Direct Public Access means that members of the public may now utilise the services of a barrister directly without first having to go through a solicitor. This method of instruction may be more suitable for you if you have concerns about the costs of instructing a solicitor.
You may wish to read the Bar Standards Board’s Public Access Guidance for Lay Clients which explains how the Public Access scheme works, and shows members of the public how they can use it to instruct barristers directly.
It is difficult to say how long it will take your matter to be completed as it depends on factors such as the barrister’s availability, the complexity of your case, the work required to be completed, the need for additional documents and potentially the Court’s availability for listing your case. For most instructions, barristers will be able to agree a timescale with you in advance.
with certain cases, timescales can be affected by your negotiations with the other side and external factors such as witness availability for hearings. As a general rule, hearing dates for trials are being scheduled to take place within 6-15 months from a claim being issued.
If you are instructing Counsel to advise then you can expect to receive the advice within 4 weeks once we are in receipt of the signed client care letter and have received payment for the fee. Written work can be completed more quickly in urgent cases, and by prior agreement with the barrister.
A barrister is only permitted to represent you in an area of law in which they specialise. To view our qualified public access barristers, please see our Practice Areas section or individual barrister profiles.
If you require information regarding our fees and how these are usually calculated, please refer to: Terms of Business
