The short answer is it is likely to save you money. In the past you could not engage the services of a barrister without first instructing a solicitor. Therefore if your case needed a barrister you would always be paying for two lawyers rather than one. Now, under the public access scheme, you can go directly to a barrister. To use a colloquialism, you are cutting out the middleman.

There is likely to be a further saving, too, because barristers’ hourly rates are generally cheaper than a solicitor of comparable experience. This is because barristers are independent and tend not to have the same level of overheads as a solicitors firm. For example, Her Majesty’s Court Service guideline figure for a solicitor in the City of London with over 8 years post qualification experience is £380 per hour. For a solicitor with over 4 years pqe it is £274. At 4 Kings’ Bench Walk the hourly rate of a barrister who has been in practice 8 years is £150 and for a barrister of 20 years call is £200. (All of the above figures are quoted exclusive of VAT.)

If you need counsel’s opinion urgently it may also be quicker to go directly rather than through a solicitor.