Transparency
Barristers are regulated by the Bar Standards Board (“the BSB”). From 1 July 2019, the BSB implemented new transparency rules following the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA’s) recommendation in December 2016 that legal regulators deliver a step change in transparency standards to help consumers understand the price and service they will receive; what redress is available; and the regulatory status of their provider.
The mandatory rules state that we must:
- State that professional, licensed access and/or lay clients (as appropriate) may contact us in chambers to obtain a quotation for legal services. You can contact us in chambers to obtain a quote by clicking here.
- State chambers’ most commonly used pricing models for legal services. At Mercantile this is usually a fixed fee or hourly rate, depending on the nature of your enquiry. Contact us to find out more.
- State the areas of practice and provide a description of chambers most commonly provided legal services. You can find our practice areas and a description of exactly the services we provide on our home page, or on our dedicated expertise page;
- Provide information about the factors, which might influence the timescales of chambers’ most commonly provided legal services. These include the timing of the client’s instructions; and the availability of the barrister’s time.
Timescales & Fees
- When our barristers are instructed to provide advisory work, their clerk will usually agree a timescale at the same time the fee is agreed and/or paid and will keep you informed if that changes for any reason, for example due to the client not providing timely and complete instructions; illness; or urgent court work on another matter.
- When our barristers are instructed to provide services regarding litigation, timescales will usually depend on similar factors mentioned with regard to advisory work, plus response times of the court; the opponent; and any other third parties directly involved in the litigation, such as expert witnesses.
- If you are dissatisfied with any of our barristers services, you can contact us for a copy of our Complaint’s Procedure or click here. If your complaint is not resolved to your liking, you can further complain to the Legal Ombudsman; review their decision data; and view the Barristers’ Register page on the BSB Website.
Additional Transparency for Public Access Work
There are also additional transparency rules for those undertaking Public Access Work, which most of our barristers do. For more guidance as to what this means, you can also see the Public Access Guidance for Lay Clients on the BSB’s website.
Some of our barristers also provide the following services in the following practice areas:
- All our fees are exclusive of VAT which will apply at the standard rate.
- Contact us to find out if this applies to your matter.
- Any additional costs will be identified to you for your agreement; and explained what they are for before they are incurred. Contact us to find out more information.
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