Louisa Bagley is registered to undertake Public Access work and duly insured to do so.
Nature of case which may be accepted
Louisa limits the nature of case which she may accept under the Public Access Scheme (‘PAS’) instructions to:
(i) Matters related to disciplinary and/or equality/discriminatory matters (and some related proceedings);
(ii) Some matters relating to regulatory criminal offences and/or animal welfare.
Careful attention should be paid to the guidance provided by the Bar Standards Board, a link for which is provided at the bottom of this page for lay clients, as regards PAS barristers and the services which they can and cannot provide to members of the public directly.
A lay client will remain a litigant in person for the purposes of any proceedings (save, for example, representation at any particular agreed hearing) and therefore must be assessed suitable by Louisa for her provision to them of PAS services.
Basis of acceptance of instructions
Acceptance of PAS instructions is wholly dependent on:
(i) Louisa’s availability to accept instructions at the material time, taking account of the urgency of a matter (the ‘cab rank’ rule does not apply to Public Access cases);
(ii) Louisa’s assessment that the potential client would not, for the purpose of the proposed instructions, be better served (in accordance with BSB Rules C122 and C123) either by instructing a barrister through a firm of solicitors, instructing another Public Access barrister (with or without litigation services), or being assisted solely by a solicitor who can conduct litigation.
Where instructions involve the setting of future dates for any purpose, if these clash with any existing commitments that Louisa has, or may not be achievable as regards instructions to be provided as a consequence of Louisa’s existing commitments, this may result in her being unable to continue with the provision of assistance for a matter accepted under the PAS scheme.
Inquiries
Any inquiry to Louisa under PAS should be sent to celestialchambers@protonmail.com. Whilst emails are checked on a daily basis, Louisa will reply formally within 14 days of contact unless it is made clear that the matter is urgent (i.e. there is the need for provision of formal advice or a hearing to take place within 21 days of the date of the email).
Initial information required
In order for Louisa to be able to consider whether the matter for which her Public Access services are sought is one which she may be able to accept, it will be necessary for the person making the inquiry to provide the following information, without which the inquiry will automatically result in the request for instructions being declined:
(a) The nature of matter (including summary of the issues);
(b) Precise instructions proposed;
(c) Any timetable set or imposed (including any stage dates and hearing dates, additionally the purpose of any hearing dates set);
(d) The volume of documents involved and their nature (NB: do not send copies of documents with the initial inquiry: these will not be considered at the initial inquiry stage; if it is necessary for such consideration in order for Louisa to be able to consider whether she is able to accept instructions, she will ask for them);
(e) a chronology of the history of the matter, including whether other legal services have been involved.
Price for services
If agreement is reached for Louisa to receive PAS instructions, the prices charged are as follows:
(i) A rate of £300 per hour, exclusive of any VAT;
(ii) A fixed fee may be available for a matter or stage of matter by agreement, such fee dependent on the nature of matter and work involved, and subject to no additional work becoming necessary beyond the scope of an agreement which would then become chargeable at the above hourly rate unless otherwise agreed by way of variation to the original fixed fee agreement.
Charges will also be made for mileage (at 45 pence per mile) and any other associated expenses (e.g. parking, hotel costs etc) or other transport charges if the instructions necessitate attendance at a venue for the purpose of advancing the case. In order to limit such additional charges (or if she would otherwise have insufficient capacity to attend in person due to other commitments), Louisa will always seek to undertake conferences or other meetings and any hearings remotely, when this is possible.
If there are any other incidental costs arising (for example, photocopying on behalf of a client), these will be sought as reimbursement from the client.
Formal agreement
If Louisa agrees to accept instructions under the PAS, this will be subject to the client signing and returning a client care letter which sets out the full terms on which instructions are accepted. No work will be undertaken until the signed client care letter is received.
Guidance for lay clients
The following link provides access for lay clients to Bar Standards Board guidance regarding how the PAS works:
