|
From Accountingnet.ie In Practice
THE Irish Bar is changing and innovative barristers now recognise that their professional client base extends far beyond solicitors. Many accountants are still not aware that their own profession can obtain the cost-effective services of Irish barristers without the need to instruct a solicitor first. The Bar Council of Ireland's Direct Professional Access Scheme which confers Used correctly, the ability to go direct to counsel can be a useful and cost-saving device. But what is the right situation in which to bypass the services of a solicitor? The key to this is an understanding of the kind of work Irish barristers undertake. While barristers are primarily perceived as advocates, it is worth remembering that most are also preeminent in their chosen fields of legal expertise. Specialist barristers - experienced in, for example, business and commerce, property, tax, fraud or international dispute resolution - can be hired on an ad hoc basis or become part of a team led by or working alongside accountants on any project which might benefit from their involvement. One particular field which can benefit from the link between accountant and barrister is the tracing and recovery of assets, both within Ireland and globally. Specialist barristers experienced in the methods and procedures for seeking and tracing assets, and recovering them, are an ideal fit with accountants instructed to identify and recover commercial or judgment debts for their clients. Equally, barristers can assist in protective debt management. Many are also highly skilled at mediating disputes. Barristers will usually be retained for the purposes of litigation. They do not take general conduct of litigation in the way that a solicitor does; they do not engage in correspondence with the other side, or involve themselves in the investigation and gathering of evidence for a hearing. They do however perform more discrete and self-contained tasks, such as drafting legal documents and giving representation at a hearing. They also give general advice on merits, evidence and matters of strategy generally. As to the type of case that is appropriate for Direct Professional Access, the first consideration is the nature and complexity of the dispute. Where there is voluminous documentation, a lengthy history and a catalogue of disputed facts, it may well be that the case will benefit from the management and day-to-day supervision of a solicitor. On the other hand, in a situation where the subject-matter is self-contained and the issues clearly defined, or where it is thought that a properly-drafted legal document will be enough to secure the desired result, an accountant will most likely find it more cost-effective to involve counsel directly. Another relevant factor is the level of management and organisation the accountant is personally able to bring to the matter. The more orderly and streamlined the papers submitted to counsel, the more cost-effective direct instruction will inevitably be. Many accountants might feel uncertain about the process of finding appropriate counsel or about conducting negotiations on counsel's fees or service standards. These need not be daunting tasks. Once a particular barrister has been identified as being appropriate and available, he or she can be contacted directly by telephone or email. So far as the negotiation of fees is concerned, this can be done on the basis of an hourly retainer, a fixed, capped or tapered fee or, in the case of court hearings, an all-in “brief fee”. The client is entitled to transparency and is entitled to know how much time a particular piece of work will take and why. Ultimately, the process should be made easier by the fact that it is in no one’s interests for the client to be represented by the wrong barrister. Barristers will be at pains to ensure that the right counsel for a given matter is found and, if the brief is better directed to a different barrister or to a solicitor, will say so. Barristers themselves are under a duty to say if they do not think they are the right individual for a particular case, or if they think that the involvement of a solicitor is necessary. As for fees, with stiff competition between practitioners there can be few easier markets in which to “shop around” than the Irish Bar, and barristers are often happy to work to appropriate fees proposed by clients. And the fact that the overheads of most sole-trader barristers are lower than those of solicitors’ firms means that clients can obtain a comparable or often much higher level of experience at a significantly lower hourly rate, often up to two-thirds less than that of comparable solicitors. Many counsel now see the traditional solicitor-barrister route as being only one of many different ways to attract work. With a large number of practitioners covering a wide range of disciplines, and an ethos of approachability which is shared across the Irish Bar, many are trying hard to take the mystique out of Direct Professional Access. Accountants should also be aware that there are also benefits for their own Brick by brick, the walls of the ivory tower are coming down! Hugh Kennedy BL and John Cronin, solicitor, Brief Counsel Ltd Brief Counsel Ltd can quickly and painlessly help accountants identify the correct Direct Professional Access barrister from over 2,300 members of the Law Library. Brief Counsel Ltd is well prepared to field questions from those new to the process and is experienced at matching the requirements of a particular client to a suitable barrister. Brief Counsel Ltd, © Copyright 2005 by Accountingnet.ie |
