When you enter ‘Enigma Solicitors‘ into many search engines, the search results include Enigma Barristers’ Chambers as well our own site.
Enigma Chambers state on their website that the days when you needed to instruct a solicitor and barrister in the same matter are long gone.
Enigma Chambers correctly point out on their website the differences between solicitors and barristers.
They then suggest that if you directly instruct barristers from their Chambers you will remove unnecessary barriers and saves cost by the removal of solicitors, whom they describe as ’intermediaries’.
We do not agree with the views about solicitors expressed by Enigma Chambers.
We sue solicitors on behalf of clients for negligence on a regular basis. We have also been involved in negligence cases against barristers.
We wish to look beyond the labels of ‘solicitor’ and ‘barrister’ and try to provide an intelligent contribution to the debate about how the legal profession in the 21st century should modernise and best serve the needs of its Clients.
Barristers have an important role to play as experts in their own fields. Many of them of course have undoubted expertise in their specialist fields when providing drafting, advice and advocacy services. Solicitors also provide these services, in many cases without the assistance of a barrister. Solicitors will engage the services of barristers on cases when specialist advice, advocacy or drafting skills are required that can be provided in a more cost-effective manner and / or to a higher standard by the barrister than the solicitor.
Traditionally, solicitors have more experience than barristers in managing a case from start to finish and preparing the case for trial. Solicitors have much more experience of explaining the whole process to clients, as a case develops, and discussing their concerns with them. Traditionally, barristers have much less experience dealing with procedural and costs / funding issues.
Clients would probably in many cases welcome the prospect of their solicitor and barrister working in the same building, if not within the same organisation, as a more effective team.
In our experience, Clients want a specialist solicitor acting for them and taking care of their interests. Litigation can require detailed care and attention throughout, often at short notice or even in unsociable hours. Clients often need instant access to the person handling their case and instant action. A specialist solicitor should understand the strategic and tactical process from start to finish and manage the progress of your case throughout. At Enigma Solicitors we have years of experience and an excellent track record of doing exactly that.
Our aim is to give our clients access to the best legal services available. Sometimes this aim will require the use of barristers. Our aim always is to act in our Clients’ bests interests to deliver the best service we can in the most effective and cost-effective manner.
The choice of legal representative can be extremely important to a Client.
We think that Clients should always consider this choice carefully by looking at all the options available and weighing up all the factors.
Legal costs are always an issue. We actively consider with clients ways in which they can reduce costs throughout their case.
We are happy to discuss all of these issues with clients and prospective Clients.
Enigma Solicitors are not linked to Enigma Chambers in any way.
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