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How Barristers Charge Their Fees

How much does a barrister charge? How does a barrister charge for attending court? Is a barrister required to agree his fees in advance for attending court? For other kinds of work, is a barrister also required to agree his fees in advance? How does a barrister fix the level of "the Brief", "the Refresher" and "the hourly rate"? Is a barrister entitled to be paid his brief fee if a case in which he is instructed to attend court is settled or adjourned? What about any entitlement to refresher fees if a case is settled or adjourned or if the hearing is shortened? Is a barrister entitled to be paid any fee if he is asked to mark his diary and reserve an available date for a case? Can a barrister sue a solicitor or lay client to recover his outstanding fees? Is there a mechanism to resolve the dispute relating to a barrister's fees? Are a barrister's fees negotiable? What should I do if I find the barrister's fees to be exorbitant? How do I know if the fees quoted by a barrister are reasonable? How do I find out the qualifications and experience of a barrister?

There is no requirement in the Code of Conduct that a barrister must agree his fees in advance for doing other kinds of work. However, a prudent solicitor will always obtain from a barrister an indication of at least the range of his fees for doing an item of work other than court appearances. The solicitor will then be able to inform the client of this and obtain the client's consent to engage the barrister for doing a particular item of work. The fees charged for such work vary as each piece of work differs in terms of the amount of papers to be read, the complexity of the legal issues raised and the time required to resolve various questions which needed to be resolved. A barrister should not commence work unless and until there is confirmation that the estimated fee quoted is acceptable to the client.