Instructing A Barrister Direct

[Barmaid]

I know that people generally dislike lawyers as overpaid, pond bottom dwellers but putting that aside for a minute, I am just interested in people's views.

If you were involved in litigation and wanted to go direct to a barrister, would you be prepared to pay a modest sum (say £100) for a barrister to read up to 50 pages of your case and speak to you for 30 mins on the basis that part of that fee was set off against any subsequent fee if you decided to go ahead with that barrister?

The reason I ask is that this week, I have had 9 enquiries and spent 22.5 hours reading papers and talking to people (some of whom are clearly just out to get free advice).  Larger firms of solicitors will offer 30 mins free (they can soak this up - they have the staff to do so), I can't.  Take into account that by the time we get to the phone call, I have generally read initial papers, requested further details and read it, considered it,  probably emailed a few times, formed a view and then booked a call.  I can't keep doing this, I'm knackered!  My thoughts were that by seeking a modest fee which is set off against future fees, it might weed out those who are not serious about instructing and just really seeking a freebee.  

Any views, please?

[Peter Pedant]

very  difficult

you might have to try it and see

It depends from you " already wasted" file what level they were coming to you at. That is have they done their own sort of filtering or are they really off the street. 

did they say things like - yeah dat wuz wot the uvva one said....

did they have a clear case but it wasnt worth it  - the tenant took the light fittings and my garden gnomes: they arent meant to do that are they?

[sunny-dave]

I agree entirely with the idea of a 'provisional fee' to be offset against any eventual offer of work.

As a punter, I'd be happier knowing that I was buying a specific bit of time/effort from a lawyer, rather than just hoping that they'd read the papers and give some free advice.

[Maydup]

Of course. As long as it works both ways and I know beforehand whether you take my kind of case on.  
eg you read the papers and I pay the £100 then you say sorry not my bag. If you are clear beforehand that you are an employment lawyer or a family lawyer etc it's very fair.

How about asking for £50 upfront to read the info and £50 to feedback over the phone? 

[sunny-dave]

Now ... about my problem with the septic tank and the body under the patio ...

[douglas9401]

It works for roofers so why not?

[Maydup]

..... and the disputed boundary and MIL's will!

[Barmaid]

Oh absolutely Maydup - this is after what I call "first triage" - ie, I have already established it is the sort of case I would consider taking on.

SD - did the body under the patio leave a Will?!

PP - I get an awful lot of people with good cases attempting to get a "steer" without actually paying any money.  After a few weeks, you then get an email saying "can you just remind me what you said in our call about xyz and then I may instruct you".  And this just repeats........

[jno]

I'd keep the provisional figure down to two figures (even if it's £95); it works for Tesco.

But yes, everyone expects everything to be free these days and you need to protect yourself against this. If they don't like your rates, tell them to find a cheaper lawyer on Amazon.

[Canary42]

In a word, yes to your second paragraph.

[bednobs]

what sort of areas do you cover? the only time i engaged with a barrister he didnt charge me for advice. which i was grateful for because i didnt like his advice.  i did however pay for a 1 hr call with 3 solicitors. i wasnt all that happy because half of that time was taken with them outlining their further fees

[bednobs]

but i wasnt in a desperate criminal situation. what do other bar maids do?

[scorpiojo]

I'd be happy to pay the fee.

[Barmaid]

Thank you all for your input.

Bednobs, I generally do wills, probate and trusts.  Don't get me wrong, I do provide a lot of free advice to people (out of the 9 enquiries, I have spoken to 3 for free - and well over 30 mins each and then sent emails setting out what my advice was - these were people who either could not afford to instruct or whom I felt would be throwing money away) plus I work for a couple of law centre charities on an as and when basis, but 22.5 hours so far this week is a lot!  I would still give the free advice that I do routinely - I am just thinking that I might weed out the chancers by applying a modest fee.

[Old_Geezer]

Worth a try.

 

Just would say that the one time I consulted one I'm glad they didn't since they advised me that although I had a case and they'd seen individuals win with similar they felt the chances of winning were not great. Yes the advice was worth something but I wonder if I'd have bothered if I felt that society was getting me to find £100 or whatever just to get access to justice. £0 to be denied it was bad enough.

 

(Particularly now given recent experience suggests that on the balance of probability those committing offences get let off while their victims are penalised. One gets first hand experience of how near impossible all this legal stuff is to get right.)