Direct Access Barristers

A direct access barrister (also called a Public Access barrister) is a self-employed advocate registered with the Bar Standards Board to take instructions straight from members of the public and businesses — without a solicitor acting as an intermediary. The scheme was opened to the public in 2004 and extended in 2013 so that any qualifying barrister of at least three years' standing who has completed the BSB Public Access course can accept work directly.

Most direct access barristers work on a fixed fee for a defined piece of work — for example £450–£950 for a written advice, £750–£2,500 for a drafted statement of case, or an agreed brief fee for a hearing. Hourly rates typically run between £150 and £450 plus VAT depending on seniority and complexity. Because there is no solicitor's file, clients usually save 30–50% on the equivalent fully-instructed cost. Every fee is agreed in writing in a client care letter before any work begins.

In most discrete matters, yes — because you pay one professional rather than two. Direct access works best where the work is well defined (an advice, a drafted document, representation at a specific hearing). It is usually not cheaper for matters that need heavy disclosure, witness management or ongoing correspondence with the other side — there a solicitor-led model is still better value.

Send a brief description of the matter together with any key documents and a deadline. A clerk runs a conflict check, identifies suitable Public Access-qualified counsel, confirms availability and fixed fees, and issues the BSB Public Access client care letter for signature. Once signed and fees are received, the barrister starts work. The process usually takes 24–72 hours.

A Public Access barrister can give written and oral advice, draft letters and statements of case, settle expert instructions, negotiate on your behalf, attend mediation, draft and issue court documents, and represent you at hearings in the County Court, High Court, Family Court, tribunals and appellate courts.

Barristers cannot hold client money in a general client account, cannot issue proceedings on your behalf in most courts (you issue, they draft) and cannot conduct litigation in the same way a solicitor does unless they hold the BSB conduct of litigation extension. Where the matter genuinely needs a solicitor, the clerks will tell you up front rather than take work the scheme is not designed for.

Yes — by the Bar Standards Board. Every Public Access barrister holds a current practising certificate, carries a minimum £500,000 of professional indemnity insurance through BMIF, and is bound by the BSB Handbook including the Public Access Rules. You can verify any barrister via the Barristers' Register at barstandardsboard.org.uk.

Yes. Direct access is very widely used for divorce, financial remedy, child arrangements, prohibited steps, specific issue, Schedule 1 and FDR hearings. Many clients use a Public Access barrister for advice and final hearing advocacy while handling the procedural steps themselves.

Yes — for contract, debt, partnership, shareholder, professional negligence, construction adjudication and similar matters. Public Access is particularly cost-effective for fixed-stage work such as a Letter Before Action, Particulars of Claim, application for an interim injunction or representation at trial.

For urgent matters — an injunction, a hearing listed in days, an adjudication response — we can usually have counsel identified, conflict-checked and engaged within 24 hours. For non-urgent advice or drafting work, instruction is typically complete within 48–72 hours.