20. The letter from the BFLSS saying that the case is accepted will give the applicant details of the barrister allocated to deal with the case and will say what will happen next, for example that the barrister will send his/her Opinion in due course or that a meeting is required and how that should be arranged.

21. From that point onwards, the applicant should deal with the barrister direct and the BFLSS will cease to be actively involved unless there are unexpected difficulties. If the application has been made through a solicitor or other adviser, they - and not the client - should be the channel of communication with the barrister: advisers are asked to explain this to the client. It is also the responsibility of advisers to explain the basis on which the barrister is acting. Applicants should understand that whilst the barristers are offering their services free of charge, this does not include payment of expenses such as court fees, photocopying and other incidental expenses.

22. The applicant or the solicitor/adviser must be prepared to provide promptly any further information/documents which the barrister requires and attend any meetings.

Once the case is accepted the barrister will deal with it like any other professional case. It does sometimes happen that a Court hearing is arranged at a time when he/she is already committed to another case. Usually there is ample notice of this and a replacement can be arranged through the Scheme in good time or the time of the hearing rearranged. Very occasionally the problem arises at short notice. In such a case every effort will be made to arrange to find a replacement or to rearrange the hearing date, but the BFLSS can give no absolute guarantee that that will be possible. A barrister may also have to give up the case if ordinary professional rules prohibit him/her from acting.

(Last Updated: Oct 2008)