Shopping for Legal Services
Information about the DCA's initiative to provide advice on choosing a legal adviser.
The Bar Council supports the ‘Shopping for Legal Services’ initiative of the Department for Constitutional Affairs. The Department has published a very useful document “A step-by-step guide to choosing a legal adviser” which provides excellent advice on the subject. We recommend that you read this guidance if you are looking for a legal adviser.
This advice is intended to help you if decide that you need a barrister.
Before you even start, you will need to have some idea of the specialist field of law in which your case falls, and preferably know, or know of, a barrister of a suitable level of experience in that field. You will also need to know what service it is that you want – for example, advice on the merits of a possible claim or on a particular point of law. If you do not know those things, it may be wiser for you to go to a generalist solicitor.
If you do know them, we encourage you to ask yourself the seven questions recommended by the DCA:
1. What will the legal adviser do for you?
Every barrister taking on a case from a member of the public should send a client care letter identifying the task which is to be performed. The work of barristers is specialist advice, legal drafting and advocacy.
2. How much will this legal adviser cost you compared with others?
We encourage you to compare fee quotes from at least a couple of barristers of suitable experience and specialisation. We also encourage you to compare such fee quotes with those of any solicitor whom you believe may offer appropriate specialisation and experience.
If you instruct a solicitor to handle your case and advocacy becomes required at any stage, and if there is any suggestion of the solicitor providing the advocacy, we encourage you to insist on a fee comparison between the solicitor and a barrister at the self-employed Bar.
3. What do you get for your money?
In the client care letter the barrister will probably either offer a fixed fee, or suggest a ceiling beyond which no work will be undertaken without prior authority. If not, ask. A barrister will not charge you for writing a client care letter.
4. How often has the legal adviser handled this type of work?
You should not instruct a barrister unless you know that he has an appropriate level of experience in the requisite specialist field. The Bar Council’s Public Access Directory indicates the fields of work of barristers listed.
If you have instructed a solicitor and he suggests somebody in his firm acting as advocate, you should check his experience. All barristers in self-employed practice specialise in advocacy. You can usually check how many years experience they have of advocacy from a chambers web site.
5. How long will it take for the transaction to be completed?
Barristers do not normally handle “transactions”, only individual pieces of work (eg an advice or a court hearing). If you want guidance on likely time frames for aspects of your matter, ask your barrister. If you have a pressing reason for work to be completed by a certain time, make sure your barrister is aware of this.
6. What can you do if something goes wrong, or you are not satisfied with the service provided?
A barrister’s client care letter will notify you of the chambers complaints system, and of your right to complain to the Bar Council.
7. Have you got a good deal?
If you know, or know of, a suitable barrister for your work, you may find that directly instructing the barrister is the cheapest, quickest and most efficient way of obtaining a high quality legal service.
