As the Bar becomes more fractured, with many barristers working alone and taking on work directly from the public, outsourced digital dictation and call handling provider ServicesNowGroup has launched a dedicated resource for the Bar called TotalCounselNow.
TotalCounselNow provides a range of services to support individual barristers or chambers, including transcription, copy-typing, call handling, reception services, fee management and diary management services.
Calls are handled in the UK by legal secretaries and clerks on a pay-as-you-go basis, a model that has proved appealing in the wider legal sector.
Solicitor and co-founder of ISO certified provider ServicesNowGroup Maxine Park said: “As a business we understand the legal sector and the pressure it is under to improve efficiency and productivity, whilst keeping costs under control.
“Our new range of services was shaped by the efforts of the Bar Standards Board in seeking ways to improve public access to barristers. This has encouraged many barristers to work alone, often from home or small offices and accept instruction direct from members of the public or commercial organisations.
“When a barrister becomes involved in a complicated case, we can easily handle phone calls, manage appointments, type documents etc., at a moment’s notice. Once the case is finished and the barrister has time for the more mundane support and marketing activities needed to bring in more work, our service can be switched off as easily as it was engaged.”