The mandatory rules

In 2019, the regulatory body for barristers, the Bar Standards Board, introduced mandatory rules on price, service and redress transparency for all self-employed barristers and chambers. The barristers and chambers must provide information about price, service and redress on all their websites and to consumers on request.

The mandatory rules require St John’s Buildings to:

  1. State that professional, licensed access and/or lay clients (as appropriate) may contact St John’s Buildings to obtain a quotation for legal services.
  2. Provide our contact details:

The contact details for St John’s Buildings are available on the “Contact” page of this website. If you are unable to get through to one of our office numbers, please feel free to contact one of the other offices. We will be able to help you.

  1. State an individual barrister’s, chambers’ or BSB entity’s most commonly used pricing models:

Our terms of business, including the various pricing and payment options are available on our website by clicking here:

https://stjohnsbuildings.com/about/terms-business

We also set out some indicative fees and timing information on our Public Access pages. They are available here:

https://stjohnbuildings.com/public-access

Where you are unsure about pricing, please feel free to speak to one of our experienced clerking team for an indication of the best available pricing model to suit your personal circumstances.

  1. State the areas of practice in which an individual barrister, chambers or BSB entity most commonly provides legal services:

We are a “Common Law” chambers and, as such, we have barristers who are experts in a wide variety of areas of law. Our expertise pages set out the main categories of law in which we have expertise, but speak to our clerks if you have a particularly unique issue and we may be able to assist you in finding the right expert for your case. Click on the “Menu” dropdown and “Expertise” to see the main areas of law in which we have expertise.

  1. State and provide a description of the barrister’s, chambers’ or BSB entity’s most commonly provided legal services:

Our expertise list details our most commonly provided legal services. We provide advice, support and advocacy services across a wide range of areas of legal services.

  1. Provide information about the factors which might influence the timescales of the barrister’s, chambers’ or BSB entity’s most commonly provided legal services:

Our terms of business set out the factors that may impact on timescales. Click on the link above (Paragraph 3).

  1. Display “Barristers regulated by the Bar Standards Board”, on the homepage of our website.

We are proud of our regulated status. This ensures our clients that they are using expert barristers. This text can be seen at the bottom of each page of our website.

  1. Display information about the complaints procedure, any right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman (LeO), how to complain to the LeO, and any time limits for making a complaint:

Our detailed complaints policy can be found here on our website:

https://stjohnsbuildings.com/complaints-procedure

The procedure also includes a link to the decision data on the LeO’s website;

  1. Link to the Barristers’ Register page on our website.

A link to the barrister register can be found at the bottom of our Terms of Business and by clicking here:

https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/for-the-public/search-a-barristers-record/the-barristers-register.html

Additional transparency rules for Public Access work

There are also additional transparency rules for those undertaking Public Access work. You can see which of our barristers are registered to undertake public access rules as well as a full explanation of what Public Access is, the relevant stages and what to expect, including links to relevant information, can be found here:

https://stjohnsbuildings.com/public-access

You will also find a link to the Public Access Guidance for Lay Clients on the BSB’s website. This can also be accessed here:

https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/for-the-public/finding-and-using-a-barrister/how-to-instruct-a-barrister/public-access-guidance-for-lay-clients.html

Our barristers are able to work on both a fixed fee or an hourly rate. Although it is more normal to agree a fixed fee for specific, identified work, this will be discussed with you in advance to reach a suitable agreement as to what is most appropriate in your specific circumstances. The agreement will be stated in a written contract. We do not accept payment by Credit or Debit Card. The most common payment method is BACS transfer directly into your barrister’s professional account. We are also accustomed to receiving cheques for payment.

Our public access barristers cost anywhere between £150 and £750 per hour, depending on seniority and experience. Please discuss the pricing of our barristers with our expert clerking team. Where a fixed fee is agreed it will be based on the clerk’s expert knowledge as to how long any individual case is likely to require. Fees will not normally include VAT, but that will be made clear to you both in advance and in the written agreement. There will be no hidden additional costs. Any additional costs will be set out in an agreement and included in advance. The most likely additional cost is reasonable travel expenses where a hearing or meeting is in a court that is more than 50 miles from one of our Chambers.