INSTRUCTIONS
Fact: Instructing a barrister is easy
Contact
Initial contact can be made by email or telephone:
Email: clerks@demounteney.com
Telephone: +44(0)118 9346822
or by filling the contact form on this website.
We will be happy to answer any questions in relation to potential instructions, including suitability and availability of counsel, timings and the likely cost of work. All such discussions will treated as strictly confidential in accordance with the Bar’s Code of Conduct.
When you first make contact, we will ask for your details and a brief outline of the case or work contemplated. We will then check for any potential conflict of interest and we may arrange an initial call (free of charge) to better understand your requirements. Thereafter, if we are able to undertake the work required, we will provide you with a written quote within a reasonable time frame.
We always aim to set out quotes clearly, but if you receive your quote and there is something you do not understand, please contact us.
Clients
Instructions can be accepted from:
- Solicitors or other practising lawyers;
- Members of the public who wish to instruct a barrister under the Public Access scheme;
- Licensed Access clients, who may either hold a licence issued by the Bar Standards Board, or be a member of a professional body which has been recognised by the Bar Standards Board.
Public Access
Jonathan regularly acts for individuals and companies under the public access scheme. If you are a member of the public, please read the Bar Standards Board’s Public Access Guidance for Lay Clients. This will help you to understand how the Public Access scheme works, and explains how you can use it to instruct barristers directly.
Client Care Letter
If, on the basis of the quote, you wish to engage us to carry out work, we would agree the terms of engagement by means of a client care letter. A client care letter will include a clear statement of the work to be carried out and the fees to be charged. Upon agreement by you, the client care letter would form a contract between us.
Fees
The Chambers of J P de Mounteney is committed to providing value for money. Fees will be quoted and mutually agreed prior to accepting instructions. Depending on the type of work required, fees will be quoted as a fixed fee (a brief fee) or at an hourly or daily rate, supported by a considered estimate of the time the work should take. Fees quoted are exclusive of VAT which will be charged and invoiced by means of an appropriate VAT invoice.
To facilitate the control of costs, fees incurred are reported and billed regularly and you will be notified promptly if it becomes apparent that an estimate is likely to be wrong (for example by reason of amended instructions or unforeseen complications). The costs arrangement will be clearly stated in the client care letter.
Further details relating to fees, including indicative rates, can be found in the Transparency section of this website.
Timescales
Timescales for a case, or for completing agreed work, may vary depending on factors such as counsel’s availability, the type and complexity of the case/work to be carried out, the developing circumstances surrounding a transaction, amended instructions, court waiting times and the other side’s approach and availability. When requesting a quote, please ensure you notify us of any element of urgency or any known deadline relating to the case or work contemplated.
Reasonable Adjustments
The Chambers of J P de Mounteney is committed to making reasonable adjustments in order to reduce disadvantage for disabled people receiving legal services. If you would like to request reasonable adjustments, please do not hesitate to mention it: we will be happy to assist.