Bar victory over ‘cab rank’ rule
Changes to the ‘cab rank’ rule approved last week will pave the way for new standard contractual terms between solicitors and barristers.
Under amendments to the Bar Standards Board’s code of conduct approved by the Legal Services Board, the cab rank rule will apply where work is offered to a barrister on the new contractual terms or any standard terms offered by the barrister. The cab rank rule will not apply to work offered by firms named on the List of Defaulting Solicitors, where a solicitor has not paid a barrister’s fees.
Increasingly barristers are seeking to agree contractual terms with solicitors and mitigate the risk of non-payment. Under the current code they are not obliged to accept instructions on negotiated contractual terms. The BSB says this undermines the cab rank rule. In October 2011 it applied to the Legal Services Board to change the rules, but in January the LSB issued a notice warning that it was considering refusing the application.
Following the notice, the Law Society raised concerns that the new contractual terms were biased in favour of barristers.
Granting the BSB’s application last week, LSB chief executive Chris Kenny said he did not consider the BSB’s solution to the issue to be ‘the most appropriate’ but that there is ‘no reason’ to refuse it.
He added: ‘In making this decision, the LSB has formed no view on the appropriateness of the cab rank rule.’
A BSB spokesman said the regulator looks forward to liaising with the Bar Council to implement and publicise the change, and will provide details of the process after the summer break. The decision will pave the way for the introduction of new standard contractual terms, which the BSB expects many barristers to adopt.
Comments
Competition Act anyone? [NB
Competition Act anyone?
[NB for those who don't know, the "Cab Rank Rule" referred to by the above is a silly red herring. The real issue here is whether or not all solicitors who instruct barristers can be forced to do so on standard terms and conditions written by the Bar Council. These are, unsurprisingly, entirely one-sided and favour the barrister involved.
Yet again the Bar Council gets whatever it wants. However, as I said previously on another post, the unintended consequence of that action could well be that solicitors choose not to instruct barristers as much. That's certainly the direction I am headed in, and I know others are following suit.]
For years the only means
For years the only means barristers had of enforcing a debt against a solicitor was by reporting them to the Bar Council which in turn would mean that the solicitor could no longer receive credit from any barrister and so the fee would have to be paid in advance. This process takes about 18 months partly because of the massive number of solicitors who are being reported for non-payment of barristers fees. The new standard terms allow for a new defaulting solicitors list where barristers have the option to accept instructions from those on the list. It also gives the option to barristers to pursue bad debts through the court. I can't see how this is terribly unfair and one sided, surely all good solicitors will get the money off the client in advance to ensure the barrister is paid.
Cab Rank Rule
DomCoop, I am interested in your views on the cab rank rule. I am presently doing some research on this topic and would appreciate talking to you about it. If you would like to contact me at johnaflood [at] gmail.com I would appreciate it.
This change is needed. At
This change is needed.
At present, Barristers are limited in their ability to enforce payment of their fees from solicitors. The need for contractual terms has been around for many years, but has been delayed.