Just a short post to say I’ve finally got my public access site back on stream – it has been poorly for some time due to some inexplicable technical problem.

Do take a look if you or someone you know may wish to instruct me. It should give a good idea of what I do and don’t do and how I operate public access.

My clerks get a lot of enquiries from people who have found me on the internet, but I often have to say no because

• they are unable to pay any fees (sadly I’ve had to beef up what I say on the site about this because experience has taught me (and my clerks) that people often “forget” to mention the fact that they have no funds in the hope that I will give a little bit of off the cuff free advice by accident. Sorry, but this is not economically viable or fair on clients – I advise properly or not at all.)
• they are at the other end of the country and it is not economic or practical to instruct a barrister so far away
• they are not able to manage the “litigation” part of the case or the case itself requires a solicitor to handle and sort it out (not suitable for public access)
• the area of work is something I don’t cover
• I am unavailable on the date of the hearing or can’t do the necessary amount of work by the time a deadline expires

Public access is a great option to have available, but is not always better or cheaper – it depends on the case and the client. If a case is unsuitable for public access a client can request that their solicitor instructs a barrister of their choice, and I quite often send potential clients off to find a solicitor, on the basis that myself or another barrister can always be instructed at a later stage if required.

The site is designed to try and help people to avoid making enquiries that are bound not to go anywhere and includes an enquiry form containing a lot of the basic questions that I need answered before I can make any decisions about whether I can help – saving clients and my clerks time and energy.

The site is at www.lucyreed.co.uk