In-house solicitors in the north welcome the cost-cutting benefits of having direct access to the Bar, but as Michael Gerrard finds out, many chambers in the north are failing to capitalise on it
The north, particularly Manchester and Leeds, is home to many large in-house legal departments and makes rich pickings for the chambers in the area.
The in-house lawyers in this region are particularly enthusiastic advocates of direct access.
But while all the in-house counsel spoken to admit instructing chambers directly, both local and London and with varying degrees of regularity, few claimed they had actively marketed to chambers.
Colin Griffin, commercial clerk at Manchester’s leading commercial set, 40 King Street, which also has an annexe in 5 Park Place in Leeds, acknowledges that a trick is being missed. “This is one area where the Bar does not shout loudly enough,” he says. “If in-house departments come to us for advice rather than an external solicitor they will find it will always be cheaper.”
His point bears out the fact that with lower overheads barristers can present a more cost-effective option.
That said, he admits his own set has not gone out of its way to market itself in this fashion, although members of the chambers work regularly with in-house departments in construction and property development companies attracted by its strength in planning.
But this attitude may yet be shaken up by the efforts of the Law Society’s Commerce & Industry (C&I) Group, whose heartland is based among the northwest’s vibrant in-house scene together with a healthy membership across the Pennines in Yorkshire. It is northwest area chairman Edward Smethurst, previously at BNFL and now at building materials firm Ultraframe, who believes that the qualities found in the local in-house legal departments and the Bar complement each other well.
He notes that the in-house departments have grown in size and are thus better able to prepare a case for counsel without outside intervention. He also believes the region’s Bar has an advantage if properly marketed. He says: “They have the right expertise and local knowledge of the companies, they literally talk the same language and can therefore better tailor their advice. It is the right fit.”
One set marked out for particular attention is Manchester’s 8 King Street, which has long enjoyed a relationship with Smethurst and the C&I Group.
It markets itself to in-house counsel through seminars and dinners, often held in conjunction with the C&I Group.
The success of this marketing exercise is clear. Three of London’s ‘magic circle’ commercial sets, One Essex Court, Essex Court and Brick Court have all taken
the Mancunian set’s lead by organising seminars in conjunction with the C&I Group.
Senior clerk Peter Whitman admits: “We always have looked to exploit the in-house market. “I think the clients find the service is good and they appreciate the fact that they are dealing with the person who will deal with it in court, not the person who will pass it on to the person standing in the court.”
Apart from BNFL, the set is also directly instructed by among others United Utilities, the Co-operative Bank and CIS Insurance for an array of work including contract drafting, employment, PI and environment work.
8 King Street may have established a name in direct work, but it is clear others in the region are also keen to exploit this market, aided by current market trends.
Robin Butchard, practice director at Leeds’ newly formed Zenith Chambers, believes insurance to be a growing source for direct instructions.
He says: “We get a lot of work from insurance companies in the north of England. There is a growing trend where once they used to go via a panel of solicitors now they are coming directly to us.”
Alongside insurance, employment has also grown as an area where in-house departments are increasingly coming directly to the Bar.
Manchester’s 28 St John Street has also seized on this as an area ripe for exploitation. Its chief executive Mike Fry, believes that in many cases this is because the in-house teams now have the capacity to do the work themselves without needing to call in outside assistance. “There is not any value an external solicitor can add,” he says.
But there is a catch, according to
some in-house counsel, direct access is hampered by two factors, one, external solicitors and the other by the chambers themselves.
Ian Stewart, company secretary at Macclesfield’s CIBA Speciality Chemicals Investment has noticed a marked reluctance for external solicitors to reveal who would be good barristers to work with.
He notes: “External lawyers tend to jealously hang on to the information about who is good for their own reasons, as they regard this as valuable trade information and are not keen to pass this onto clients in-house.”
If that were not enough of a handicap he again trumpets the message that both Manchester and Leeds sets need to promote themselves better.
On the Yorkshire side of the Pennines, while there is agreement that chambers could make more of a marketing effort, for many the fact that in-house departments are able to directly instruct counsel is seen as something quite unremarkable.
Smethurst’s opposite number at the C&I Group’s North East area, Carol Williams, head of legal at Hull-based Northern Foods, says that most in-house counsel realise that as practicing solicitors there has never been a barrier.
She notes: “It is not an issue because I would automatically do it, so it is not something I have discussed with others, as I assumed that they would also do so.”
She agrees chambers’ marketing could be improved, though notes that things have improved on the situation little
more than a decade ago when you could spend hours visiting chambers and not be offered so much as a biscuit.
Her words are born out by the legal department of the Kelda Group, formerly Yorkshire Water, who regularly instruct chambers in Manchester and Leeds on many different issues.
But while direct instruction from in-house departments is a common occurrence on both sides of the Pennines, for the most part chambers in the area have failed to fully capitalise on a rich market on its doorstep.
