We understand that our clients are under pressure to reduce costs and our barristers are very familiar with operating under a variety of fee arrangements including turning around a piece of advice for a fixed fee in a short time frame.

Our skilled practice management team are experienced in agreeing a range of costs models from hourly rates, brief and refresher fees, fixed and capped fees, phased or task-based fees, litigation finder arrangements and conditional fee agreements. They are very commercial, have an established reputation for accurate fee estimates, and are always open to a discussion to ensure the quotation is balanced and realistic to fit the clients’ needs. Professional clients, foreign lawyers, licensed access clients, members of the public and commercial and non-commercial organisations should contact our practice management team to obtain a quotation.

Our barristers can and do work on claims of any size and they are alive to the fact that whilst a claim may be low in value, the commercial and risk management objectives may be of equal, if not greater importance to the client.

More information about our costs models can be found here. Should you require any information on our services in an alternative form please contact our practice management team.

All fees are subject to VAT where applicable, and VAT numbers are available on request from the practice management team.

Providing the instructions are clear, and the barrister has access to the relevant documents, instructing a barrister can be achieved as simply as through a brief phone call or a short email to the practice management team.

The practice management team facilitate instructing a barrister and can answer any questions you might have as to a barrister’s availability or expertise. They can also provide an indication on timescales for work and will endeavour to keep you up to date. There are a number of factors that might influence timescales for example when a court or tribunal makes decisions or directions, when information or documents are received from the opposing party, or the availability of client parties or witnesses.

Should your enquiry require an urgent response outside of business hours please call one of the Practice Directors or email pmteam@twentyessex.com.

Barristers are self-employed independent practitioners called to the Bar of England and Wales and regulated by the Bar Standards Board and their professional details are recorded in the Barristers’ Register maintained by the Bar Standards Board. Particulars of other professional bodies or similar institutions with which members of chambers are registered can be provided by the practice management team on request.

All barristers in independent practice in England and Wales must take primary layer professional indemnity insurance with Bar Mutual. The minimum limit of cover is £500,000 but a significant number of barristers also have additional professional indemnity insurance in light of the value of the work undertaken. Bar Mutual provides cover for claims brought anywhere in the world (subject to the terms of the cover).

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, Twenty Essex standard terms of work apply to all matters in which barristers are instructed. The terms in which instructions are accepted from parties other than solicitors, and the varying terms upon which members accept appointments to act as arbitrator or mediator, will be provided by the practice management team or the Arbitrators’ Practice Manager on request.

VAT identification numbers will be provided on request by the practice management team.

Barristers are permitted to accept instructions directly from professional clients, either on behalf of clients or on their own account. For example, any person authorised by an approved regulator or a foreign lawyer may find this to be a cost-effective way of achieving efficiency in the dispute resolution process, particularly in relation to international arbitration and cases where the in-house team has the expertise and capacity to facilitate the instructions.

Whilst it can a cost-effective shortcut it doesn’t have to be an exclusive arrangement because there are limits to what barristers can do alone so they will advise if the involvement of solicitors becomes necessary and can recommend appropriate advisers.

If you are unsure whether your situation would be suitable for advice directly from a barrister, please contact one of our Practice Directors.

Professional organisations or individuals can instruct barristers, either on behalf of clients or on their own account if they are deemed or declared suitable to do so because of their expertise or experience.

Most qualified accountants, architects, surveyors, town planners, actuaries, engineers, insolvency practitioners, and insurers are automatically deemed suitable. Other professionals can apply to the Bar Standards Board to be licensed to instruct barristers directly and information on how to instruct a barrister on this basis can be seen in their Licensed Access Recognition Regulations.

Public Access Scheme

Barristers are able to take on cases instructed directly by members of the public and commercial and non-commercial organisations through the Public Access scheme and Twenty Essex has 34 barristers who are qualified to take these instructions, potentially saving the client time and cost.

A barrister can provide legal advice, draft documents and appear on behalf of their client during negotiations, before courts or other organisations. There are some circumstances where you may also need to instruct a solicitor and your barrister will happily explain these to you.

For Public Access work, unless otherwise agreed in writing, we agree fixed fees for stages of work, which are based on the barrister’s estimated time spent and their hourly rate and we require payment of the barrister’s fees to be received in advance of the work being undertaken.

Barristers may be professionally, or otherwise, obliged to carry out additional work to comply with their professional duties to you or to the court in circumstances where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain your consent. In these circumstances, the fees will be charged at the barrister’s agreed hourly rate. These costs typically range between £500-£1000.

We do not accept Public Access instructions in the following areas:

• Employment Tribunal cases (advice and representation for employers and employees)
• Financial disputes arising out of divorce
• Immigration appeals (First-tier Tribunal)
• Inheritance Act advices
• Licensing applications in relation to business premises
• Personal injury claims
• Summary only motoring offences (advice and representation for defendants)
• Winding-up petitions

If you are unsure whether your situation would be suitable for advice directly from a barrister, please contact one of our Practice Directors.

Lawyers from foreign jurisdictions may instruct barristers directly and in certain circumstances, barristers may also accept instructions directly from a non-lawyer client based overseas (through the Public Access Scheme). Contact the practice management team who will be happy to explain how these rules operate.

As can be seen from the history of the set, we have a well-established international footprint which includes a developed practice in Asia. Barristers can be engaged to consider anything governed by English, EU or international law and when weighing up the pros and cons of multiple jurisdictions. Barristers are experienced in collaborating as co-counsel with foreign lawyers and are regularly instructed in proceedings overseas.

Twenty Essex has guidelines to give clients a clear understanding of how its members and staff maintain confidentiality in circumstances where two or more members of Twenty Essex are instructed on different sides of the same matter.

The guidelines can be found here: Information barriers (PDF, 65KB)

We aim to provide clients with a service that is high quality and flexible and responds to commercial needs. We welcome feedback from our clients. In the event that you are not satisfied with the service you have received, we invite you to raise the matter informally with the member of chambers concerned, his or her Practice Director or the CEO as appropriate. Complaints regarding a member of the senior management team should be directed to the Chair of Employee Committee. We would hope that the matter is resolved to your satisfaction at this stage but if not then you may use our Complaints Procedure.

If you are unhappy with the outcome under our Complaints Procedure, you may take up your complaint with the Legal Ombudsman and the time limit for this is normally within six months of receiving a final response from us about your complaint or within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring (or if outside the period, within one year from when you should have been aware of it).

Ordinarily the Ombudsman is not able to consider a complaint unless it has first been investigated by Chambers nor complaints made more than six months after Chambers’ written response to the complaint informing you about the Ombudsman scheme and its time limits. You can view the decision data on the Legal Ombudsman’s website.