Barristers practice
IT and practice management for chambers
There are not as many IT and practice management services for barristers as for solicitors but there are some very strong players available. Here are the key players in this market (based on my web page www.venables.co.uk/chambers-it.htm), followed by two short articles from key providers of services to chambers, Martin Poulter and Helen Ford, providing […]
Read More
Direct access – how is it going?
Under the Bar Council scheme launched in 2004, members of the public and businesses may now instruct barristers directly and without the intervention of a solicitor. There has been a lot of talk and discussion on this new “freedom” since then, along the lines of the following questions: Will it benefit members of the public? […]
Read More
Completing legal directory submissions for the Bar
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 […]
Read More
Clerksroom Direct: public access in motion
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 […]
Read More
Taking Direct Access barristers online
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 […]
Read More
Direct Access barristers – getting clients online
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 […]
Read More
Putting your message in their pocket: the future of web marketing
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 […]
Read More
Barristers Public Access: How successful has it been so far?
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, mainly from groups of barristers working […]
Read More
Virtual chambers – the model for the future?
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 […]
Read More
A virtual chambers – BarristerWeb
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. They have a small office for the Chambers Director, Neil Goodman-Smith, the Senior Clerk Andrew Hutchins and […]
Read More
A virtual chambers – Clerksroom
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. Clerksroom do […]
Read More
How to get the best out of a barristers’ clerk
Clerking is an old and very traditional profession. 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 […]
Read More
