Can I go direct to a barrister for family court?

When family court is involved, there is a good chance you are a parent or representing a child. Or, perhaps you are trying to sort through the financial minefield of a separation, or obtain an injunction of some sort?

All of which are highly sensitive and emotional issues.

This can make finding the right legal help even more important.

For many people in this situation, that means working with a direct access barrister. Someone trained and experienced in providing family law advocacy services.

Advantages of a family law public access barrister

Using a public access barrister puts you directly in front of the person who will represent you in any legal proceedings. You will be able to establish a relationship of trust and communication with them, knowing that they will be the ones speaking on your behalf.

Issues such as domestic violence, custody of children and financial settlements can be discussed openly with the person who will pick out the transient facts and present them in court on your behalf.

This is also someone who specialises in this particular sector of the law. Family barristers approach their work from a position of in-depth knowledge and understanding, as opposed to a more general appreciation of the law.

They spend the bulk of their time in court, so they are familiar with the mechanisms and subtleties of presenting legal arguments in that setting.

Flexibility and customer care in discussing family law

Many family barristers are self-employed, rather than working within a legal practice. This provides a more versatile approach to both consultation arrangements and costs.

You could even instruct and work with a family barrister anywhere in the UK. Many offer opportunities for private video conferencing too so you don’t always need to appear at meetings in person.

Lastly, keep in mind that solicitors – in specialist or complex cases – would turn to a barrister for assistance.

If your legal proceedings are of a particularly desperate or upsetting nature, approaching a public access barrister means that you are going direct to someone that solicitors trust and consult with.

Use our website to find the right match and to obtain insights into the costs involved with direct access family barristers.

How direct public access helps you

Historically, the public could only access barristers through a solicitor. It was the solicitor who would have to instruct a barrister to represent their client, meaning the public were unable to gain potentially crucial advice from a legal expert. Recognising this problem, regulators decided to make a series of sweeping changes in 2009 and promptly changed the regulations in order to allow direct access barristers. Ever since, members of the public have been able to go to a barrister directly, which has a range of advantages, not least a potential saving of hundreds or even thousands of pounds.

Barristers operate as specialist advisers as well as advocates. The direct public access scheme makes public access barristers a possibility, meaning members of the public are fully entitled to deal directly with their barrister, cutting out the need to spend money on instructing a solicitor at the same time.

How direct public access helps

Direct public access allows you to take responsibility, should you wish, for all of the preliminary work yourself. That work may traditionally have been undertaken by a solicitor, so there are huge potential savings on offer should you wish to contact a barrister directly.

It also allows you to control the costs yourself. As standard, you will get a breakdown of the costs for every element of your case. This will be in the form of a contract between the barrister and yourself, meaning there is no possibility of you being charged for more than what has previously been agreed.

With a direct access barrister, you will be getting a specialist in your type of case. Whether it’s social media defamation, sexual harassment, a construction dispute, family law or another matter entirely, direct access allows you to go straight to an expert. That means you’ll get impartial and honest advice over how best to take your case forward. Due to the fact barristers will have undergone years of study in their specialist field, they will be able to quickly identify all the salient features of your problem and give you the specialist advice you need.

To instruct a direct access barrister to handle your case, obtain a free, no obligation quote from Barristers4u today.

Photo: handshake by 드림포유 licensed under Creative commons 2