header-logo header-logo

Counsel of perfection

16 August 2007 / Richard Harrison
Issue: 7286 / Categories: Opinion , Procedure & practice , Profession
printer mail-detail

Richard Harrison suggests ways in which barristers can ensure repeat instructions from solicitors

Despite the rise of the solicitor advocate and the emergence of the advocacy department in some larger litigation firms, it remains my view that the best resource for a client engaged in the litigation process is an appropriately constituted team of solicitors and barristers. This article is not about my reasons for that view, but about how members of the Bar can ensure that they cross a solicitor’s radar more than once. It provides practical tips on how to get on with instructing solicitors.

Disclaimer time: any clerks to whose attention this is drawn and who know me will have had their barristers instructed by me or my firm on a repeat basis. Therefore those barristers will probably have passed the tests suggested.

INITIAL INSTRUCTIONS AND CONFERENCE

One of the obvious arguments for instructing counsel is specialist expertise. Another, just as important, is objectivity. However, the instruction of an external specialist should not prevent solicitor and counsel being seen by

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
back-to-top-scroll