Barristers4U to link you to some of the best legal minds in the land. Let Barristers4U get you on the first step of the process to achieving the result you deserve.