lawyer and barrister falling out

long story short, I engaged with a barrister that was recommended to me by my lawyer. Had a conference with them both and was impressed by the barrister''s approach.

Since then, my lawyer feels that he can no longer recommend him as he feels that that the barristers attention to detail on some of his other cases has been lacking. He''s insisting that I drop the barrister and go with him to represent me in court.

This has hacked me right off, as I have already paid a lot of money for a conference with both, and now seemingly have to go back to square one.

My FH is not far off, so my inclination is to stick to the barrister, but feels like something is definitely not right.

Advise please!!!

Sounds like they''ve had a barney about something else and don''t want to work together.

I''ve been up against solicitors in court presenting in person and they are generally just not up to the job which is why they are solicitors in the first place and not barristers.

As your coming up to the final hearing it''s all about the barrister so if you are confident in your barrister I would see if they will provide direct access and lose your solicitor but I personally wouldn''t even think about being represented at a final hearing by a solicitor.

Your echoing my thoughts.

It seems like i''ve been put in the middle of a crazy situation.

May be I need to try and speak to the barrister and get his thoughts on how to move forward. If i go direct access, there is still paperwork to be done, and my understanding is that the barrister won''t do this. I don''t relish doing this myself.

You could just put it to your solicitor in as polite a way as possible that you would like him to do the paper work and if he would like to do the paper that would be great but you''ve decided to stick with the barrister. You will need to speak with the barrister first and check he''s happy to continue dealing with the solicitor and with you directly if need be.

I didn''t have to prepare the paper work as I presented in person and my ex was represented but basically a lot of what was prepared was just what we had all along as in from the FDR, form E''s etc. The key part was what your barrister will have already done a lot of in conference is taking the documentation and actually coming up with a case that they are going to present in court which your solicitor doesn''t have much if anything to do with.

I''ve been up against solicitors in court presenting in person and they are generally just not up to the job which is why they are solicitors in the first place and not barristers.

A terrible sweeping generalisation. Solicitors do the paperwork and general hearings. Barristers are professional advocates and earn their keep doing trials i.e. cross-examination work. They can also do general hearings too in the same way as solicitors can do trials.

In this case you can instruct the solicitor to instruct the barrister with whom you have experience. The solicitor should carry out your instructions unless there is very good reason to decline which they might not be able to discuss with you due to links with other cases.

Charles

"don''t take a knife to a gun fight" - Jimmy Malone, in "The Untouchables"

Solicitors are great at paperwork and talking nicely with their client''s but from the limited number I''ve met they are generally well out of their comfort zone away from their office and I''ve frankly been embarrassed on their behalf at their efforts at presenting in court.

Please refrain from using your limited experiences as a benchmark for others.

You are effectively advocating using a barrister for all hearings which is unnecessary.

For example, in financial proceedings the first Directions appointment (FDA) is to determine the path that the proceedings will take. It is an administrative process where a barrister will be of little use.

The FDA hearing is not meant to be a fight therefore you should leave all knives and guns behind.

You should should also bear in mind that after Jimmy Malone said that line (or something close to it) he was gunned down and subsequently died. His wisdom was misplaced on that final occasion...

Charles