The Bar Council will now encourage all professionals, from accountants to vets, to avoid solicitors’ fees by contacting barristers directly on matters which are not contentious.

Hugh Mohan, the chairman of the Bar Council, said: “The Bar Council is keen to engage with the public, particularly in ways which allow us to be more consumer-focused. There are many times when professionals might want the advice of a barrister on matters which are non-contentious and, in these cases, there is no reason why they should not ring up directly.”

Professionals who wish to retain a barrister for contentious cases will still have to retain a solicitor to act as an agent and intermediary. The Bar Council did not need to change its rules to launch its latest offensive. Called Direct Professional Access, the rule change that allows professionals to contact barristers directly was brought in in 1993 but, in the absence of any promotion by the Bar Council has been largely ignored.”

One senior counsel said: “Nobody has ever used this provision. I guarantee that if you talk to any accountant in any town in Ireland they won’t even know that they can contact a barrister directly.”

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