Terms of work

Scott Farnsworth accepts instructions on The Standard Contractual Terms for the Supply of Legal Services by Barristers to Authorised Persons 2012, a copy of which can be found here (the “Terms”).  The Terms have been approved by both the Bar Standards Board, and by the Legal Services Board, which is responsible for the regulation of all lawyers in England & Wales.  The Terms have also been approved by the Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund, which means that all parties can be satisfied that the barrister’s work will be covered by their professional indemnity insurance policy.

Persons other than solicitors

In the Terms, “Authorised Persons” means solicitors, and others regulated by the SRA.  The Terms also apply to other legal professionals who instruct Scott (such as Patent Attorneys and Trade Mark Attorneys) with the following modifications:

• references to “the Authorised Person” will be construed as references to the person instructing the barrister;
• references to “the SRA” will be construed as references to that person’s regulatory body.; and
• references to “the SRA Code” will be construed as references to any code of conduct promulgated by that regulatory body, which applies to the person instructing the barrister.

Direct Access

The Direct Access scheme allows individuals and members of the public to instruct a barrister directly, without the need to instruct any other lawyer.  The barrister’s role remains essentially the same, as when they are instructed by a solicitor or other intermediary.  As a result, and because of limits on the types of work a barrister can do, some legal problems are not suitable for Direct Access.  There are some elements of a case that a barrister will not be able to do for you, and situations in which you will need to instruct a solicitor, or other intermediary, as well as a barrister.  More details about the Direct Access scheme can be found here.