Five recruiters who worked for an online portal linking direct access barristers with the public have accused their former employer of failing to stick to rewards that were allegedly promised if they persuaded advocates to join the site.

Mybarrister.co.uk is facing a High Court claim from the five who say their targets were harder than expected and that promises of commission had not been met.

In the claim, the recruiters allege that the initial target, agreed in 2014, was to be paid in the form of 5% of share capital should 1,000 barristers sign up within a year.

However, after the recruiters claimed that the targets were unachievable a strategy meeting was called when, according to the defendants, it was agreed that the original agreement would be honoured if 300 barristers were recruited. The defendants claim the second pledge was not adhered to.

Mybarrister denied that the initial agreement had been altered in the first place and said that it would have been put in writing. It added that, even after the date for reaching 300 members had passed, there were only 282 active members.

In a judgment published last week, the High Court rejected an attempt by the online portal’s founder Ronald DeKoven to strike out the claim. Judge Daniel Alexander QC said that there had been repeated delays to the case and that it ‘can and should’ be heard quickly.