PUBLIC TO GET DIRECT ACCESS TO BARRISTERS

Solicitors have expressed concerns about who will be seen as the first port of call for clients, after the Bar Council unanimously voted to relax the direct access rule for its members in 2003.

The move came after the Kentridge committee, which was set up to investigate ways of combating restrictive practices in light of last year's Office of Fair Trading report, said there are 'undoubtedly cases in which a barrister can usefully give legal advice or draft a document without the intervention of a solicitor'.

However, it said the ban on conducting litigation should remain.The scope for direct advocacy services would be more limited than advisory services, it said.

Areas where it could apply included: some contested cases where the facts are straightforward and, for example, the issue is one of law or interpretation of a document; some guilty pleas; and some appeals where there is no difficulty in the client filing the necessary documents and no question of obtaining further evidence.However, opinion was divided.

The committee's solicitor member, Lord Phillips of Sudbury, argued that pressure would be put on barristers to carry out more preliminary work and result in the 'de facto fusion' of the profession.The committee provided no detail on how clients would know to go to a solicitor or barrister.

Bar Council spokesman Jon McLeod said guidance would be circulated both to chambers and the public.Law Society chief executive Janet Paraskeva said it was sensible to examine options which could facilitate choice for consumers.

But she stressed: 'If a case proceeds to court or involves handling money, then the expertise and protections offered by solicitors provide a valuable and essential service for clients.'Rodney Warren, chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, echoed the view that the changes may blur the distinction between barristers' and solicitors' roles.'These proposals are interesting, but I am surprised that the bar thought to include any kind of criminal work in its proposals for change, because a great deal of work is done in the police station, and only solicitors do this,' he said.

By Paula Rohan