Scope of Practice Flashcards
What are the capacities in which you MAY act?
rS16
(a) You may only carry our reserved legal activities or supply other legal services in the following capacities:
(i) As a self-employed barrister;
(ii) As an employed barrister;
(iii) In one of the other capacities listed in rS16 of the Handbook.
(b) The definition of reserved legal activities includes:
(i) Exercising rights of audience
(ii) Conducting litigation
(iii) Probate activities
(iv) Notarial activities
(v) Administration of oaths
(vi) Reserved instrument activities
(1) ‘Reserved instrument activities’ essentially means preparing documents for transferring land.
What are you capacities to act as a pupil barrister?
rS19
If you are a second six pupil - i.e. a pupil who has completed or been exempted from the non-practising six months (“first six”) of pupillage - you may ONLY supply legal services to the public, or exercise any right which you have by reason of being a barrister, if you have the PERMISSION of your pupil-supervisor or head of chambers.
What is your capacity as a barrister of less than 3 years standing?
rS20
A barrister of LESS than 3 years standing MAY ONLY SUPPLY LEGAL SERVICES to the public or EXERCISE ANY RIGHT OF AUDIENCE, or CONDUCT LITIGATION if their principal place of practice is either:
(i) A chambers which is also the principal place of practice of a RELEVANT QUALIFIED PERSON (“RQP”) who is readily available to provide guidance to you; or
(ii) An office of an organisation of which an employee, partner, manager or director is a RQP who is readily available to provide guidance to you.
How do you calculate your “standing”?
rS20
Standing
(i) “years standing” is calculated from the date on which the person began practising as a barrister (NOT including any period of pupillage). Thus, a person who successfully completed 12 months pupillage on 2nd January 2016 and began practising as a barrister on the next day would be of 3 years’ standing on 3rd January 2019.
(ii) During that time the barrister must have been entitled to practise as a Barrister, have made such practice their primary occupation, and have been entitled to exercise a right of audience before every court in relation to all proceedings.
Who is a relevant qualified person?
rS22
(i) For SUPPLYING LEGAL SERVICES, a person shall be a qualified person if he:
(1) Has been entitled to and has PRACTISED AS A BARRISTER (other than as a pupil) for at least 6 OF THE PREVIOUS 8 YEARS; and
(2) Has made such practice his PRIMARY OCCUPATION for the PREVIOUS 2 YEARS; and
(3) Is NOT acting as a qualified person in relation to MORE THAN 2 OTHER PEOPLE; and
(4) Has not been designated by the BSB as UNSUITABLE to be a qualified person.
(ii) For EXERCISING A RIGHT OF AUDIENCE, a person shall be a qualified person if he:
(1) Complies with (i) above; and
(2) has been entitled to EXERCISE A RIGHT OF AUDIENCE before EVERY court in relation to all proceedings for the PREVIOUS 2 YEARS.
(iii) For EXERCISING A RIGHT TO CONDUCT LITIGATION, a person shall be a qualified person if he:
(1) Complies with (i) above; and
(2) Is entitled to exercise a right TO CONDUCT LITIGATION before EVERY court in relation to all proceedings.
What are the relevant rules for Self-Employed barristers?
rS24
Self-Employed Barristers
(a) You may only supply legal services if you are APPOINTED BY THE COURT or instructed:
(i) By a PROFESIONAL CLIENT (who may be an employee of the client); or
(ii) By a LICENSED ACCESS CLIENT; or
(iii) by or on behalf of ANY OTHER CLIENT, provided that:
(1) the matter is PUBLIC ACCESS and:
[a] you are entitled to carry out public access work; and
[b] you have notified the BSB that you are willing to accept instructions from lay clients; and
[c] you comply with the public access rules; OR
(2) the matter relates to the CONDUCT OF LITIGATION and
[a] you have a litigation extension to your practising certificate; and
[b] you have notified the BSB that you are willing to accept instructions from lay clients.
rS29 -
(b) You must NOT in the course of your practice undertake the MANAGEMENT, ADMINISTRATION OR GENERAL CONDUCT of a client’s affairs.
rS30 - This prohibition does not apply to certain work done outside England and Wales
What are the relevant rules for employed barristers?
rS39
(a) You may only supply legal services to the following people:
(i) Your employer;
(ii) Any employee, director or company secretary of your employer in a matter relating to that person’s employment;
(iii) If you are employed by a government department or agency, any Minister or Officer of the Crown;
(iv) If you are employed by a trade association; any individual member of the association;
(v) If you are a Justices’ Clerk, the Justices whom you serve;
(vi) If you are employed by the Legal Aid Agency, members of the public;
(vii) If you are employed by a Legal Advice Centre, clients of the Centre.
(viii) If you supply legal services free of charge, members of the public;
(ix) If your employer is a public authority (A), another public authority (B) on behalf of which A has made statutory arrangements or otherwise to supply any legal services or to perform any of B’s functions as agents or otherwise.
(b) Barristers providing services through a non-authorised body whose purpose is to facilitate the supply of in-house legal services to another non-authorised body, authorised body or clients of an authorised body, do not need to obtain waivers from rS39. Where services are being provided to clients of an authorised body, those services must be provided by the authorised body and regulated by an approved regulator under the Legal Services Act 2007 (LSA) eg the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
What are the rules for working at Legal Advice Centres?
RS41 -
(a) You may supply legal services at a Legal Advice Centre (LAC) on a voluntary or part-time basis.
(b) In doing so you will be treated for the purposes of the Handbook as if you were employed by the LAC.
rS42 -
If you supply legal services at a LAC to clients you MUST:
(i) Not in any way receive any fee or reward for the services you supply to clients at the LAC, EXCEPT a salary paid by the LAC.
(ii) Ensure that any fees in respect of legal services supplied by you to any client of the LAC are paid to the LAC, or to the Access to Justice Foundation, or another approved charity
(1) An approved charity is one prescribed by the Lord Chancellor under s.194(8) of the LSA 2007
(iii) NOT have any financial interest in the LAC.
gS9
You may provide legal services at a LAC on an UNPAID basis irrespective of the capacity in which you normally work.
gS10
If you are a self-employed barrister, you do NOT need to inform the BSB that you are working for a LAC.
What are the rules on Transparency Rules on Price, Service and Redress?
In July 2019, the BSB introduced new mandatory rules on price, service and redress transparency and are designed to improve the information available to the public before they engage the services of a barrister, and follow recommendations from the Competition and Markets Authority that legal regulators should introduce new requirements in this area.
rC159
The rules require that all self-employed barristers, chambers and BSB-regulated entities to publish specified information about their services, including which types of legal service they provide, their most commonly used pricing models and details of their clients’ rights of redress.
rC164
As set out in the BSB’s price transparency policy statement, Public Access barristers providing certain types of services are also required to publish additional price and service information. The BSB has also published Transparency Standards Guidance to help the profession comply with the new rules.
