Public Access to a Barrister

We are pioneers of the scheme known as Public Access. Under this scheme businesses and individuals may instruct us directly and without doing so through a solicitor. The scheme came into effect on 6th July 2004.

Marc Beaumont:

• Moved a visionary Bar Council motion on this topic even before the OFT persuaded the Bar Council to adopt such a scheme
• Fought on the Bar Council for a scheme of direct access to the Bar in the face of fierce opposition
• Had probably the first ever Public Access instruction at 9 am on the inaugural day of the scheme
• Received his 150th Public Access instruction in October 2005
• On 1st November 2005, Marc Beaumont conducted GE Capital Bank v Rushton and Jenking, believed to be the first ever Public Access case to reach the Court of Appeal.
• Is a leading authority on the topic of Public Access (please see his article in the Solicitors' Journal Guide to the Bar of 15.10.05)
• On 24th January 2006, Marc Beaumont was featured in the national press as The Times, "Lawyer of the Week," for having been the first Barrister to conduct a case in the Court of Appeal with a client instructing the Barrister under the Public Access scheme. See the article here.
• In September 2006, Marc Beaumont was appointed to the Bar Council's Public Access Review Committee.
• In May 2007, Marc Beaumont founded the Public Access Bar Association and was elected to be its first Chairman.
• From January 2008, Marc Beaumont is the Vice Chairman of the Bar Council's Access to the Bar Committee.

We now regularly act on a Public Access basis for businesses and individual clients all over the country. We are dedicated to serving the needs of business in the Thames Valley.

We act on a Public Access basis in all the work categories listed on this website. Commercial, Business and Property disputes are well suited to the Public Access scheme.

Much of our work is conducted on a fixed fee basis. Clients are making substantial savings in costs by coming to us on a direct basis.

We are not able to accept every case on a Public Access basis. If you would like an appraisal of the suitability of your case for Public Access, please call for a free initial discussion.

As a general rule, if your case falls into one of the following categories you should be able to instruct us on Public Access:

• You need legal advice and analysis
• You are engaged in a course of correspondence
• You want work carried out before litigation starts
• You wish to negotiate with the other side
• You wish to appeal
• You are engaged in a hearing before a tribunal
• You wish to avoid litigation altogether
• You wish to engage in Mediation
• There will be a trial without many, or any, issues of fact
• The case involves points of law rather than fact
• The case is not contentious at all, but requires advice or drafting of a letter or document.

We still work closely with many firms of solicitors in the cases which are not suitable for Public Access. We also recommend a solicitor to you for some stages of a Public Access case, such as issuing and serving claims, instructing experts, handling your money or interviewing witnesses. However, there is much work that we can conduct for you before it becomes necessary to instruct a solicitor.

Professionals

Surveyors, Accountants, Architects and members of other recognised professions are entitled to instruct us directly, without going through a Solicitor.

Public Access to the Bar Article

For a recent article in Counsel Magazine about Marc Beaumont's Public Access work please click here

For an article by Marc Beaumont advocating reform so as to permit Public Access Barristers to engage in correspondence, click here

For a 2008 article on new business models for the Bar and the Legal Services Act 2007, click here