Professional discipline barristers for London based practitioners.
Counsel for fitness to practise and professional conduct hearings before the GMC, NMC, SRA, ACCA and other regulators, on Public Access or via solicitors.
Professional Discipline Barristers for London clients
London is the base for most of the UK's professional regulators, including the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Bar Standards Board. Their hearing centres and case files are concentrated in London and their processes carry substantial career risk for the individuals involved.
Clerk and Counsel is a clerking agency, not a chambers. We place independent professional discipline counsel on London hearings for doctors, nurses, midwives, solicitors, accountants, teachers and other regulated professionals. Where Public Access is appropriate we can put counsel on the case on a fixed fee without a solicitor.
Typical London instructions involve fitness to practise investigations and hearings, interim orders, restoration hearings and review hearings, together with related judicial review challenges in the Administrative Court.
For interim order hearings and short notice investigations counsel can usually be engaged within seventy two hours. Full fitness to practise hearings are set up on the regulator's timetable.
Areas of work in London
GMC and MPTS hearings
Fitness to practise investigations, interim orders and full hearings before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service at St James's Buildings.
NMC hearings
Fitness to practise hearings at the Nursing and Midwifery Council in Stratford.
SRA and Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal
Investigations, section 43 orders, and SDT prosecutions in London.
Accountancy regulators
Hearings before the ACCA, ICAEW and other accountancy bodies in London.
Teaching Regulation Agency
Professional conduct panel hearings against London based teachers.
Judicial review of regulator decisions
Statutory appeals and judicial review of regulator and tribunal decisions in the Administrative Court.
Where these cases are heard
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service holds hearings at St James's Buildings, 79 Oxford Street, Manchester, but London based cases are also managed from and heard remotely under London instruction. The MPTS increasingly runs hybrid hearings.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council holds hearings at 61 Aldwych, London WC2B 4AE and at their Stratford hearing centre. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal sits at Blackfriars, London.
Statutory appeals and judicial reviews of regulator decisions are heard in the Administrative Court at the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL.
What drives this work in London
London based professional discipline work is driven by the sheer size of the London workforce in medicine, nursing, law, accountancy and financial services, and by the fact that most regulator investigation teams are London based. That produces a steady flow of interim order applications, fitness to practise hearings and restoration hearings against London based registrants.
The reputational and career impact of a fitness to practise finding is very significant, and cases frequently turn on evidence handling, sequencing of witness evidence and calibrated concessions. Early counsel input on the response to the initial rule 7 or equivalent letter often shapes the eventual outcome.
Public Access enquiries in London are dominated by individual registrants at the investigation stage, together with those facing interim orders or restoration hearings. Where the case is heavier or requires substantial evidence gathering we work alongside specialist regulatory solicitors.
What instructing counsel costs
Fees are agreed in writing before any work begins. Written advice on the merits of a London regulator investigation typically runs between six hundred and two thousand pounds plus VAT depending on document volume.
Drafting a response to a rule 7 or equivalent letter, or grounds for an interim order review, is usually in the range of eight hundred to two thousand five hundred pounds plus VAT.
Full fitness to practise hearings are priced on a brief fee plus refresher basis. Junior counsel London brief fees typically start at around one thousand five hundred pounds plus VAT per day, rising with seniority and hearing length.
If you are a London based professional facing a regulator investigation or hearing, send us the correspondence and we will come back with a shortlist, an indicative fixed fee where Public Access fits, and confirmation of conflict check timing.
Every barrister we place is regulated by the Bar Standards Board. Clerk&Counsel is a clerking agency and does not provide legal services itself.
Professional Discipline Barristers in London, common questions
Which London based regulators do you cover?
GMC and MPTS, NMC, SRA and SDT, ACCA and ICAEW, the Teaching Regulation Agency and other statutory regulators with London hearing centres.
Can I instruct a professional discipline barrister without a solicitor?
Yes, on Public Access, where the case is suitable. Counsel can advise, draft responses, negotiate with the regulator and represent you at hearings.
How quickly can counsel be engaged for an interim order hearing?
For interim order hearings counsel can usually be engaged within twenty four to seventy two hours.
What does a full fitness to practise hearing cost in London?
Junior counsel brief fees typically start at around one thousand five hundred pounds plus VAT per day, rising with seniority and hearing length.
Do you cover judicial review of regulator decisions?
Yes. We place counsel on statutory appeals and judicial review challenges in the Administrative Court.