Barristers must comply by 1 January 2020, after which the Bar Standards Board (BSB) will conduct spot-checks. The rules, published in a revised edition of the Handbook this week, require all self-employed barristers, chambers and BSB-regulated entities to make certain information publicly available, including which types of legal service they provide, their most commonly used pricing models (such as fixed fee or hourly rate) and details of their clients’ rights of redress. Public Access barristers providing certain types of services are also required to publish additional price and service information.
BSB Director of Strategy and Policy, Ewen MacLeod, said the new rules would ‘enable the public to make more informed decisions before engaging a barrister’. The BSB will focus on ensuring compliance rather than disciplinary action.
