In-house counsel are increasingly instructing barristers directly, but, despite some major cost benefits, it’s an approach that doesn’t work for everyone. Alex Aldridge reports
When Orange and T-Mobile announced in July that they would review their line-up of legal advisers in the wake of their merger to become Everything Everywhere, the newly-formed company’s general counsel James Blendis (formerly head of legal at T-Mobile) was keen to stress that the new panel would include barristers chambers as well as law firms. Blendis (pictured) told Legal Week at the time: “We have had success instructing directly to the Bar in the past and would be keen to continue working in this way with the larger group of internal lawyers.”
