Service & Fees

We tailor our service to our clients’ individual needs. 11KBW members are flexible and approachable. Our commitment to excellence is deeply rooted in practical and expert advice, but also in the client service we deliver.

We make creative and effective use of our talent pool, ensuring the right team and mix of seniority and experience for each case. We build long-term relationships with our clients and we have the trust of the courts. We listen, give an honest, clear and practical opinion, and devise strategies to secure the best outcome. We also advise in language you can understand, free from jargon.

Our fees are flexible and transparent; we endeavour to match client budgets where possible and to provide an estimate on receipt of instructions in order to agree fees before any chargeable work is done.

Please contact our clerking team to discuss your needs in more detail and find the appropriate barrister for your case.

Regulated by the Bar Standards Board.

Transparency Statement

About Us

Barristers in chambers practise in Commercial, Employment, Media and Public Law. Our clients are mostly in-house lawyers and solicitors in private practice in the UK and around the world; and sometimes members of the public, under the Public Access Scheme https://www.11kbw.com/public-access/

Contact Us

The following are invited to contact the clerks on clerksroom@11kbw.com for a quote for our barristers’ services:

  • Solicitors or other practising lawyers;
  • Licensed Access clients, who may either hold a licence issued by the Bar Standards Board, or be a member of a professional body which has been recognised by the Bar Standards Board; and
  • Members of the public who wish to instruct a barrister under the Public Access scheme.

Fees

Our fees are determined on a case by case basis.  The pricing models which we most frequently use are based on hourly rates, with an estimate of fees provided on receipt of instructions but before any chargeable work is incurred.  When we have given fee estimates, we do our best to remain within that estimate, and in circumstances where less time has been spent, then only the hours worked will be charged. We always endeavour to notify clients in advance in circumstances where the fee estimate is likely to be exceeded and explain why.

We will consider agreeing fixed fees where appropriate; in such circumstances the fee that is agreed is the fee that will be charged, whether more or less time is spent.

Rates will vary with seniority and clerks will willingly discuss hourly rates for relevant counsel.  We can also provide indicative fees for hearings, which will be ballpark figures based on the information provided to us at the time.   Should a case proceed to a hearing, a fee will be agreed in advance (brief fee) and we may seek to have the fee delivered in set stages (tranches).  We will also charge a daily fee for each day spent in court after the first day (refresher fee).

Fees and estimates are subject to variation.  This can be as a result of the instructions expanding to include further questions or additional material for consideration by counsel, thus increasing reading and/or writing time; there will be occasions when the shape of a case changes in a way that could not be predicted at first instance, for example if another party is added, and circumstances such as those may cause an increase in the fee.

There are occasions where additional costs may be applied, most usually in the form of expenses eg the cost of travel outside London to a court or tribunal, a conference or a site view; or accommodation costs where the hearing is outside London and requires an overnight stay of one night or more; or the cost of sending hard copy documents eg bundles of authorities to various parties.

We may, on occasion, consider taking a case on a Conditional Fee Agreement, or a CFA lite, but that decision is one for individual counsel.

All figures quoted are subject to VAT, unless a client is based abroad.

Any queries regarding fees can be raised directly with the relevant clerk, or the senior clerks.

Timescales for a case may vary depending on factors such as barristers’ availability, the type and complexity of the case, the other side’s approach, the amount of papers you need to review, the need to for additional information for documents, third parties intervening in the case and court waiting times. We endeavour always to work within a client’s requested time scale, however short that may be.  In circumstances where a deadline cannot be met, the client will be informed at the earliest opportunity.

Public Access

If you are a member of the public, the Bar Standards Board’s Public Access Guidance for Lay Clients is enclosed. This will help you to understand how the Public Access scheme works, and explains how you can use it to instruct barristers directly. Click here to read guidance note.

For work undertaken under the Public Access Scheme, a fee is agreed and payment made in advance of the work being done. For more information on how to instruct 11KBW on Public Access matters, click here

Regulatory and Complaints Information

Barristers in chambers are regulated by the Bar Standards Board. You can search the Barristers’ Register on the Bar Standards Board’s website: click here. This shows (1) whether a barrister has a current practising certificate, and (2) whether a barrister has any disciplinary findings, which are published on the Bar Standards Board’s website in accordance with their policy. Alternatively, you can contact the Bar Standards Board on 020 7611 1444 to ask about this (or e-mail ContactUs@BarStandardsBoard.org.uk).

You can also search the decision data on the LeO’s website: click here. This shows providers which received an ombudsman’s decision in the previous calendar year, and whether the LeO required the provider to give the consumer a remedy. Alternatively, you can contact the LeO on 0300 555 0333 to ask about this (or e-mail enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk).

11KBW Standard Contractual Terms

From 31st January 2013, 11KBW’s members will adopt The Bar Council’s Standard Conditions of Contract for the Supply of Legal Services by Barristers to Authorised Persons 2012, these terms have been updated for GDPR in 2018 (link below). These Standard Conditions replace The Bar Council’s previous Terms of Work on which Barristers Offer their Services to Solicitors and the Withdrawal of Credit Scheme 198 in Annexe G to the Bar Code of Conduct.
Save where otherwise agreed, these Conditions will apply whenever new instructions are accepted by members of 11KBW from 31st January 2013 onwards. Existing instructions in on-going cases received prior to 31st January 2013 will continue to be governed by the Terms of Work/Withdrawal of Credit Scheme, save that the new Standard Conditions will apply if new instructions are received in relation to an existing case, e.g. for advice relating to an appeal. If you have any queries or concerns as to the terms applicable to a particular instruction, please do not hesitate to contact the 11KBW clerks team.

11KBW is keeping these terms under review and may in due course adopt varied terms and conditions.

You can read the 11KBW Standard Contractual Terms here.