Internet Newsletter for Lawyers

The legal directory industry shows no sign of decline. With the advent of the internet it would have been reasonable to expect the directories business to fade away as more people took to search engines to find their preferred counsel. However, the directories have embraced the internet by providing online versions with relevant information and as a result they are doing better than ever.

As you might imagine there are a number of directories to choose from. However, it’s worth noting that they are run in very different ways. For example, both Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 spend a great deal of time and resources researching the legal market, both in the UK and overseas. Their results are both unbiased and unambiguous, ranking the top-rated counsel (as found by their research) in each practice area in each jurisdiction. Martindale-Hubbell and Who’s Who Legal appear to be more listings services rather than publications that have been methodically researched and ranked (I’ve received emails from Who’s Who inviting me to buy a profile in their directory and suggested that I would fit into the litigation category …. Scary thought for a marketing agency!). Practical Law Company’s directory ceased to be operational in 2013. It is worth mentioning that all of the directories have a cost associated with them. However, both Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners will still include the firm/chambers and lawyers in the directory rankings even if they choose not to purchase a profile. It’s not clear from the Who’s Who website how they deal with this.

Clerksroom Chambers was created 15 years ago out of a passionate belief that it was time for change at the Bar. It took years for the model to be accepted by both the Bar and the legal industry (particularly the Bar) as we are a limited company led by a Managing Director owner and one other stakeholder and operate nationally as a virtual chambers supported by a full clerking team in Taunton.

We have devised new ways in which a chambers can use the internet and digital technology for marketing, attracting new talent and educating the sector and have now grown to support 80+ barristers, have significant contractual arrangements with the leading legal brands across the UK and are seen as a valuable and professional alternative to the traditional chambers structure. It hasn’t always been easy but our clients and the wider market now fully understand that we have modelled our advocacy business to suit their financial, legal and growth needs.

Earlier this year, the Bar Council gave its backing to a new website which had been set up by two barristers with the very simple aim of providing an online directory of Direct Access barristers to the public – the Direct Access Portal (DAP).

We joined forces with barristers Pru Beever and Mike Whyatt of the Northern Circuit to make this the “go-to” website for individuals and businesses looking for a barrister. Historically, members of the public and businesses have had to go through a solicitor in order to use the services of a barrister. However, since major changes to the rules in 2010 clients can now go directly to a barrister.

Direct access is currently having a powerful impact for Chambers and their Direct Access barristers and teams; it is creating opportunities for chambers to forge new initiatives and collaborate with other professional groups, businesses and individuals at a time of rapid change in the legal services environment. Indeed, for many chambers it is the largest […]

Catherine Bailey represents Bar Marketing

Marketing is becoming ever more vital in the race to win new clients and retain existing ones. Whether you are a law firm or chambers you are seeing your marketplace evolve at an unprecedented rate. New entrants are streaming in and new ways of working are becoming standard practice. You need to be more responsive in your marketing or you will be left behind and your practice may wither. Sounds dramatic, but it’s actually reality.

Many chambers and individual barristers are represented on my web page . I contacted them recently to ask if they would give me their views on how successful the Public Access scheme has been so far and how they see it developing in the future. Here are their responses.

In the traditional model of a chambers, individual barristers cluster together to share premises, staff and administrative services. With the maturity of the internet, however, and particularly with the advent of cheap and easy broadband, barristers do not have to be physically close to each other in order to share staff and admin. In many cases, they would in any case prefer to work at home, or whilst in court or travelling, or even on holiday. The need for a special room filled with hard copy resources and littered with case notes of present and past cases is, in many cases, no longer such an attraction.

BarristerWeb was the first virtual chambers, having started around 7 years ago. They describe themselves as a “traditional chambers at internet speed”; they do just about everything which a traditional chambers does, but without a large physical presence.

This article describes the way that Clerksroom operates. I will be writing a second article for the next issue covering BarristerWeb and, in a third article, I will be looking at other chambers who are incorporating some “virtual chambers” ideas into their more conventional operation – a sort of virtual chambers by stealth.

Barristers’ clerks have been looking after the professional and personal lives of barristers for hundreds of years. However, these days, barristers’ clerks are the professional “minder” or “manager” of not just one barrister, but several barristers that make up a chambers. They are the “door keepers” who make sure that the barristers are kept employed and the “fixers” who fix the fees and arrange their appointments and dates for court work.