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JUSTICE regrets rush-job done on Secret Court Rules

Judicial appointment is becoming more appealing

#58

p.6

‘Better Courts’

ESSENTIAL READING FOR BARRISTERS

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Est. 1999

Victims better supported by pre-trial cross examination

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24

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The not so secret service rules for the modern barrister

By Douglas McPherson, Director, Size 10 1/2 Boots

Email Confidentiality. A Technical or Cultural issue?

By Simon Freeman, Email Security Specialist, Fresh Skies

Direct Public Access.... where are chambers at?

By Jonathan Maskew, MyBarrister

Perfect your negotiation, persuasion and influencing skills

By Shalini Sequeira, co-author of ‘Key skills for professional’

1st OCTOBER - 20th DECEMBER 2013

MICHAELMAS TERM ISSUE

The criminal courts of England and Wales

do a tough job, ensuring the rights of

the public are protected and the guilty

are sentenced fairly. But our courts are

often seen as conservative institutions,

reluctant to embrace change. There is often

a perception that it is only Government-led

initiatives that can encourage (or provoke)

reform. The current administration is

already embarking on a significant range

of reforms, to legal aid, to the provision of

community supervision of offenders, and to

the processes of courts themselves. Many

of these have not proved to be particularly

popular, to put it kindly. At a time like this,

it can be hard to see how more change can

be contemplated, let alone driven through

by the courts themselves.

CAN OUR

COURTS BECOME

BETTER?

However, a new

report by the

Centre for Justice

Innovation and

nef, called ‘Better

Courts’, shows

that ‘innovators’

across the

country — drawn

from probation,

The harrowing cases of child sexual

exploitation and trafficking in Telford,

Oxfordshire and North Wales were tragic

beyond words. That these victims then

had to relive these terrible crimes through

multiple cross examination in court is also

a tragedy, albeit one that is avoidable.

There is no limit on how long a victim

or witness is on the stand, how many

barristers can question them or what

questions are asked when being cross-

examined. As a consequence there are

growing instances of victims being left

traumatised after court cases. The system

needs to change; not only to make it easier

for victims to give their evidence in a

less intimidating environment but so that

they can begin the difficult road towards

recovery. We know anecdotally that victims

feel they have been given less consideration

than the person accused of the crime. It is

time this imbalance was addressed.

We have a world class legal system

of which we are all rightly proud. p.9

Daniel BregerBarrister, consultant, 'Center

for Court Innovation’

11the barrister

Have you ever

sat down and

thought about

what a solicitor

wants from you

as a barrister?

The easy answers are of course brilliant

advocacy, robust advice and a legal

perspective that will help them achieve

the best possible outcome for their client

and I am neither foolish enough nor

qualified enough to argue.

But I’m not talking about the technical

here; I’m talking about the personal.

Traditionally ‘looking after the clients’

has been viewed as the responsibility

of the Clerk’s room. However in the

wake of the Legal Aid reforms and The

Jackson Report can this continue to be

the case? More than ever solicitors

demand quality of service and, as things

become tougher and more competitive,

the level of service they receive will be

the driver when it comes to deciding

which Chambers they prefer to use and

which barristers they instruct … and

re-instruct.

And it isn’t the clerks they want to

receive this level of service from; they

want to see increased service levels

from you – their barristers.

One of the areas we are doing more

and more work in for Chambers up and

down the country is client research.

Ostensibly this involves interviewing

solicitors on behalf of Chambers to find

out about how they find working with the

barristers and clerks. These interviews

provide the positives (all of which can

be incorporated into marketing plans

to improve the return our clients see

from their investment in business

development – whether that investment

is time or budget) but it also uncovers

the negatives, alerting our clients to the

areas they need to improve.

While the majority of the results are

highly confidential and specific to the

barristers the solicitors interviewed

have worked with, there are several

common themes that keep coming up.

The main one is that solicitors want

to know their barristers. It’s accepted

that, as is the case with the best sales

professionals, a clerk is only going to

give you good news about a barrister,

their qualifications, their year of call

and their areas of specialism. However,

they cannot give you any real insight

into their barrister’s personalities or the

way they work. They certainly can’t

make any guarantees that a barrister’s

style and approach will complement the

solicitor’s lay client.

This is especially true with family sets

where the nature of the work leaves

nerves frayed and emotions running

high. Solicitors have to know their client

will be comfortable with the barrister

The not so secret service rules for the modern barrister By Douglas McPherson, Director, Size 10 1/2 Boots

12 the barrister

they bring in. More importantly, they

need to know the barrister isn’t going

to come in all guns blazing and force

the client further into their shell – or,

conversely, know that the barrister is

going to come in all guns blazing if that’s

what their client wants!

However, I believe it is equally as true

in a commercial context. Too many

big personalities in a room will hamper

progress and if a business owner or

senior executive is presented with

information contrary to their belief/

opinions/preferences and it is delivered

in a way that jars with their own style, it

could prove detrimental not only to the

case but also to future instructions from

that solicitor.

