Instructing

Instructing Counsel is a straightforward process. Your first point of contact should be our Practice Manager, who will be delighted to help you. Below you will find further information about our service and how we can help.

Katherine is typically instructed by accountants, solicitors, tax advisors and under Public Access by private individuals, family offices and the directors of private and family owned companies. For advice as to the best way for a particular client to instruct Katherine, contact chambers@stkatharines.com.

The following people, solicitors or other practising lawyers, may instruct barristers either on behalf of clients or on their own account:

any person authorised by another approved regulator (not the Bar Standards Board) or licensing authority;
an employed barrister or registered European lawyer;
any practising barrister or registered European lawyer acting on his own behalf;
a foreign lawyer;
a Scottish or Northern Irish Solicitor; or
the representative of certain other designated bodies (such as a Legal Advice Centre or Pro Bono or Free Representation Unit) which arrange for the supply of legal services to the public without a fee and which instruct barristers to supply legal services without a fee.

PLEASE NOTE: Instructions delivered under Professional Client Access are accepted, unless otherwise agreed, on the basis of Katherine’s standard contractual terms.

Organisations or individuals with expertise in particular areas of the law, such as accountants (Chartered and Certified) and members of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, can apply to the Bar Council to be licensed to instruct barristers directly in those areas. The licence can cover advice or representation or both and permit licensees to instruct barristers either on their own affairs or on behalf of their clients. For more information please see the Bar Standards Board’s Licensed Access Guidelines.

The Bar Standards Board ‘Licensed Access Recognition Regulations’ tells you which organisations currently hold group licenses. Some other entities hold single licenses. You can check those lists here. If you are unsure whether Licensed Access applies to you, please contact chambers@stkatharines.com for assistance.

If you give instructions under Licensed Access, you warrant that you are authorised to do so and you must retain for seven years after the last item of work done by the barrister copies of instructions (including supplemental instructions), copies of all advice given and documents drafted and approved, a list of all documents enclosed with any instructions, notes of all conferences and all advice given by telephone.

PLEASE NOTE: Licensed Access work is accepted and under Katherine’s standard contractual terms.

Katherine can accept instructions directly from members of the public without the need for first instructing a professional adviser, such as a solicitor, accountant or chartered tax adviser.

However, there may be some restrictions on what Katherine can do, particularly if your instructions concern tax litigation. We will explain these restrictions to you if applicable in your particular circumstances. You may also find the Bar Standards Board’s publication The Public Access Scheme – Guidance for Lay Clients helpful. This will help you to understand how the Public Access scheme works and explains how you can use it to instruct barristers directly.

Instructions delivered under Public Access are accepted, unless otherwise agreed, on the basis of Katherine's standard contractual terms.

Please note that if you instruct Katherine directly, you must agree to retain for seven years after the last item of work done copies of the instructions (including supplemental instructions), copies of all advice given and documents drafted and approved, a list of all documents enclosed with any instructions, notes of all conferences and all advice given by telephone.