The Bar Handbook 2010-11

Published in Association with the Bar Council and the Bar Standards Board, The Bar Handbook is an essential guidance source for all barristers to ensure compliance, understand best practice and maximise profits.

The current landscape for practising barristers is changing rapidly. All barristers, whether self-employed in chambers or employed in firms or companies, need to be aware of all the rules and regulations governing their practice to ensure compliance and maximise profitability. This title is also relevant to solicitors and students training to become barristers.

The 2010-11 edition of the Bar Handbook has been updated to include more changes than ever before:

Contractual terms of work
Update on model versions of the contract.

New business arrangements following the Legal Services Act 2007
Guidance and related code changes explained, covering what barristers are now permitted to do following changes to permitted practice eg: (i) barristers working in partnerships (ii) barristers working as managers of Legal Disciplinary Practices (LDPs) regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (iii) barristers working in self-employed and employed practice at the same time (iv) barristers’ holding shares in LDPs (v) barristers working in alternative business structures in the future.

Other novel business models
The ProcureCo model is a model procurement company for the Bar which gives increased flexibility in bidding for work in new and existing areas of practice and in areas facing increased competition. It has been produced by the Bar Council and is a model which acts as an agent to procure barristers in self-employed practice and as such provides another structure through which to acquire work alongside the new permitted regulated models under the Act.

Code of Conduct
Completely revised and updated.

Other areas of liberalised practice
Explanation of other areas of the Code that have been relaxed permitting barristers for the first time to: (i) share premises (ii) attend police stations (iii) conduct correspondence with other parties (iv) investigate or collect evidence and take witness statements.

Extended public access scheme
The scheme whereby lay clients may instruct barristers direct has been reviewed and the scope of work now permissible under the scheme has been extended. New guidance (and code changes explained) is detailed in the Handbook.

Update on VAT position
As the rate of VAT has been reduced (Dec 2008) and increased (Jan 2010), the Bar Handbook provides specific guidance for the Bar.

Pupillage File
New and revised version.
 

The Bar Handbook is written in a practical manner covering:

• The Bar’s Code of Conduct
• Advice and guidance in practice
• Understanding fee arrangements
• Getting paid and getting redress when not paid
• Tax and VAT liabilities
• Insurance
• Understanding the regulatory framework
• Relevant statutory and regulatory references
• Signposts to other specialist information sources
• Contextual commentary included
   

Why The Bar Handbook 2010 is essential:

A practical handbook bringing together, for the first time, details and guidance relating to a barrister’s professional obligations, parameters of work, permitted charging arrangements, ability to get paid, getting redress when not paid, tax and VAT liabilities, insurance, practice planning and good practice advice and relevant statutory and regulatory references, for all barristers be they sole practitioners, employed, publically or privately funded.

Key benefits of The Bar Handbook 2010:

• All relevant source materials in one place
• Invaluable professional conduct guidance – a collective corpus of material that exists nowhere else in such an accessible form
• Single-volume portable guide to all most relevant obligations/conduct advice
• Key regulation and statutory extracts collected together in single point of reference
• Professional Code of Conduct material from originating professional body
• As well as being a ready resource in itself, it provides key signposts to repositories of other specialist expertise for those seeking in-depth coverage of particular issues
• Includes commentary by the authors to aid with interpreting the materials
• The Bar Handbook Aims to answer the most commonly asked questions dealt with by the Representative side of the Bar Council