TRANSPARENCY - GUIDANCE FOR CLIENTS

Our practice manager, Carole Paterson, is your first point of contact when instructing our barrister, Mr. Ryan Clement, who is a self-employed and independent practitioner.  . Friendly and approachable, she has  in-depth knowledge of our barrister and his specialisms, being Employment, Human Resources, Education and the court and tribunal process. We also deliver training on the areas of specialisms. Carole will help you make the right choice on whether Ryan is suitable for your matter. She will also arrange appointments for you, negotiate fees, and answer any queries you may have as your case progresses.

Mr. Clement is regulated by the Bar Standards Board (BSB). The Barristers’ Register, which may be found here on the BSB’s website, is an online database which displays details of all barristers who are authorised to practise in England and Wales and who hold a current practising certificate. The Register displays the dates for which a barrister’s practising certificate is valid.

The rules governing access to the services provided by barristers has changed dramatically in recent years, which means that Mr. Clement can accept instructions from clients in a number of different ways.

We would like to invite the following individuals to contact us if you are interested in instructing a barrister:

• Professionals – Solicitors or other practicing lawyers;
• Licensed access – Authorised licensed access clients are those persons and organisations and/or their members and/or their or their members’ employees (as the case may be) who have from time to time been approved as such by the Bar Standards Board. See Bar Standards document on licensed access regulations.
• Public access – members of the public who need legal services within one of our specialised areas and wish to instruct a barrister under the Public Access scheme. Further details are available in the Bar Council’s Guidance.

Once Carole has had an initial discussion, received all documentation and assessed whether this is something we can assist you with, she will be able to provide you with an estimate (if requested to do so). This will be based on the work we currently think is involved looking at the documentation provided but is subject to change.

FEES

Mr. Clement's fees will be calculated as agreed between Conference Chambers and the individual in a variety of ways depending on the case. When assessing the appropriate level of fees, we take into consideration the importance of the case, the complexity, the volume of documentation, the skill and specialised knowledge of the barrister and the responsibility involved. Our most common pricing models are hourly rates (£525 - actual rate i.e. no VAT to be added on top), fixed fee or brief fee and refreshers. Brief fees are to be agreed in advance of work commencing in relation to a hearing or other similar period of commitment and a refresher is a fixed fee for each subsequent day of the hearing.

TIMESCALES

If requested to do so, Mr. Clement shall provide the individual with an estimated timeline of when he can deal with the work. There are many factors that will need to be considered when estimating when a barrister can carry out certain legal services. Please see factors below:

1. The availability of the barrister.
2. The availability of the client.
3. Complexity of the case.
4. Amount of papers.
5. The need for additional information or documents.
6. The approach taken by the other side.
7. Third party intervention.
8. Court waiting times.

PUBLIC ACCESS WORK

There are also additional transparency rules for barristers undertaking Public Access work. This includes self-employed barristers undertaking Public Access work, and BSB entities supplying legal services directly to the public. Mr. Clement undertakes Public Access work. Please see link to the Public Access Guidance for Lay Clients on the BSB's website.

Mr. Clement undertakes Public Access services listed in the current version of the BSB's price transparency policy statement, being Employment Tribunal cases (advice and representation for employers and employees) and provides the following additional transparency Information:

Mr. Clement can advise both employees and employers on all aspects of employment law whether it ordinary unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal claims, 'Whistleblowing,' Discrimination, Harassment, Victimisation etc. Mr. Clement can also represent both employees and employers at the Employment Tribunal and above.

Timescales

Timescales for your case may vary depending on factors such as Mr. Clement's availability, the complexity of your case, the need for additional documents and the other side’s approach. However, currently, as a guide more straightforward cases tend to have a hearing date 9 months to 1 year of a claim being made.

Fees

We may charge fixed fees, which means that we will charge you a set amount of money for the work. Below we provide estimates based on the ranges of fixed fees for Mr. Clement.

If we charge fixed fees, these may vary depending on your needs – for example, your fees may be towards the higher end of the range if you have a more complex case. If you have a particularly complex case, your fees may also be higher than the estimates below. There are also likely to be additional costs of around £350 for settling cases; £500-750 for  assisting with compiling the list for and reviewing of disclosure documentation; £750-1000 for preparing bundles.

Stage of case / Ranges of fixed fees (estimates with no VAT to be added on top))

Written advice on your claim (£425-750)

Preparation of case, including meetings with you and assistance with drafting of any tribunal documents (£1,250-10,000)

Preliminary hearing (£375-475)
First day’s tribunal appearance (£600-750)

Tribunal appearances per day, after the first day (£600-750)
Remedy hearing (to decide compensation) (£500-650)

Contact Us

All information is correct as of 2 March 2022, but fees are estimates only. For a quotation, please contact Carole on 07956 207893 (or email carole@conferencechambers.com).