A new scheme to promote direct access to the Bar through a centralised portal of barristers has been launched this month, marking the latest in a string of moves to increase direct instructions.

Direct access – or, as the Bar Council prefers, public access to the Bar – is not a new concept. Its Public Access Rules came into force in 2004, enabling ordinary members of the public to instruct ...

Lucas Downey is the co-founder of MoneyFlows, and an Investopedia Academy instructor. Katharine Beer is a writer, editor, and archivist based in New York. She has a broad range of experience in ...