Instructions are accepted from solicitors (including those in-house with specific Industries) under Professional Client Access and, under Licensed Access, accountants (Chartered and Certified) and members of other authorised professions including members of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. The term ‘Licensed Access’ replaces the terms ‘BarDIRECT’ and ‘Direct Professional Access’. Generally speaking, those who enjoyed rights under Direct Professional Access have similar and more often even greater rights under Licensed Access.
Please do not hesitate to contact the clerks for further guidance.
Professional Client Access
The following people may instruct barristers either on behalf of clients or on their own account:
· any person authorised by another approved regulator (not the Bar Standards Board) or licensing authority;
· an employed barrister or registered European lawyer;
· any practising barrister or registered European lawyer acting on his own behalf;
· a foreign lawyer;
· a Scottish or Northern Irish Solicitor; or
· the representative of any body (such as a Legal Advice Centre or Pro Bono or Free Representation Unit) which arranges for the supply of legal services to the public without a fee, and which has been and remains designated by the Bar Standards Board (subject to such conditions as may be imposed by the Bar Council or Bar Standards Board in relation to insurance or any other matter whatsoever) as suitable for the instruction of barristers, and which instructs a barrister to supply legal services without a fee.
PLEASE NOTE:
Instructions delivered under Professional Client Access are accepted, unless otherwise agreed, on the basis of our default contractual terms.
Licensed access
Licensed access is a licensing system whereby organisations or individuals who are suitable to instruct barristers because they have expertise in particular areas of the law can apply to the Bar Council to be licensed to instruct barristers directly in those areas. The licence can cover advice or representation or both and permit licensees to instruct barristers either on their own affairs or on behalf of their clients. For more information please see the Bar Standards Board’s Licensed Access Guidelines.
Licensed Access work is accepted and under our default contractual terms.
The Bar Standards Board ‘Licensed Access Recognition Regulations’ tell you which organisations currently hold group licenses. Those organisations are listed below but, some other entities hold single licenses. You can check those here.
Part I – Accountants and taxation advisers
1. The Association of Authorised Public Accountants
2. Association of Taxation Technicians
3. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
4. The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
5. Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
6. Chartered Accountants Ireland
7. Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland
8. The Chartered Institute of Taxation
9. The Institute of Financial Accountants
Part II – Insolvency practitioners
1. Insolvency Practitioners Association
Part III – Architects, surveyors and town planners
1. Architects Registration Board
2. Association of Consultant Architects
3. The Royal Institute of British Architects
4. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
5. The Royal Town Planning Institute
6. Landscape Institute
Part IV – Engineers
1. The Institution of Chemical Engineers
2. The Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors
3. The Institution of Civil Engineers
4. The Institution of Engineering and Technology
5. Institution of Mechanical Engineers
6. The Institution of Structural Engineers
Part V – Actuaries
1. The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries
Part VI – Chartered secretaries and administrators
1. The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators: The Governance Institute
Part VII – Insurers
1. The Association of Average Adjusters
2. The Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters
3. The Chartered Insurance Institute
If you are unsure if you can instruct us, please contact the clerks who will be happy to help.