What is public access:
A revolutionary change to the English legal system took place, almost unnoticed, on 6 July 2004.
For more than 200 years if you wanted advice from a barrister or representation at a hearing you had to first engage a solicitor. This practice was rightly seen as anti-competitive. Following a report from the Office of Fair Trading, the Bar Council adopted new rules opening up direct access to the services provided by a barrister. This is called ‘public access’.
There are restrictions. Not all barristers are allowed to accept public access instructions; not all types of work are covered. This website will explain more. But where public access instruction is available the advantage is obvious. It is the saving of the additional cost of instructing a solicitor when what you really want is the opinion of barrister or his representation at a hearing.
In response to this quiet revolution the Chambers of which I am head, 4 King’s Bench Walk, have set up barristersdirect.co.uk. Members of these Chambers have been amongst the first at the Bar to train for and to accept public access instructions. As one of the leading London common law sets I am confident that we can provide a quality service at a competitive price in this new and exciting development on the legal landscape.
For more than 200 years if you wanted advice from a barrister or representation at a hearing you had to first engage a solicitor. This practice was rightly seen as anti-competitive. Following a report from the Office of Fair Trading, the Bar Council adopted new rules opening up direct access to the services provided by a barrister. This is called ‘public access’.
There are restrictions. Not all barristers are allowed to accept public access instructions; not all types of work are covered. This website will explain more. But where public access instruction is available the advantage is obvious. It is the saving of the additional cost of instructing a solicitor when what you really want is the opinion of barrister or his representation at a hearing.
In response to this quiet revolution the Chambers of which I am head, 4 King’s Bench Walk, have set up barristersdirect.co.uk. Members of these Chambers have been amongst the first at the Bar to train for and to accept public access instructions. As one of the leading London common law sets I am confident that we can provide a quality service at a competitive price in this new and exciting development on the legal landscape.
Timothy Raggatt QC - Head of Chambers
www.barrristersdirect.co.uk