Ivory Towers Prt 2

Another quick update Chambers has finally got a separate DPA page up and running. I am also getting a short article published in the Southampton Echo to inform people about this relatively new method for accessing a barrister.

http://www.12collegeplace.co.uk/direct-public-access

Peter D

Down from my ivory tower...........

Barristers have over the years managed to build up an air of superiority over the rest of the legal profession. This is reflected in the question most often asked by a lay client about becoming a barrister, 'how many more years did you have to train to become a barrister after you had qualified as a solicitor?' In truth I probably had 6 months less training than a comparable solicitor.

Clear divisions within the legal profession between advocate/specialist barrister and generalist solicitor are now blurred. More and more solicitors are doing what barristers used to do and barristers are moving into areas previously reserved for solicitors. The major obstacle for solicitors has been the right to appear in higher courts whilst the obstacle for barristers has been the requirement for an instructing solicitor.

High Court Solicitor Advocates are now a fact of life and access to the Bar from the general public has been in place since 2004. Things started to change for the Bar in the late 80s.I

n 1989 the Bar Council allowed Barristers to accept work directly from approved professionals for the first time. This was known as Direct Professional Access. This went through a number guises turning into ‘Bardirect’ and finally becoming known as Licensed Access.This opened up the possibility for some professionals to be able to instruct barristers directly. This was used primarily by surveyors and accountants. The major drawback for the professional was that if their professional body was not approved then the individual or company had to register with the Bar Council.

In July 2004 it became possible for members of the public to instruct barristers directly. This was a major change for our profession and was for those of us who became involved in providing this service a steep learning curve.

I know a number of colleagues who believe that this erosion of difference will inevitably lead to a fused profession culminating in the end of the Bar as we know it. I am not so sure. The Bar has expanded massively over the last 20 years whilst these changes have been implemented. I do not think the changes will be the end of the Bar far from it in these difficult times the changes will help the Bar to survive!

Peter D

My own domain

This a little off topic but I was interested to find out that http://www.peterdoughty.co.uk/ was available as a domain name. At the moment Active 24 are trying to work out how to redirect to this blog from this domain. What did surprise me is how many domain names related to the law are still available having recently snapped up http://www.employment-barrister-direct.co.uk/ and other similar web addresses.

If you click on this link you are immediately sent to the employment team page on the 12 College Place website. Try it, it is like magic but more importantly for our business it will mean more hits on our website and hopefully more work.

I hope to have my own website up and running sometime this year. This website will be directed towards the public at large not just professionals so that I can take advantage of direct public access in the employment field.

For those who don't know about direct public access follow this link to the Bar Councils website: http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/guidance/publicaccessinformationforlayclients/

I am a convert. Any business that fails to make its mark on the Internet will be seriously damaged in the long term.

Peter D