Instructing Our Members
Our practice management teams are your first point of contact when instructing our barristers. Friendly and approachable, all the clerks have in-depth knowledge of our barristers and their specialisms, our areas of practice, and the court and arbitration process. Whether you require a single barrister or an entire team for a particular project, they will help you make the right choice. They will also arrange appointments for you, negotiate fees, and answer any queries you may have as your case progresses.
Members of Keating Chambers are all self-employed and independent practitioners. This allows two or more of our barristers to be involved in the same court case, arbitration, mediation or adjudication, either on opposite sides – a common occurrence in specialist engineering and construction cases. It also occasionally happens that the appointed arbitrator practises from the same chambers as one or more of the advocates. Members of Keating Chambers and our clerking team are well-versed to handle this situation and stringent provisions are put in place in such cases to ensure that confidentiality is protected at all times.
The rules governing access to the services provided by barristers has changed dramatically in recent years which means that members of Keating Chambers can accept instructions from clients in a number of different ways. Please contact our clerking team if you would like to discuss the ways in which Keating Chambers’ members may be able to assist you or your organisation.
Terms of Business
The Code of Conduct has been amended so that, with effect from 31 January 2013, barristers are obliged under the Cab Rank Rule to accept instructions which are offered either: (a) on the Standard Conditions of Contract for the Supply of Legal Services by Barristers to Authorised Persons 2020 (the “Bar Council Terms”); or (b) on terms which have been published as the barristers’ standard terms.
The Commercial Bar Association (COMBAR) and the City of London Law Society (CLLS) have negotiated and agreed a set of specimen terms and conditions which may be used as an alternative to the Bar Council Terms (“the COMBAR/CLLS Terms”).
Keating Chambers has given careful consideration to the implementation of new contractual terms and has decided that, from 1 February 2013, new instructions to members of Keating Chambers will be accepted either:
- In accordance with the Bar Council Terms; or
- In accordance with Basis A of the COMBAR/CLLS Terms.
In specific and appropriate circumstances, which take into account the particular client and the nature of the case, barristers at Keating Chambers may also be prepared to consider engagement in accordance with the other bases contained in the COMBAR/CLLS Terms.
When instructions are accepted under the Bar Council Terms an email will be sent to instructing solicitors confirming this. If the terms of engagement are the COMBAR/CLLS Terms then an email will be sent to Instructing solicitors confirming that the barrister and the solicitor intend to be bound by a contract incorporating the Terms and setting out the information required by the front sheet of the Terms, together with any amendments agreed.
The Bar Council Terms can be downloaded here and the COMBAR/CLLS Terms can be downloaded here.
If you have an enquiry in relation to the terms of which members of Keating Chambers will accept instruction, please contact the clerks on +44 20 7544 2600 or clerks@keatingchambers.com.
