The Brexit effect – EU law high on the list of searches for direct access barristers

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Doerries: encouraging growth

Civil, property and employment matters are the most-searched for areas of practice on the Bar Council’s Direct Access Portal, figures released yesterday showed – with EU law fourth on the list as people and businesses try to come to terms with Brexit.

The figures, from a sample of more than 9,000 searches made this year, showed that of the 70 areas of expertise, transport law was the least popular. The full list can be found below.

The portal was created by two Preston-based barristers – Pru Beever and Mike Whyatt of 15 Winckley Square Chambers – and then relaunched in July 2015 after they joined forces with the Bar Council, which ditched its direct access register as a result.

Bar Council chairman Chantal-Aimee Doerries QC said: “These findings give some indication of what the consumer, whether that be an individual member of the public or a small or medium sized business, are seeking the services of a direct access barrister for.

“The broad range of popular searches in the top 20 alone show the public are looking to barristers for all types of legal support. We can only assume that the reason EU law is so high up the rankings is because of the uncertainty of Brexit…

“It is encouraging to see that growing numbers are turning to direct access barristers for legal help.”

The top 20 most popular searches on the Direct Access Portal were, in order:

1. Civil
2. Property
3. Employment
4. EU
5. Professional negligence
6. Wills/inheritance
7. Administrative
8. Landlord and tenant
9. Commercial
10. Land
11. Intellectual property
12. Probate
13. Banking
14. Disability discrimination
15. Mental health
16. Personal injury
17. Court of Protection
18. Trusts
19. Defamation
20. Medical negligence