Corrupt Lawyers

Barristers provide expert legal advice and are specialist advocates. They draft legal documents for clients, both general legal documents (e.g. wills or contracts) and litigation documents (e.g. Claim Forms, Particulars of Claim and Defences), provide legal advice where there is a legal dispute (e.g. chances of success) and advise and represent clients in court.

PUBLIC ACCESS

In 2004 barristers were permitted by the Bar Council to accept instruction directly from the public without going through solicitors.

Rather than having to instruct a solicitor to appoint a barrister for you, Public Access allows the public or businesses to contract with (instruct) a barrister directly. A solicitor is not involved at any stage. The barrister will accept your instructions to provide legal advice or to represent you in court. You can then be advised and guided through the whole legal procedure by the barrister rather than by a solicitor.

What are the benefits of Public Access?

The potential benefits of Public Access are very significant:

1. It is designed so that you can get legal advice from a barrister without ever having to employ a solicitor. This means that you only
  have to pay for one legal advisor rather than two, potentially producing significant costs savings.

2. You get direct access to specialist legal advisors and advocates.

3. Barristers regularly do work for a flat fee, providing you with certainty about how much work will cost. 'No win, no fee' agreements
  are also available.

4. Under the watchful guidance of the barrister, you do some of the basic work a solicitor would do, saving you the cost of paying for
  what you can do yourself.

5. If for any reason you do need a solicitor, then your barrister will tell you. Which means you only instruct a solicitor when you need
  to. Further, the barrister can recommend you a solicitor. It should be a recommendation you can trust because it comes from an
  expert in that area of law, with years of experience of different solicitors in the field. And note, the barrister cannot receive any
  remuneration for his recommendation.

In short, by allowing you to speak directly to the specialist legal advisor and advocate without the cost of a solicitor, you should be more able to afford the legal advice you need.