So how does one make sure your

instructing solicitors are aware of you,

your style and the way you work? I’m

not being glib but it’s very easy – you

talk to them.

Whenever the opportunity presents

itself – whether that is at court, in a

settlement meeting, when you’re giving

a seminar or at the summer garden

party – make sure you have a chat and

make sure the chat is about them, not

about work.

During my time at Lloyd’s of London I

worked under the best boss I’ve ever

had. He taught me one rule when

it comes to chatting work-wise. His

rule was family, football and holidays;

as long as you found out about (and

remembered) at least one of those when

you meet someone, you will always have

something to talk about. He was right

and this is still a rule I use and pass on

to my clients.

Once contact has been established it’s

all about continuity, staying in touch

and gradually building up a personal

connection. This does not involve

camping on the doorstep of each of the

law firms that instruct you, nor does it

involve the vacuous ‘courtesy call’.

What it does mean is the odd email,

beer or lunch sporadically throughout

the year. It also means popping into a

solicitor’s office and chatting through

a relevant update in the law in person

rather than relying on an email alert or

newsletter catching their attention (and

then relying on the fact they’d have the

time to read it if it did).

Perhaps you could also offer to redeliver

one of Chambers’ seminars at one of

your instructing firm’s offices to an

entire team or department? Taking

the time out to repeat the talk would

give you the perfect opportunity to

boost your personal profile to a wider

audience and even if your invitation

is refused, the fact you were willing to

offer will generate some beneficial PR

for you.

While we’re on the subject of seminars,

the solicitors’ view on the traditional

seminar model is universal. It needs a

bit of a refresh.

The response to pages of PowerPoint

is that you could skip the seminar and

just send the slides. The response to

laboured, technically detailed legal

updates is they’re useful from a CPD

point of view but aren’t in any way

enjoyable. What solicitors want is

practical advice on how to apply changes

in the law to their clients and improve

their own service offering.

As a first step, my advice is always to lose

the word ‘seminar’ and adopt the word

‘workshop’. By definition a workshop is

seen as more interactive, more practical

and of more value. Once you agree

that’s the model you’re promoting, it’s

much easier to adapt your content and

delivery to match those objectives.

Coming back to the idea of more

consistent personal contact, this brings

us neatly on to the next item on a

solicitor’s wish list – accessibility.

From time to time the solicitors you work

with will want to ring you up and ask for

a piece of advice or for your opinion on

a situation one of their clients has found

themselves in. If they can get hold of

you easily (or, alternatively, know you

will respond at the first opportunity if

you’re otherwise engaged) and know

you will be willing to find the time to

provide the information they need, you

will be held in the highest esteem. Not

only will your perspective provide their

client with immediate benefit but you

will also give them an insight they will

be able to re-use and re-apply to future

matters which in turn will make the

solicitor look better in front of their

clients.

From a more practical (i.e. financial) point

of view the fact you were contactable

and willing to provide an initial opinion

will stack the odds of you receiving the

instruction should the case progress

firmly in your favour. And if this case

doesn’t progress, you’ll be in pole position

for that solicitor’s future work.

Looking further afield, one good turn

definitely does generate another and

the fact you were willing to have a chat

– off the record and off the clock – will

persuade the solicitor to recommend

you to their colleagues which again will

have an additional positive knock-on

effect for your practice.

I’ll finish by looking at probably the

most contentious area of a barrister’s

practice, especially in this increasingly

cost-conscious world – your fees.

On the surface fee levels are important

but if you dig a little deeper it is obvious

value still trumps price. Solicitors, or so

they have told us, are willing to pay for

the advice they need.

This obviously comes with the caveat that

solicitors know what barristers charge

so rather than being encouragement to

inflate your fees, the fact fees need to

be realistic is implicit. I also recognise

some Chambers are subject to ‘bulk

buying’ in some practice areas which

forces them to provide more competitive

pricing.

However, generally, when talking about

fees one could be dismissive and say a

solicitors’ propensity to accept your fees

is because the cost is passed back to

the lay-client; I think that is an insulting

over-simplification. The truth is that

the relationship between solicitor and

client is such that the client will almost

always go along with their solicitor’s

recommendations when it comes to

counsel. These recommendations will

be based on two factors – do they think

you have the expertise to get the best

outcome for their clients and can they

work with you while you set about

achieving that outcome?

If the answer to both questions is yes,

then you are in the best possible position

to win the brief and charge the fees you

want to charge. How do you ensure

that the answer to both questions is

yes? Well that comes down to the

solicitor knowing about you, knowing

you possess the relevant knowledge and

experience and know you will remain

accessible throughout the matter and I

think that’s where we came in.

Douglas McPherson, Director

Size 10 1/2 Boots

t: 077865 40191

e: douglas@tenandahalf.co.uk

www.tenandahalf.co.uk

13the barrister