How John Works
John works as a barrister with no clerks. He controls his own diary. This means that solicitors contact him directly to book cases, notify him of changes in listing of cases, arrange conferences, and obtain updates on progress. Many solicitors who instruct John also contact him directly for advice and guidance on the conduct of their cases, including (occasionally) cases in which he is not actually instructed, and this is something that John is more than happy to accommodate.
Although John has no clerks, contacting him is not difficult, as it can be done at any time by telephone, mobile, email and fax (all or any of them!) all of which are direct.
John deals with his own fee notes, and outstanding fees. He operates a strict policy on fees. More information can be read on this website under “Fees”.
As regards legal research and preparation of cases, John has his own considerable personal library, including the complete Weekly Law Reports, the complete All England Law Reports, the Estates Gazette Law Reports, the Building Law Reports, the Family Court Reports, the leading practice texts in his areas of practice, and has online access to the Official Law Reports. In addition, he subscribes to Lawtel to keep himself fully updated with legal developments. As well as this, John is a fully subscribed member of the Birmingham Law Society library (now housed in Aston University), which is one of the largest legal practice libraries outside London. More obscure or less frequented law reports and legal publications can be obtained by email directly from his Inn of Court, Lincoln’s Inn, in London. All of this means that practising as a sole practising barrister has not resulted in any compromise in John’s ability to prepare and research his instructions and caseload, advise, and prepare for court hearings.
John does not provide conference facilities. Conferences, where necessary, take place at the offices of the solicitors who instruct him. This is something that John finds to be much appreciated by those solicitors, who avoid losing time travelling to chambers and then back to their offices.
Instructions can be sent to John and returned by him via post or Document Exchange (a private postal system), or by courier. Instructions to advise and provide opinions, and to settle pleadings, etc are dealt with as quickly as possible, and in any event generally within 2 weeks. Faster turnaround is often possible if necessary. John can often turn around written opinions and pleadings within a few days, and in some cases within hours of receiving instructions. In one notable example in 2008, John was approached by a solicitor who had just 14 hours before the expiry of a limitation period. He drafted particulars of claim by hand in 1 ½ hours taking instructions from the solicitor over the telephone, and the solicitor was able to issue the claim with just hours to spare - just enough time for a much needed strong coffee!
