Gray’s Inn Construction Chambers is specialist set of chambers specialising exclusively in construction and engineering. Our barristers’ practice is in the following core areas:
Construction and Engineering: This is the largest field of practice within Gray’s Inn Construction Chambers.
Gray’s Inn Construction Chambers is led by Charles Edwards. Chambers is committed to providing outstanding legal advice, drafting and specialist advocacy services in the whole spectrum of construction law and dispute resolution cases ranging from advice on construction contracts in relation to JCT Standard Form of Building Contracts, NEC3 and NEC4 Contracts (New Engineering Contract), adjudication, arbitration and litigation. Barristers in chambers act for contractors, subcontractors, employers, claims consultants, quantity surveyors, contract administrators, architects, engineers, companies, corporate bodies, individuals involved in the construction industry and solicitors.
Construction Litigation: The barristers in the Construction Litigation team provide advice and representation to a range of clients including companies, organisations, partnerships and individuals. Our barristers act for and represent clients across the full range of construction disputes in the County Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
The following set out below are invited to contact chambers by telephone on 020 7193 2427 or by email to [email protected] to discuss suitable Counsel, the availability of Counsel and/or to ask for a quote for our barristers’ services:
We will provide you with a quote as soon as possible. We always aim to set out quotes clearly, but if you receive your quote and there is something you do not understand, please contact us.
Barristers in chambers act in privately funded cases. Different barristers like to work in different ways, so the way they charge for their work varies but there are two basic pricing models in respect of privately funded work:
A fixed fee is a fee agreed in advance for a particular piece of work. It may be calculated by reference to the amount of work likely to be involved (amongst other possible factors discussed further below) but, once agreed, the fee will not vary according to the amount of time it takes the barrister to complete the work unless the scope of the work changes significantly and you agree. If you agree to engage a barrister at his hourly rate, he will charge you at that rate for the number of hours which it takes him to complete the work which he has been instructed to perform. All fees will also be subject to applicable VAT.
Different barristers charge at different hourly rates and demand different fixed fees according to a large number of different factors the most important of which are: their area of expertise; the extent, nature and difficulty of the work likely to be involved in any particular case; their experience; and their standing within the profession. The latter two criteria are generally judged by the barrister’s year of call as well as the number and type of cases in which they have previously been engaged.
The way in which a particular barrister charges as well as the rate at which they charge may vary according to the nature and difficulty of the case as well as other market forces.
A barrister may decide from time to time to increase the rate at which they charge. That will never happen mid-instruction but it may happen in the course of a long-running case, if it does, we will let you know and you will have the option either to agree to pay the barrister at the increased rate or to instruct another barrister.
Chambers is always happy to discuss individual barristers’ fees on a case by case basis and to provide written quotations provided that you are able to provide them with sufficient information to enable them and/or the barrister to form an opinion as to the amount of work likely to be entailed in providing the services requested and any other information which may be necessary for them to be able to estimate the appropriate fee. Once any information reasonably requested has been provided our clerks will provide the client with a written quotation in clear readily understandable terms for the work in question within a reasonable time having regard to the urgency of the request and the timescales involved.
It is important to emphasise that the provision of a quotation does not mean that the barrister will be obliged to accept your instructions. If you accept the barrister’s quotation and proceed to provide instructions, the barrister will then be obliged to consider whether they are able, under their Code of Conduct, to accept your instructions.
Our barristers most often charge fixed fees for privately funded work which is calculated using an hourly rate. The setting of hourly rates is not necessarily straightforward and a number of factors may determine the rate that is set, for example the seniority of barrister, the type of client, and the type, complexity and financial value of the case.
Fees for trials are usually calculated on the basis of a brief fee and refresher. A brief fee is a fixed fee which covers preparation for the trial and the first day of the trial. A refresher is a fixed fee for each subsequent day of the trial.
Our barristers also accept instructions under conditional fee agreements (“no win, no fee” agreements) in certain circumstances. For more information, please contact chambers by telephone on 020 7193 2427 or by email on [email protected].
Timescales for a case may vary depending on factors such as barristers’ availability, the type and complexity of the case, the need for additional documents, the other side’s approach, and court waiting times.
If you have a specific deadline you must tell us at the earliest possible opportunity so that account can be taken of that deadline in selecting a barrister who will be able to complete the work within the time available as well as the fee which is to be payable. In the case of advocacy services and some drafting services, the deadline will often be obvious and/or governed by the rules of Court.
If you are a member of the public, the Bar Standards Board’s Public Access Guidance for Lay Clients is found here. This will help you to understand how the Public Access scheme works, and explains how you can use it to instruct a barrister directly.
You can search the Barristers’ Register on the Bar Standards Board’s website: https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/for-the-public/search-a-barristers-record/the-barristers-register.html
This shows (1) whether a barrister has a current practising certificate, and (2) whether a barrister has any disciplinary findings, which are published on the Bar Standard Board’s website in accordance with their policy. Alternatively, you can contact the Bar Standards Board on 020 7611 1444 to ask about this (or e-mail [email protected]).
The following page on our website provides information about: our complaints procedure; any right you might have to complain to the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) – the independent body which can help you if you have complained to your lawyer and are not happy with their response; how to complain to LeO; and any time limits for making a complaint.
You can also search the decision data on LeO’s website:
http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/raising-standards/data-and-decisions/#ombudsman-decision-data
This shows which providers of legal services received an ombudsman’s decision in the previous 12 months, and whether LeO required the provider to give the consumer a remedy. Alternatively, you can contact LeO on 0300 555 0333 to ask about this (or by e-mail at [email protected])
Gray’s Inn Construction Chambers is regulated by the Bar Standards Board.
Gray’s Inn Construction Chambers is a construction barristers’ chambers that specialises exclusively in construction and engineering law matters, both contentious and non-contentious.
Barristers regulated by the Bar Standards Boards
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