An associate at Brodies has revealed details of a ground-breaking new company that he believes could shake up the way that Scottish solicitors instruct and deal with members of the Faculty of Advocates.
Personal injury specialist Gordon Stead leaves Brodies on 27 April to launch Instruct Counsel Ltd, a new service which will act as a middle man to take all the hassle and uncertainty out of instructing advocates and QCs.
Stead has been working on the idea for the past year and it comes after he has experienced problems and varying standards in the way advocates work and handle cases and files.
The new service launches on 7 May and initially will only take instruction for personal injury cases.
Stead is financing the new company personally and currently has a roster of advocates that he has worked with in the past that he believes will provide a high quality service and meet all of Instruct Counsel’s strict quality assurances.
Stead said: “There are various reasons why I am launching this business now. It has been an idea that I have been refining for a while, but with the potential changes taking place at the Bar at the moment there is room there for someone to come in and add a bit of professionalism to it. I think the changes I can see that have been proposed at the Faculty may well meet the needs of advocates but they do not really address the needs of solicitors. That is why I am coming at it from a slightly different angel. I haven’t heard anything in the proposals that will make any difference at the coalface if you like.”