Instructing Counsel
Until recently access to barristers was only available in relation to advisory work and litigation through solicitors. However, the Bar Council has now recognised that in certain circumstances it is not necessary to go through a solicitor. It has now decided that in such circumstances members of certain professional bodies may have direct access to barristers. Solicitors will continue to provide the main source of work for Counsel. Only a solicitor may brief counsel to appear in court.
It is important to remember that the right to instruct is confined to matters which are generally within the competence of the instructing members. The barrister retains the right to require a member of the recognised professional body to instruct a solicitor if appropriate.
The most direct way for solicitors, or members of other professions having direct access, to contact a barrister is through the relevant Bar Library telephone numbers supplied in the Directory section of this web site.