Public & Direct Access

Our members can be instructed directly by the general public or by other professional other than solicitors. This page provides more information on how.

Our Team

The Team have collective experience in being able to advise and represent lay clients (i.e, those who aren’t instructing a Solicitor) in the areas of private children, family finance, personal injury, company and commercial law, wills and probate, consumer contract, road traffic offences, employment law and professional regulation.

The Team prides itself on being able to provide highly personalised and compassionate advice with robust and persuasive advocacy to ensure expert support throughout the life of a case.

Our Team can be instructed to advise or represent you at all stages throughout your case and you only pay for specific pieces of work you instruct them to do. However, there may be circumstances or pieces of work that they are unable to assist you with (such as a piece of work that would amount to conducting litigation) but in these situations, our team of experienced Clerks are able to signpost you to a Solicitor who may be able to help.

We are committed to being transparent in relation to price and service standards.

For further information on how Public Access works please click here to read the Public Access Guidance for Lay Clients.

Timescales

It is difficult to say how long it will take your matter to be completed as it depends on factors such as the Barrister’s availability, the complexity of your case, the work required to be completed, the need for additional documents and potentially the Court’s availability for listing your case.

Timescales can also be affected by your discussions with the other side in relation to any negotiations or offers to settle and external factors such as witness availability for hearings. As a general rule though, hearings dates are being scheduled to take place within 8 to 12 months from a claim being issued.

If you are instructing Counsel to advise then you can expect to receive the advice within two to three weeks once we are in receipt of the signed client care letter and have received payment for the fee.

Fees

Our Team are happy to provide a fixed fee quote for specific pieces of work so that you have clear certainty of how much you are paying for the work you are instructing Counsel to do. All fees quoted are excluding VAT.

When assessing the likely fixed fee the Clerks, in consultation with the Barrister you are instructing, will consider:

a) The complexity and nature of your case;

b) The seniority and expertise of Counsel required;

c) The amount of preparation and time required to complete the work you are instructing them to do;

d) If Counsel is being instructed to attend a hearing then the length of the hearing; and

e) Any expenses that may be required such as hotel or travel.

Once papers have been considered and your instructions have been received, one of our Clerks will contact you with a proposed fee. If you are in agreement with the fee then they will send you a client care letter to sign and return which sets out our terms and conditions and confirms the quote provided. Once we have received the signed client care letter and you have paid the fee, Counsel will proceed with completing the piece of work you are instructing them to do.

Legal aid

Where you have legal aid in place to fund your case then we are unable to assist you unless the firm of Solicitors you have instructed instruct one of our Barristers to act on your behalf. In this situation your Solicitor is not limited to who they can instruct as the public access rules do not apply. If you are eligible for of could potentially be eligible for legal aid but you decide not to proceed with legal aid then we are able to assist.

To find out if you are eligible for legal aid please click here.

Insurance

There may be insurance policies you have taken out, such as home or motor insurance policies, that may cover you for the legal costs of your case. To investigate this further, please contact your insurer before contacting us.

Indicative fees

The following are indicative fees only so please contact us for an accurate fee quote for your matter. All indicative fees below are exclusive of VAT.

Family finance

1) First Appointment Hearings = £750 – £2,500

2) Financial Dispute Resolution Appointment = £1,250 – £3,000

3) First day of Final Hearing (if no settlement at the FDR) = £1,750 – £3,500

4) Court appearances per day after the first day of Final Hearing = £1,250 – £2,000

5) Drafting paperwork and conferences = £175 – £300 per hour.

Motoring offences

1) Written Advice = £350 – £2,000

2) Guilty Plea Hearing = £750 – £2,500

3) First Appearance (pre-trial appearance) = £750 – £2,500

4) First day of Trial = £1,250 – £3,000

5) Court appearances per day after the first day of Trial = £600 – £2,000

Meet the team