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It's difficult to see how feedback on a barrister is going to help members of the public, although some sort of feedback process is probably inevitable with the maturity of direct access, and that the public may increasingly instruct a barrister direct. This is because the relationship is usually a personal one, and an important component is how well the 'client' (be it a member of the public or an experienced solicitor) gets on with the barrister. Between professionals, personal lack of chemistry can be overcome, although I suspect most solicitors would prefer to instruct counsel whom they know, or from chambers they know well (as well as being of appropriate call and available). Sometimes of course instructing an unknown barrister may be inevitable, due for example to particular expertise.

Members of the public are unlikely to encounter a barrister more than once in their lives, and will have no comparators: that of course is a reason to have some sort of feedback for them to consult. But the personal chemistry side is difficult to capture in feedback - and as already observed, whether a case was lost or won may influence the feedback, even though the barrister concerned may have been superb (duff case) or just lucky (easy case).

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