Mid defence case my Jnr Counsel has become Sen Counsel and cant continue with case.

o'grainne

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Hi, I am looking for advice please.

I am the Defendant in a Civil Case in the Circuit Court, it has not been set down for hearing yet and I have engaged a solicitor and a Junior Barrister, who have spent a lot of time getting my defence ready.

I have been informed by my solicitor that my barrister has "Taken Silk" (Senior Counsel), so I am wondering what happens now.

1. Can my barrister leave in the middle of my case?

2. Can he finish out my case as a Junior Counsel?

3. Can he finish my case as a Senior Counsel but without a Junior Counsel being engaged, as he has all the work done already? Cost comes into this one.


I want to keep my barrister as he is excellent and this case is what he specialises in and I do not want to start again with another one.

Any information will be greatly appreciated
 
My senior council had to resign from a case that she was running for me because she became President of Ireland. True.
 
Junior Counsel has become Senior Counsel

Waiting to speak to my solicitor. But I like to have as much infromation as possible.
I have found in the past (not with my current solicitor) that they do not know everything on everything. The law is complex and I have found that people who have experienced different aspects of it are a great source of information.;)
 
Talk to your solicitor. Usually barristers on becoming Seniors agree with their solicitor on handing over the Circuit Court brief to a junior counsel.
 
Junior Counsel has become Senior Counsel

I fully intend to discuss it with my solicitor.

But I do not want to hand it over to another Junior Counsel I want the Counsel that I have engaged, hence my query can I insist he finish my case?
 
I fully intend to discuss it with my solicitor.

But I do not want to hand it over to another Junior Counsel I want the Counsel that I have engaged, hence my query can I insist he finish my case?

No. You cannot insist. But you can stamp your little foot as much as you like.

mf
 
No. You cannot insist. But you can stamp your little foot as much as you like.

mf

Haha love it!

OP sorry but your Counsel is now an SC and he/she will not continue with your case. Seniors generally don't practise in the Circuit Court.
 
If there are settlement talks the Senior will generally agree to act and take junior fees. If it actually goes to trial a junior will take over. You can't demand they finish your matter. You shouldn't worry though, I'm sure the new junior will be just as good and will be up to speed with your case very quickly
 
I guess the thing to do is make sure the cost for briefing of the JC doesn't come out of your pocket. Or better again I suppose, wish the SC well in his new salubrious role, but you won't be paying him anything.

Seriously, the point I'm trying to make is that you should make sure that you don't have to pay more because of this situation
 
"No. You cannot insist. But you can stamp your little foot as much as you like.

mf "


You are howwid,so howwid.
I'm gonna cwy and cwy and cwy until I womit
 
I think the OPs question/request is reasonable.
In general, in other fields, if you engage an individual for professional services you would expect them to see it through to completion.
 
You might expect them to, but it doesnt always happen. People get sick, die, have babies, get married, leave the country, suffer bereavements. Professionals are human too, they can't always finish something for reasons outside their control. This is one of those times.
 
Wouldn't it be great if solicitors (who are supposed to act as the gateway to barristers, because us little people aren't smart enough to deal directly with barristers) covered these kinds of scenarios when engaging a barrister?

Most individual clients will engage a barrister once or twice in their lifetime, so they could be forgiven for not considering this possibility beforehand. This is not an unforseen event, like illness or bereavement. This is an expected and predictable outcome. The solicitor should really have planned for this, and advised the client accordingly.
 
The fact of the matter is that it is very common for one barrister not to see a case through from beginning to end. The way our system works is that courts clash with each other and one barrister may have cases on the same day in two different courts. If that happens they will go with the heavier case load and the other cases will be handed over to other barristers, sometimes within days of the court date. The solicitor will then have to find a new barrister to deal with the case. However barristers are used to taking on cases at the last minute.

Court cases are a little like novels- there are no new plots. Each case has it's own twists but most cases are capable of being digested by an experienced barrister easily. Where a case is too complex to be handed over the solicitor will not let the barrister hand over like that ( we have ways...;)).
 
I don't dispute this, but does anyone generally bother to explain this to the client up front?
 
I don't dispute this, but does anyone generally bother to explain this to the client up front?

It doesn't sound like it was explained to the OP, but yes, I'd imagine most clients coming in to a solicitor for a consultation with regard to a potential litigation case would get a general overview of what they can expect with regard to their case.

What you mentioned though is that the solicitor should have planned for this-that it was an expected and predictable outcome. I'd dispute that it was an 'expected and predictable outcome'- the solicitor could not have known this was about to happen. But as for planning for it-there's nothing to plan, another barrister will take it over- that's very common and won't prejudice the OP's case in any way.
 
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