If you are looking to engage a barrister, and you are not a solicitor or other legal professional, you will usually need to instruct a solicitor first, as barristers cannot generally accept instructions directly from members of the public.
If your case is funded by Legal Aid, you must instruct a solicitor. Matrix cannot accept publicly funded instructions directly.
If you are looking for a solicitor, you might find the Law Society’s Find a Solicitor tool useful.
To check whether you may be eligible for Legal Aid, please use the Government’s Legal Aid Eligibility Calculator here.
The role of barristers
The UK legal profession is split into barristers and solicitors. Barristers are known for appearing in court (although there are many other services that they can provide). They are specialist advocates and are mainly engaged by other lawyers. One of the benefits of using barristers is that they are independent and they provide their services personally. They work in offices, known as chambers, in order to share staff and facilities.
How barristers are instructed
Barristers cannot generally be instructed by members of the public without a solicitor. Usually, you would go to a solicitor about your case, then the solicitors would instruct a barrister when it is appropriate. This could be when you go to court or if they need specialist advice on a certain area of law.
However, under certain circumstances some barristers can accept instructions directly, and this process is known as Public Access. Public Access barristers have completed a specialist training course in order to handle your instructions.
You can find out more about working with barristers by reading our client information leaflet available here: Matrix Client Information Leaflet
Public Access
In most cases, it is necessary to go to a solicitor first, however, you may be able to instruct a Public Access barrister directly if you have secured private funding for your case. We are unable to accept public access instructions that are funded by Legal Aid.
Matrix has trained Public Access barristers who practise in the following areas of law:
- Commercial
- Court of Protection
- Data Protection
- Domestic and international crime
- Education
- Election
- Employment
- General Public Law
- Human Rights/Civil Liberties
- Immigration
- Judicial Review
- Media
- Police
- Public International Law
- Regulatory
- Sports
Please note that there is no guarantee that our barristers practising in these areas will be able to take on your case. This is because they may not have availability, or they may not be public access trained.
How to get in touch
If you have read all the information above and would like to contact us about instructing a barrister directly, you can do so by completing the form below.
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