Louise Jones joins Guildhall Chambers – Oct 2015

If you have any queries about the services offered by Guildhall Chambers you are invited to contact the clerks at:

[email protected] or [email protected]. If you would prefer to telephone then please call 0117 930 9000 (the telephone number for the London office is 020 3709 9100).

The following are invited to contact the clerks (as above) for our barristers’ services:

• Solicitors;
• Licensed Access clients, who may hold a licence issued by the Bar Standards Board, or be a members of a professional body which has been recognised by the Bar Standards Board; and
• Members of the public who wish to instruct a barrister under the Public Access scheme.

We will provide you with a quote as soon as possible and, unless you are informed otherwise, within 14 days. If your matter is urgent please specify this when contacting chambers, and we will work to expedite your query. Guildhall Chambers are used to receiving and responding to work on an urgent basis.

Please contact the clerks in the first instance for information about fees and fee quotes because they will be able to provide you with the clearest information about what the services from barristers at Guildhall Chambers may cost. The clerks will also be able to provide you with information about what may cause any fee quote or estimates to vary. The clerks can only provide you with a quote based on the information which you provide to them, so please endeavour to provide a written summary of the important aspects of your case.

All quotes will be provided within a reasonable time, and in any event the clerks will aim to provide a quote within 14 days. If you require work urgently, please inform the clerks about this when seeking a quote.

We will always aim to set out quotes clearly, but if you receive your quote and there is something that you do not understand, please do not hesitate to contact the clerks. There is also an enquiry form on our website which allows you to provide the clerks with information for the purposes of generating a quote for your case.

Barristers in chambers can charge on an hourly rate basis or on the basis of a fixed fee. However, unless a fixed fee is set when a barrister initially receives instructions to undertake work on your behalf, then the barrister will work on an hourly rate basis.

Do barristers at Guildhall Chambers work on a “no win, no fee” basis? Can I fund my case with legal insurance?

Our barristers will also accept instructions under conditional fee arrangements (colloquially known as ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements) however the barrister is not obliged to agree to work on this basis and will have to enter into a written agreement to that effect in order to do so. Please contact the clerks in order to discuss whether this is an arrangement which you would like to explore in the circumstances of your case.

If you have any queries about whether you have legal insurance available to you to cover your costs and/or provide funding in relation to your legal costs then please read the guidance provided by Legal Choices at https://www.legalchoices.org.uk/legal-choices/money-talks/after-the-event-insurance/.

Do any of the barristers at Guildhall Chambers work without requiring a fee?

Some barrister will work without requiring a fee from their client (this is referred to as “pro bono” work). However, barristers are not required to act on this basis. If this is something which you are interested in for the purposes of your case, then please contact the clerks. Please note that pro bono work is normally provided through the Pro Bono ‘Advocate’ Scheme. For more information on that scheme please follow this link https://weareadvocate.org.uk/ or call 020 7092 3960.

Do barristers at Guildhall Chambers provide their services to clients who are funded by the Legal Aid Agency?

Barristers at Guildhall Chambers do provide their services to clients who are funded by the Legal Aid Agency. If you are unsure whether you are eligible for legal aid then please see the legal aid eligibility calculator at https://www.gov.uk/check-legal-aid.

Please note that barristers cannot do legal aid work unless they have been instructed by a solicitor. However, just because your case is eligible for legal aid funding does not mean that you cannot choose to proceed under Public Access scheme.

Whether the fees are to be charged on an hourly rate or a fixed fee basis there will be certain factors which may increase the level of work involved, and therefore the fees which are likely to be charged (or the number of hours involved). Those factors include:

• The seniority of barrister required for your case. The more experienced the barrister (which is normally calculated on the number of years since they were called to the bar) the higher the likely level of fees to be charged.
• The number of papers involved in the case and/or the complexity of the factual issues involved.
• The time in which you require the work to be turned around and/or the services to be provided. More urgent work will often involve a higher level of fee (for example if this involves the barrister working over a weekend or prioritising your case over other work).
• The amount of time that your case will require the barrister to be in court.
• The amount of travel time required for the barrister to get to and from court. Travel time is usually charged at half the barrister’s hourly rate.
• The complexity of the legal issues involved.
• The significance of the case more generally, for example if the case has wider ramifications for the client generally and/or public or legal significance.

If you are concerned about the level of fees which may be involved in your case please inform the clerks at the earliest opportunity who will be able to discuss with the barrister how costs can be managed on the case.

Please not that fee indications are (unless expressly agreed otherwise) not “caps”, and if a barrister is required to do work on the case, then they will charge accordingly. We will always aim to inform you if the fees on the case are likely to exceed the fee quotes or estimates previously provided.

The best way to manage the level of the fees is to discuss the circumstances of your case (including any issues regarding fees) with the clerks when initially seeking to instruct a barrister.