TRANSPARENCY RULES
BSB Transparency Rules
We are an entity regulated by the Bar Standards Board (BSB). The BSB have brought in new transparency rules following the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA's) recommendation in December 2016 that the legal regulators deliver a step change in transparency standards to help consumers understand the price and service they will receive, what redress is available and the regulatory status of their provider.
Gerard McDermott KC Ltd provides the following information in compliance with the mandatory rules on price, service and redress transparency for BSB entities.
The mandatory rules state that we must:
State that professional, licensed access and/or lay clients (as appropriate) may contact us as a BSB entity to obtain a quotation for legal services.
You can contact Gerard McDermott KC Ltd on 01613044305 or by email on michelle@mcdermottkc.com to obtain a quote.
Provide our contact details.
You can contact us here.
State our most commonly used pricing models for legal services.
Our most commonly used pricing models for privately funded work are either a fixed fee or an hourly rate, depending on the nature of the work. We may agree to deal with your case on a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) basis. That means we would only get paid a fee in the event of winning the case. That would include the initial consideration of the case.
The level of our fees will depend largely on how much time is spent dealing with your case, the complexity of the case and the length of time dealing with it.
For more information about our fees, please visit our fees page here.
State the areas of practice and provide a description of chambers most commonly provides legal services.
You can find our practice areas and a description of the services we provide on here.
Provide information about the factors which might influence the timescales of chambers’ most commonly provided legal services.
Factors which may influence the timescale of our legal services include the nature and complexity of the work, the availability of appropriate evidence and work load at the time of enquiry. We aim to keep you informed if timescales change for any reason. If we are instructed to provide services regarding litigation, timescales will usually depend on similar factors such as response times of the court; the opponent; and any other third parties directly involved in the litigation.
Display information about the complaints procedure, any right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman (LeO), how to complain to the LeO, and any time limits for making a complaint.
You can view our Complaint’s Policy here.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint and you fall within their jurisdiction, you have the right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman, the independent complains body for service complaints against lawyers. Please note the Ombudsman is not able to consider your complaint unless it has been first investigated by us. To find out more about complaining to the Legal Ombudsman.
See the decision data on the LeO’s website, this can be found here.
Link to the Barristers’ Register page on the BSB website.
Gerard McDermott KC is a self-employed barrister regulated by the Bar Standards Board. You can search all barristers that are registered on the Bar Standards Board’s website by clicking here. You can search for a barrister and the website will show you if the barrister has a current practising certificate and also if there are any disciplinary findings.
Additional transparency rules for public access work
Gerard McDermott KC Ltd is registered to undertake public access work, this means we are able to supply legal services directly to the public.
Gerard McDermott KC is qualified to conduct litigation however in most cases it is likely we will require the involvement of a solicitor before we are instructed to act.
Please click here to view the Public Access Guidance for Lay Clients on the BSB's website.
We are complaint with the obligations under the BSB's price transparency policy statement for certain types of Public Access services. Please click here to see details for public access work (including rates).