*/
Fee disclosure would be a ‘significant cultural shift’ for barristers, the Bar Standards Board said, publishing an action plan for change.
BSB research, which looked at 368 chambers (329 with websites), found that 75% made no reference to fees on their websites, while 6% provided numerical data regarding their fees/prices and 8% provided guidance about how fees are typically calculated, without figures.
It found price transparency was most common in public access and family law.
The BSB’s response to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA)’s demand for action plans on transparency – CMA Legal Services Market Study: BSB response – included a programme of research and engagement.
It will run fee disclosure pilots for public access and family law barristers in the autumn before consulting on rule changes in March 2018 and implementing them in December 2018.
BSB Director of Strategy and Policy, Ewen MacLeod, said: ‘In developing our plan, we have started to identify good practice in chambers. We want to build on this and ensure our proposals take into account the ways in which barristers deliver their services.’
Highlighting the opportunity to introduce ‘real improvements for clients’, he pledged to engage closely with the Bar, legal regulators and interested parties.
Fee disclosure would be a ‘significant cultural shift’ for barristers, the Bar Standards Board said, publishing an action plan for change.
BSB research, which looked at 368 chambers (329 with websites), found that 75% made no reference to fees on their websites, while 6% provided numerical data regarding their fees/prices and 8% provided guidance about how fees are typically calculated, without figures.
It found price transparency was most common in public access and family law.
The BSB’s response to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA)’s demand for action plans on transparency – CMA Legal Services Market Study: BSB response – included a programme of research and engagement.
It will run fee disclosure pilots for public access and family law barristers in the autumn before consulting on rule changes in March 2018 and implementing them in December 2018.
BSB Director of Strategy and Policy, Ewen MacLeod, said: ‘In developing our plan, we have started to identify good practice in chambers. We want to build on this and ensure our proposals take into account the ways in which barristers deliver their services.’
Highlighting the opportunity to introduce ‘real improvements for clients’, he pledged to engage closely with the Bar, legal regulators and interested parties.
The Chair of the Bar reports back
By Kem Kemal, CEO, Henry Dannell
By BSK Financial Planning
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs
Susie Griffin on the admin that keeps barristers from billable work
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, explains how global events can influence the performance of pensions and ISAs, and why taking a long-term approach to investing is often the most effective strategy
Kick off your career at the Bar Council’s Pupillage Fair this October – it’s one of the most valuable opportunities for aspiring barristers, says Amelia Clegg
Join us on Saturday 21 November 2026 at Leeds Beckett University and see for yourself why the North continues to be an exceptional place to build a career at the Bar
The golden age of advocacy? David Langwallner pays homage to the filmic if contentious barrister Sir Edward Carson and some of his contemporaries
Henry Fingerhut outlines what the Bar Standards Board AI guidance means for early career barristers
Not yet, says Jacob Turner. Regulation, unlike the technology itself, is a domain the legal profession can still control
