The chambers system will face growing pressure from clients who regard them as de facto partnerships as opposed to collections of individuals, the UK’s Bar Council chairman David Bean QC has warned.
Speaking at the International Bar Association’s Durban conference on 22 October, Bean warned that chambers faced pressure from members of the public and clients who “simply do not understand that chambers are not partnerships”.
The issue strikes at the heart of the chambers system as sets operate on the basis that teams of barristers can act for either side in cases – a practice outlawed within partnerships.
