Coronavirus

The COVID-19 situation continues, with the most recent announcement recommending that those of us who can, work from home. While we are complying with government advice as it develops, we wanted to assure you that we have the resources, systems and infrastructure to continue to deliver work in the usual way and to support any of your changing requirements over this period. Our priority remains delivering a high stand of professional services to you our clients.

• Our procedure in response has been in place for a few weeks, and is reviewed daily. The Management Board and Practice Managers are meeting daily to review and evaluate next steps as they develop and to flex our business planning as appropriate. This will continue for the duration of this pandemic.
• We have already taken a number of steps to comply with government guidance by postponing events, setting up teleconference facilities and Skype conferences as required.
• The majority of our members are now working from home. We have a tried and tested remote working arrangement and our clerks and support teams are set up to work in an agile way, so that they can respond quickly to enquiries. We have minimised face-to-face meetings, and are operating as business as usual in terms of our service to you.

Our teams can be contacted via the usual office telephone numbers, mobile numbers and email.  Our members are accustomed to providing written and telephone advices and can do so at short notice where required.  We have full remote access to our diary management system and have comprehensive cloud-based case management and document storage solutions. We use electronic papers and would ask that all papers are sent in electronically.

We know all business will will face many challenges in the coming months, some specific to your industry and we look forward to discussing how we can continue to support you in the coming weeks. Please do get in touch directly with the Practice Managers, CEO or Office Manager.

Chambers is prepared for the impact of any Coronavirus restrictions and any precautionary measures.  We are following Government and Bar Council and Bar Standards Board advice, as well as updates from Public Health England.  Our primary focus is the health of our staff, barristers and clients.

Our cleaning contractors and local suppliers are working with us to ensure everyone’s safety, including additional and enhanced cleaning, hand washing and sterilisation.

If you have booked a conference that requires attendance in person by one of our barristers at Chambers, you will be asked to confirm compliance with UK Gov guidelines. Please do not be alarmed or embarrassed. Our intention is to ensure all conferences take place in a safe environment and that we follow latest government guidance. These questions may include questions about recent travel, any relevant symptoms or interaction with anyone who has had any relevant symptoms. We are asking this of anyone who attends Chambers and ask that only essential parties attend.

Please be aware, we are following the latest Government advice in relation to self-isolation. Therefore, if you have come into contact with anyone who has one of the two main symptoms of a persistent cough or a fever (raised temperature), or if you have one or both of those symptoms, we ask that you do not attend any of our sites or any hearing for at least 14 days. Please inform us of any relevant symptom as soon as practical. If one of our staff or barristers believes that any visitor to Chambers displays any of these symptoms they may ask to terminate the conference and rearrange the meeting over the telephone or via video link. We hope that you will work with us to ensure this policy can be carried out so as to protect our barristers, staff and clients.

We can be contacted at the details on our contact page as normal.

If you need a direct dial telephone number for a members of our clerking team please click here for a full staff list.

We look forward to working with you at this difficult time.