Law Weblog

New bar working practices

Saturday 21 November 2009 at 6:48 am | In News | Post Comment The Bar Standards Board (BSB), has proposed changes in barristers’ working practices by giving approval for barristers to supply legal services through the legal structures known as Legal Disciplinary Practices (LDPs).

The proposals would allow barristers to form partnerships and act in other capacities.

Barristers should be permitted to become managers of LDPs, regulated by the SRA without having to re-qualify as solicitors.
Barristers should be permitted to practice in more than one capacity at the same time e.g. as both managers of LDPs and as independent practitioners.
Barristers should be permitted in principle to form barrister-only partnerships (BoPs).
The cab-rank rule will apply to barrister only partnerships, as well as the self-employed Bar.

The code changes will have to be referred to the Ministry of Justice or the Legal Services Board for approval.

Barrister-only practices will be able to better share risk; for example Conditional Fee Agreements (CFAs – no win no fee) where as now individual practitioners feel unable to bear the risk of doing so.

In deciding to apply the cab-rank rule to advocates in barrister-only entities and to seek to apply that rule to all advocates, the Board wishes to preserve a unique attribute of the Bar, in the public interest, one the Lord Chief Justice has described as ‘essential to the administration of justice’.

BSB Press release here