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When you instruct Asner Chambers, you will meet an association of lawyers that will advise and take you through your transaction from start to finish.
We are approachable and available when you call as well as being frank in relation to costs, procedures and timescales. We may not tell you what you want to hear, but we will tell you how it is! A fixed fee service is available in some areas of work, subject to terms and conditions - We are not franchised to provide publicly funded (Legal Aid) work.
Asner Chambers is committed to providing a flexible approach to fees negotiation. Members conduct publicly funded work (Family and Immigration), and privately funded work (all areas). Fees can be agreed on either an hourly rate basis or overall fee based on preparation and likely duration. This can apply to hearings, conferences and paperwork. The Clerks are happy to discuss any special requirements, and to provide more details. Asner Chambers do not undertake conditional fee work. In most cases, seniority of Counsel used affect overall cost.
The Code of Conduct provides that barristers are obliged under the Cab Rank Rule to accept instructions which are offered either (a) on the Standard Contractual Terms for the Supply of Legal Services to Authorised Persons annexed to the Code (“the Bar Council Terms”) or (b) on terms which a barrister or the barrister’s chambers have published as the barrister’s standard terms of work.
At Asner Chambers the barristers’ published standard terms of work are the terms agreed between The Commercial Bar Association (Combar) and the City of London Law Society (“the Combar/CLLS Terms”) on Payment Basis A.
Accordingly, barristers at Asner Chambers are obliged under the Cab Rank Rule to accept instructions which are offered (a) on the Bar Council Terms or (b) on the current Combar/CLLS Terms on Payment Basis A. Barristers at Asner Chambers will, of course, consider alternative terms of engagement, or variations to the published Terms; but they are not obliged under the Cab Rank Rule to accept instructions on such terms. It should also be noted that barristers at Asner Chambers will not be applying the new contractual terms as a matter of routine to each and every new instruction, so neither the Bar Council Terms nor the Combar/CLLS Terms should be viewed as default terms.
Where the Combar/CLLS Terms are required in relation to a barrister’s services, these can be activated by the solicitor and the barrister completing the front sheet of the Terms and signing it. Alternatively, it may be achieved by an email exchange confirming that the barrister and the solicitor intend to be bound by a contract incorporating the Terms, and setting out the information required by the front sheet of the Terms, together with any amendments agreed. A barrister's clerk has authority for these purposes to enter into an agreement incorporating the Terms on behalf of a barrister.
As introduced by the Bar Standards Board in January 2013, Asner Chambers has adopted the Standard Contractual Terms of instruction (with slight amendment). This applies to privately funded work, with instruction from solicitors or other professional bodies. For further information, or to obtain a copy of the Terms, please contact the Clerks.