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Public Access (also known as Direct Access)

If you are a member of the public, the Bar Standards Board’s Public Access Guidance for Law Clients is available here.

This guidance will help you to understand how the Public Access scheme works and explains how you can use it to instruct barristers directly.

Please note not all of our barristers act on a public access basis. Please check with the clerks and on the Public Access page on our website to see which barristers are able to act on a direct / public access basis.

We have barristers who are able to provide services on a public access basis including in the following areas:

• Crime
• Property, Trusts & Estates
• Employment & Discrimination
• Commercial
• Insolvency

What are the levels of fees to be charged for Public Access work?

Guildhall Chambers provides further information on the likely level of fees to be charged for specific areas of work if the barrister is instructed on a Public access basis. We provide this information in relation to work on a Public Access basis for:

• Summary only motoring offences;
• Employment tribunal work (in relation to unfair and wrongful dismissal cases);
• Inheritance Act advices (where the value of the estate is less than £300,000);
• Winding-up petitions

Please click on the relevant area to find out more information about the likely level of fees for the services of our barristers in these areas. This information is also available in hard copy format.

Please note that all of the above indicative fee information is still dependent upon the usual factors which may increase (or in some circumstances decrease) the likely cost of the barrister’s services.

Please read this information when considering the range of likely fees in these areas of Public Access work. For the most accurate information on the potential fees involved in your case, please contact the clerks.

If I instruct a barrister on a Direct Access basis, will there be any additional costs to pay or just the barrister’s fee?

It is also important to note that in relation to direct access work there may be costs, fees and/or charges which you will have to pay in addition to the fees which are payable to the barrister. In order to find out more about what (if any) additional costs arise, it is sensible to discuss this with the clerks (or the barrister who you instruct) at the outset.

Examples of additional charges which may be payable in addition to the direct access barrister’s fee include:

• Court fees. Whether a court fee is payable (and how much that court fee will be) will depend on the circumstances of your case albeit in many (but not all) cases the value of the remedy which you are seeking will be a key factor;
• There may occasionally be charges for photocopying and/or bundle preparation;

Barristers at Guildhall Chambers are regulated by the Bar Standards Board (hereafter ‘BSB’). You can contact the BSB at 289-293 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7HZ or by telephone on 020 7611 1444. Please follow this link to the BSB website:
https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk.

If you are interested in seeing: (i) whether a barrister has a current practising certificate or (ii) whether a barrister has any disciplinary findings (which are published on the BSB website) then you can search the Barristers’ Register on the Bar Standards Board website.

What is the complaints procedure at Guildhall Chambers, and do I have any further rights of redress if I am unhappy with how my complaint has been handled?

If you have any complaint about the services provided by a barrister at Guildhall Chambers, then please read our complaints procedure or download a pdf copy

.

Guildhall Chambers have premises in both London and Bristol. Please find the addresses for our offices below:

Bristol offices:

5-8 Broad Street
Bristol
BS1 2HG

23 Broad Street
Bristol
BS1 2HG

London office:

Central Court
Southampton Buildings
London
WC2A 1AL

It is advisable to contact the Bristol offices in the first instance, because Guildhall Chambers do not have a permanent staff presence at the London office (although calls will be forwarded from the London office). This does not inhibit barristers from Guildhall Chambers from representing London clients or in appearing very frequently in the courts in London.