Instructing a Barrister

Most barristers practise as self-employed professionals working together from offices known as sets of chambers.  More information about barristers can be found on the website of the Bar Council, the professional body for barristers in England and Wales.

Until recently barristers were instructed by solicitors on a referral basis and it was not possible for members of the public to go directly to a barrister.  Most of the work of the Chancery bar still comes by the traditional route of instructions from solicitors, but the rules restricting access to the bar have been relaxed in recent years.  There are now three main routes of access to a barrister for clients in this country, and special rules apply to overseas clients.  For more information regarding instructions from overseas click here. 

Many barristers also act as arbitrators or mediators.

The Three Routes of Access to Barristers

1.  Professional client access

The following people may instruct barristers either on behalf of clients or on their own account:

For all types of work:

• solicitors
• other authorised litigators
• parliamentary agents, patent agents, trademark agents and Notaries
• European lawyers registered with the Solicitors Regulatory Authority
• employed barristers and/or European lawyers registered with the Bar Council
• legal advice centres designated by the Bar Council

In limited areas of work:

• licensed conveyancers in matters in which they are providing conveyancing services

2.  Licensed access

Formerly known as "Direct Professional Access" and then as "BarDIRECT", this is a system under which organisations or individuals who are suitable to instruct barristers because of their expertise in particular areas of law can apply to the Bar Standards Board to be licensed to instruct barristers directly in those areas. The licence can cover advice or representation in proceedings, or both, and permit licensees to instruct barristers either on their own affairs or on behalf of their clients.

General information about licensed access, together with Guidance on how to instruct a barrister under that system, is available from the Bar Standards Board. The Bar Standards Board is the independent regulatory board of the Bar Council.

Most of the major firms of accountants, surveyors and other professions who deal regularly with the bar are licensed and  members of a wide range of organisations and professional bodies are licensed under the licensed access scheme.  The list of licensees is steadily growing and the full list is available from the Bar Standards Board.

3.  Public access

Since July 2004 members of the public, and commercial and non-comercial organisations, have been able to instruct barristers directly on most civil matters. Barristers become involved where expert legal advice is needed, or where documents need to be drafted, or for advocacy.  However, barristers are not permitted to offer some of the services provided by solicitors.

Barristers instructed by way of public access may, for example:

• give you legal advice;
• draft documents for you, such as a will;
• advise you on the formal steps which need to be taken in proceedings before a court or other organisation and draft formal documents for use in those proceedings;
• draft a letter for you to send to another person (although a barrister may not sign or send the letter on your behalf or write the letter on his or her notepaper);
• if a witness statement from you is required in proceedings, prepare that statement from what you tell him or her.  A barrister may also help to prepare witness statements from another person based on the information which that person has provided;
• where a case  requires an expert witness (for example, a surveyor), may advise you on the choice of a suitable expert and may draft a letter of instruction which you can then send to the expert on your own notepaper.

However, they are not permitted:

• to issue proceedings on your behalf or to issue other  applications or to take other formal steps in court or other proceedings;
• to use his or her notepaper to send letters on your behalf nor may he or she sign or send letters on your behalf;
• to investigate or collect evidence for use in proceedings.  This means that, for example, a barrister is not allowed to contact possible witnesses to investigate what evidence they may be able to give;
• to instruct an expert witness on your behalf;
• to take responsibility for the handling of clients' affairs, or to take responsibility for the general management of a client's case, or to handle clients' money.

Before accepting direct instructions from members of the public barristers are required to have been in practice for three years, to receive special traning and to register with the Bar Council.  Not all barristers chose to undertake public access work. The list of barristers registered for public access can be found on the Bar Council website.