header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

Mixed doubles

© Copyright LexisNexis 2025. All Rights Reserved.
30 October 2008
Issue: 7343 / Categories: Opinion , In-House , Profession
printer mail-detail

Andrew Fulton looks at how the right pairing can serve aces for clients

The Scottish Faculty of Advocates dropped its rule against “mixed doubles” representation last month. This was a prohibition on an independent advocate accepting instructions to appear with an employed solicitor advocate on behalf of the same client. The ban had been in place since 1993 and had provoked concern about restrictive practices. The Office of Fair Trading has welcomed its removal.

There is no prohibition on “mixed doubles” in England. Indeed, Denton Wilde Sapte’s advocacy group has been successfully using this model for many years. As well as appearing in their own right, our advocates are frequently led by top QCs from the commercial Bar. The Scottish Bar is now belatedly acknowledging what we have known for some time, namely that the “mixed doubles” combination can offer clients the best of all worlds. An in-house junior stays far closer both to the client and to the daily ebb and flow of a case than a barrister in chambers. The selection of an external leader

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

Read All
Sponsored by
Taylor Rose—nine promotions

Taylor Rose—nine promotions

Leadership strengthened across core practice areas with nine new partners

Fieldfisher—Rebecca Maxwell

Fieldfisher—Rebecca Maxwell

Real estate team welcomes partner inBirmingham

Ward Hadaway—14 trainee solicitors

Ward Hadaway—14 trainee solicitors

Firm strengthens commitment to nurturing future legal talent

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: AI, liberty & the digital cage
Government plans for offender ‘restriction zones’ risk creating ‘digital cages’ that blur punishment with surveillance, warns Henrietta Ronson, partner at Corker Binning, in this week's issue of NLJ
NLJ this week: Leasehold reform in limbo
Louise Uphill, senior associate at Moore Barlow LLP, dissects the faltering rollout of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Enforcement reform gets real
Judgments are ‘worthless without enforcement’, says HHJ Karen Walden-Smith, senior circuit judge and chair of the Civil Justice Council’s enforcement working group. In this week's NLJ, she breaks down the CJC’s April 2025 report, which identified systemic flaws and proposed 39 reforms, from modernising procedures to protecting vulnerable debtors
NLJ this week: Standish reshapes family & inheritance claims
Writing in NLJ this week, Katherine Harding and Charlotte Finley of Penningtons Manches Cooper examine Standish v Standish [2025] UKSC 26, the Supreme Court ruling that narrowed what counts as matrimonial property, and its potential impact upon claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975
NLJ this week: Clearing Christine Keeler’s name
In this week's NLJ, Dr Jon Robins, editor of The Justice Gap and lecturer at Brighton University, reports on a campaign to posthumously exonerate Christine Keeler. 60 years after her perjury conviction, Keeler’s son Seymour Platt has petitioned the king to exercise the royal prerogative of mercy, arguing she was a victim of violence and moral hypocrisy, not deceit. Supported by Felicity Gerry KC, the dossier brands the conviction 'the ultimate in slut-shaming'
Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll