Barrister Recruitment
If you are a self-employed barrister looking for a steady stream of instructions, Clerk&Counsel generates direct access and solicitor-referred work across a wide range of practice areas. You stay independent, regulated by the Bar Standards Board, and every brief is contracted between you and the client.
The legal profession in England and Wales has changed. More barristers want the freedom of self-employed practice without the overhead of traditional barristers chambers. Whether you trained through law degrees and the bar professional training course, or came via a conversion course and the diploma in law, the path to being called to the bar at one of the inns of court is only the beginning. After you successfully complete pupillage, the real challenge is building a practice that generates enough work to sustain you.
Clerk&Counsel is not a chambers and we are not a law firm. We are a clerking agency that helps barristers in England and Wales find instructions from two sources: direct access clients who need legal advice and representation, and solicitor referrals from law firms that need counsel for specific hearings. We cover a wide range of areas of law including family, crime, civil, commercial contracts, construction and property. You remain fully self-employed. There is no chambers rent, no marketing levy and no minimum hours. The Bar Standards Board registers you; we simply bring the work.
The General Council of the Bar, known as the Bar Council, sets the overarching professional standards that underpin the regulatory framework. All barristers we work with hold a current practising certificate and are free to represent clients in any court or tribunal where they have rights of audience. Employed barristers sometimes join us on the side to keep a hand in private practice. That is fine, provided your employer permits it and the Bar Council rules on conflict are observed from the outset.
For the full picture of how we differ from a chambers, read clerking services for barristers. If you are interested in how we generate the leads, see barrister lead generation.
Submit a short application with your call year, practice areas and location. A clerk will review it and come back within two working days.
Apply to join →What we have learned placing work for barristers
The barristers who do best with us are the ones who treat direct access as a real practice stream, not a sideline. That means clear profiles, prompt responses to clerk enquiries and realistic fee expectations. A client who finds you through a search for a barrister for a family final hearing or a commercial dispute wants the same professionalism they would get from a law firm. The difference is that you represent them directly.
Solicitor referrals work differently. A law firm may need counsel for a one-day possession hearing, a three-day trial in the County Court or advice on commercial contracts. These briefs are often last minute and the solicitor expects a fast turnaround on the fee note. We have found that barristers who return fees within forty-eight hours get re-instructed far more often than those who treat solicitor work as secondary.
The other pattern is specialisation. Barristers with a clear profile in one or two practice areas get more targeted briefs than generalists. A profile that says "family and civil" is less useful than one that says "financial remedy and TOLATA". The clerks use that detail to match you precisely to the work, so it pays to be specific.
Work we cover
Direct access public clients
Members of the public who need a barrister to give legal advice, draft documents and represent them in court under the Public Access scheme.
Solicitor instructed briefs
Law firms that need counsel for a specific hearing, trial or written opinion. These are usually fixed-fee briefs with clear deadlines.
Commercial contracts and civil disputes
Contract disputes, debt recovery, partnership and shareholder actions, professional negligence and related civil litigation in the County and High Courts.
Family hearings
Financial remedy, divorce, child arrangements, fact finding and final hearings in the Family Court. See direct access family law.
Criminal defence
Magistrates and Crown Court trials, appeals, sentence and plea hearings. See criminal defence barrister.
Construction and property
Adjudication, possession, landlord and tenant, lease renewals and dilapidations. See construction barristers.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to leave my chambers to join?
No. Many barristers on our panel are door tenants or sole practitioners who left traditional barristers chambers years ago. Some keep a nominal chambers connection while taking additional work through us. You are free to accept instructions from any source, including direct solicitor referrals, and there is no exclusivity.
What practice areas do you cover?
We place work across a wide range of practice areas. The strongest demand is in family, crime, civil litigation, commercial contracts, construction adjudication, property disputes and immigration. We also place regulatory tribunal work and professional discipline hearings. If your area of law is niche, the clerks will still list it and match you when the right brief comes in.
How does payment work?
You invoice the client directly in your own name and keep your fee. We take a single transparent percentage on collected fees. There is no chambers rent, no fixed monthly contribution and no marketing levy. The arrangement is simple: we bring the work, you do the work, and we share the fee.
Is this compliant with Bar Standards Board rules?
Yes. The Bar Standards Board regulates all barristers in England and Wales. Because Clerk&Counsel is a clerking agency and not a law firm, we do not provide legal advice or represent clients ourselves. We introduce the client to you. You take the brief in your own name, issue the BSB client care letter and carry the practising certificate. This model sits squarely within the BSB Handbook and the Bar Council guidance on public access and clerking arrangements.
I am newly called. Can I apply?
We accept applications from the year you are called to the bar, though the volume of instructions tends to build in years three to five as courtroom confidence grows. Whether you came through traditional law degrees and the bar professional training course, or via a conversion course and the diploma in law, the important thing is that you have successfully completed pupillage, been admitted by one of the inns of court and hold a current practising certificate.
What is the difference between direct access and solicitor instructed work?
Direct access means the client comes to us directly and we place them with you under the Public Access scheme. You give the legal advice, draft the documents and represent them in court. Solicitor instructed work means a law firm briefs you for a specific hearing or opinion. Both types of work are contracted between you and the client or firm. We simply generate the lead and clerk the engagement.
Ready to find more work?
Submit a short application or speak to a clerk. Whether you are newly called or a senior junior looking for a steadier pipeline, the starting point is the same.