• The Clerks' Room is staffed from Monday to Friday between 8.00am and 6.00pm or on a 24 hour basis via telephone.
• If you need to contact us urgently outside of office hours please telephone:
  Wayne Effeny: 07775 515341 or
  Mark Windebank: 07748 984852

College Chambers is committed to the Bar Council Code of Practice and complies fully with the practice Management Standards and Guidelines for the Bar. We are also accredited with the Legal Services Commission 'Quality Mark', for the management and administration of Chambers, including client care.

We do our utmost to provide the highest quality service for all of our clients. However, if we ever fail to meet the standards which you expect, we would like to know about it so that we can prevent it from happening again. As part of the LSC Quality Mark, College Chambers carries out the following procedures:

Instructions to Counsel

• We will provide a formal receipt of instructions on the day of receipt or first working day thereafter. A quotation can be provided at that point if required.
• Very urgent instructions will be dealt with accordingly. Otherwise, all papers are considered by the barrister within seven days of receipt. Any requests for further information will be made within that time. If the barrister is unable to deal with any instructions, or is unable to deal with them promptly, you will be notified by telephone. Transfer of the instructions to another member of Chambers or an extension of time, will then be discussed.
• In ordinary circumstances, your instructions will be dealt with within fifteen working days of receipt unless otherwise agreed. If that time is likely to be exceeded, you will be contacted immediately with the reason and asked how you wish to proceed.
• We will treat all instructions and correspondence received in the strictest confidence.
• We may provide completed instructions to you by email and/or fax in addition to post and DX.
• All telephone calls which cannot be dealt with immediately will be returned on the same day whenever possible, and in any case at the first reasonable opportunity.
• If a conference is deemed necessary, we will agree a suitable date and time with you.
• We will ensure that the barrister has sufficient time for preparation, we expect your co-operation in this regard

Briefs to Counsel

Hearings, instructions and acceptance
It is our policy to ensure that we communicate regularly with our professional clients. We normally require that the brief be forwarded to College Chambers five days before a hearing. We realise that, on occasions, there are extenuating circumstances when all parties have to work within very limited timescales. In these circumstances, we will endeavour to accommodate the majority of requests.

• Barristers instructed to attend court will be present 30 minutes before the hearing, unless alternative arrangements have been agreed.
• When a trial or other hearing in Court is booked (subject to emergencies) we will ensure that Counsel has sufficient time for preparation. Many cases now require skeleton arguments to be lodged in advance of the hearing so it is therefore essential that instructions are sent giving ample time for preparation. For our part, we shall ensure that we arrive at court within plenty of time to allow time for discussion with yourself and your client.
• If necessary, the amount of time will be agreed with you and specifically allocated in our diary.
• Barristers will not be double booked for Court hearings by our Clerks without your knowledge. When you contact Chambers we will advise you if the barrister of your choice has an existing commitment and establish your wishes as to use of an alternative member of Chambers. Should you wish to double-book your preferred barrister, our clerks will keep you informed as to likely availability as the court date approaches.
• In case of illness or other unavoidable difficulty (for example where another case overruns or is listed by a higher court in circumstances beyond our control) you will be immediately informed. We will suggest and hold available alternative members if we are requested to do so.
• On completion of the work, briefs are returned.