Means of Access
There are three ways you can approach us:
1. through a solicitor or patent or trade mark attorney;
2. through a member of some other profession or
organization; or
3. you can come to us direct for most kinds of work.
Access through a solicitor or patent or trade mark attorney is called
"professional access", access through other professionals
and organizations with who are licensed to access the bar
"licensed access" and access otherwise than through a professional
or licensed intermediary
"public access".
Although we treat all our clients in exactly the same way no matter how they
come to us, our
Code of Conduct requires us to apply different rules to professional,
licensed and public access work. Yet more rules apply to publicly funded
(that is to say, legally aided) work, conditional fee or no-win-no-fee
agreements and instructions from outside the UK. We have taken account of
all those requirements in our standard
Terms of Work.
Identity Checks
The law requires us to carry out identity and residence checks on new clients.
Unless you come to us through a professional intermediary who has already
carried out such checks, we shall need to see your passport or new style
driving licence and a recent utility bill to verify your name and address.
Fees
These are nearly always negotiable. They usually take account of
the number of hours required to do the work and the specialist knowledge,
skill and experience and reputation of the barrister. A senior
barrister can usually command a much higher hourly rate than a junior one.
However, that does not mean that he or she is necessarily more expensive. If
the junior is on a learning curve, the length of time he or she may take to
do the work can more than offset his or her lower hourly rate. Also, the
work may
not be done quite so well. Some barristers allow discounts for certain types
of client. For instance, Jane Lambert allows an automatic 40% discount for
start-ups and a 25% discount for businesses turning over less than £1
million per year. It is very difficult to quote for work without knowing
exactly how much work will be involved. For that reason, it is usually a
good idea to request an estimate first. You can do that whenever you see the
"Request an Estimate" button.
Terms of Work
Until
s.61 (1) of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 abolished the
prohibition, it was believed that no contract came into being when a
solicitor instructed a barrister. Even afterwards, there was a presumption
against the subsistence of such a contract. Such a rule or presumption has
never applied to instructions from licensed or public access clients.
For the avoidance of doubt, a contract always comes into being when one of
us is instructed. Except where and to the extent that we may agree to
the contrary every such contract incorporates our
Terms of Work.
Formation of Contracts
Our Terms of Work make clear that a contract will not come into
being automatically upon delivery of instructions. The barrister must have
an opportunity to see what is involved, to carry out identity checks and to
negotiate a fee, hourly rate or other charging basis. The barrister will
usually confirm his or her willingness to accept the instructions in a
letter to the client known as a "client care letter". Such a letter summarizes the terms of
the proposed contract. The contract comes into being when the client signs and
returns a copy of the letter or otherwise shows that he or she accepts those
terms.
Quality Assurance
Every barrister who practises under the
NIPC
Brands must consistently meet very high standards. The
service company monitors performance. It seeks feedback on everything that is
supplied under the NIPC Brands and it analyses the feedback carefully. Every barrister has to adopt a
Model Complaints Policy. The company makes sure that he or she complies
wit it. You should be sent a feedback form automatically and a complaint's
form on request. If not,
you can access both through this website.
Payment
One of the consequences
of the rule or presumption
against contracts between solicitors and barristers was that barristers were
kept waiting months and in many cases years for payment. That was
scandalous. One of the reasons our fees are competitive is that we expect
payment in full within 28 days of delivery of the fee note. We will always
be sympathetic and take account of clients' means and circumstances but we
will not allow massive arrears to build up. We can accept payment by a
variety of payment instruments including PayPal. We will accept payment in
euro and US dollars as well as sterling.
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