Consumers will be urged to bypass solicitors and instruct barristers directly in an initiative launched by the Bar Council today.

A report entitled ‘Straight there, no detours’, says that 89% of consumers who went directly to a barrister believed they got ‘better value for money’ and a ‘more personalised legal service’ than they would have done by going through a solicitor.

The report’s release coincides with Access to the Bar Day, a series of promotional activities promoting ways the public and organisations can instruct a barrister without first consulting a solicitor.

Tim Dutton QC, chairman of the Bar Council, said barristers and solicitors would usually continue to work in teams, but direct access sometimes gives clients of the bar ‘a substantial edge in terms of price and quality of service’. Barristers are under a duty to advise the client when a solicitor’s services would be in their best interests, he said.

Opening Access to the Bar Day, justice minister Bridget Prentice said: ‘Improving access to justice and increasing consumer choice are central aims of the legal services reform agenda.’