Report comment

The reality is barristers offer so little to the immigration solicitor that an experienced immigration solicitor will only seek counsel's advice on an application for Judicial Review and only if it involves something complex enough to merit a permission or substantive hearing. Advocacy at the tribunal, particularly the FTT and to a lesser extent at the Upper Tribunal is not particularly complex once you have got the hang of the procedure. If the Bar disagrees then the Bar has direct access now so compete, you know, actually compete, in the same way that Solicitors have been doing for years - marketing, client care, complaints procedures, red tape etc - that's what law firms have to do every day to survive rather than producing self-serving reports when the going gets tough.

A report which, on the face of it, regurgitates service-related complaints is not going to suddenly make me instruct barristers.