FAQ 51

Q51. My chambers would like to give a gift of a food hamper to one of our regular instructing solicitors. Is this permissible?

A51. The Bar Standards Board is currently undertaking a consultation exercise on this issue. The Guidance below is current for the time being, but may well be amended in due course.

The Conduct Committee has considered the general issue of barristers giving gifts to solicitors and other intermediaries entitled to instruct them. The Committee’s opinion was that paragraph 307(d) of the Code of Conduct which states that; "a barrister must not give a commission or present or lend any money for any professional purpose to…..any person entitled to instruct him as an intermediary" would prohibit a barrister (and effectively his clerk or his Chambers as a whole) from giving to a solicitor or intermediary a gift, however modest, of any kind.

The Conduct Committee has however deemed it to be acceptable for a barrister to take a solicitor or intermediary out for dinner at the conclusion of a case. The same would apply for Chambers offering hospitality to a firm of solicitors or other intermediary. For example, it would be permissible for Chambers who were sponsoring a cricket match to invite a firm of solicitors who routinely instruct members of chambers to watch the game.