Terms of Business

Briefing Ashley:

Ashley can be booked by telephone, letter, fax or e-mail and all such bookings will be acknowledged by email and formally confirmed by letter immediately thereafter.

Ashley requests that in order to meet his commitment to his instructing solicitors and clients, he and/or his support staff are:-

i) informed as soon as possible of the date(s) of hearing of the case;

ii) supplied as soon as possible of the brief / papers required for the hearing;

iii) informed immediately when a case is settled or any listed hearing is adjourned to avoid late cancellation costs.

Instructing Ashley – Paperwork:

Upon receipt of the papers supporting his instructions Ashley will wherever possible and practical attend to the same immediately.

Unless notified otherwise instructing solicitors are to expect that Ashley will complete any paperwork he receives within 14 days of its receipt and unless requested otherwise the same will be forwarded to his instructing solicitor by email.

In the event that any instructions are to be carried out earlier than this time period, Ashley’s written instructions are to be marked in red as urgent specifying the latest date upon which such work is required to be returned and such an express date return must be confirmed with Ashley at the outset of his instruction.

Ashley’s Acknowledgement upon Receipt:

Ashley Murray Chambers will acknowledge in writing all briefs/instructions received  by return. Please ensure that Acknowledgments are checked and Chambers informed immediately of any amendments required.

All briefs/instructions received will be kept under Ashley’s personal control or authority in a secure and confidential location and shall only be moved outside that in the event of Ashley working upon the same or taking the same to court for a hearing or to return the same upon completion of the instructions.

Ashley’s Fee Levels Criteria:

Ashley will agree his fees based upon a number of criteria as set out below, being:-

i) his seniority/expertise;

ii) the complexity of the case

iii) the value of the claim

iv) the preparation time required to complete his instructions/ prepare for the hearing;

v) the length of hearing and conference on hearing date

vi) any hotel and/or travel expenses.

Please refer to ‘Fees’ for full details of Ashley’s Standard Fee Ranges including his maximum liability limitation in respect of all instructions accepted by him in relation to advising and/or drafting Pre-Nuptial Agreements.

Ashley’s Fee Notes:

A fee note will accompany the return of briefs/instructions.

Should for any reason, a fee not be agreed before a hearing/ completion of any paperwork, Ashley will contact his instructing solicitor with a suggested fee based upon the criteria above.

Ashley will in the event of his attendance at a hearing without a representative of the instructing Solicitor, contact his instructing Solicitor as soon as possible after the hearing with a report of the result and he will keep a note of this or endorse the same on the back of the brief.

Ashley will inform his instructing solicitor immediately in respect of there being any likelihood of a delay in a case, or the return of instructions uncompleted and he will keep a note of this or endorse the same on the back of the brief.

Liability for and Payment of Ashley’s Fees:

Subject to Ashley’s agreement in writing otherwise, liability for and/or the payment of his fees in respect of any instruction given /booking of his services made will be pursuant to the Standard Contractual Terms for the Supply of Legal Services to Authorised Persons and any amendments thereto from time to time applicable – a copy can be accessed by clicking here : and in the event that Ashley has been booked for a Court hearing in respect of which the booking is subsequently cancelled by or on behalf of the client then, if the brief for that hearing has not already been delivered to Ashley, there shall be no liability for any fee for that cancelled booking save and except in the following circumstances:-

i)                    where the cancellation is in respect of a hearing listed for a day and the cancellation is made less than two full working days before the day of the hearing, then in such event the full brief fee for the hearing shall be payable; or

ii)                  where the cancellation is in respect of a hearing listed to last more than one day and the cancellation is made less than 7  days before the first day of the hearing then in such event the full brief fee for the first day of the hearing shall be payable; or

iii)                where the cancellation is in respect of a hearing listed to last more than one day and the cancellation is made 7 days to 14 days before the first day of the hearing then in such event one half of the full brief fee for the first day of the hearing shall be payable

Conflicts of Interest:

Ashley will, should there be a conflict of interest apparent in relation with his instructions, bring the same immediately to his instructing solicitors attention.

Comment upon Services:

Ashley encourages the provision by his instructing solicitors / client(s) of any evaluation of the quality of services provided by him.

Client Confidentiality:

Ashley and the members of his support staff fully recognise the importance of the need for Client Confidentiality at all times and the need to provide appropriately for the security of briefs/instructions and any additional paperwork provided.

Quality Assurance

Ashley is committed to providing the highest quality of service to both his solicitors and clients and has a widely recognised reputation for setting this standard.

Ashley introduced to his former Chambers where he was Head of the Family Group a requirement that solicitors and clients were entitled to receive from Counsel a detailed Note of Conference following every conference meeting and this was an innovation to the Northern Circuit and North Wales at that time.

Ashley was the first family practitioner on Circuit over two decades ago to provide the Court in every case in which he was briefed with a detailed written Summary and constructive appraisal of the issues involved. The same as a result of his lead and an eventual changer in the practice rules has become expected of Counsel appearing before the Court.

Ashley was the first family barrister on the Northern Circuit and North Wales, nearly 20 years ago, to solely specialise in divorce financial remedy work.

Ashley provides his solicitors with regular family law Flyers updating them upon newly published cases relating to financial remedy cases and these Flyers have become widely read amongst lawyers in the region.

Ashley continues to pursue the following objectives and core values:-

•  To advise his clients and represent them in Court in relation to all matters of law in which he specialises to the best of his ability, without fear or seeking favour whilst maintaining an up to the minute understanding of any changes in the relevant law;
• To use his vast experience of his field of practice to put forward his client’s case in the best possible light and to the maximum advantage of his client;
• To maintain a cutting edge understanding of his area of legal expertise and knowledge;
• To seek to provide the very best and bespoke service to his professional client and lay client at the most competitive price available for such a service;
• To seek to ensure that there is an ease of access to him and his services available for his professional client at all times
• To ensure that there is absolute transparency in the fee structure applied in respect of his services to both his professional client and lay client;
• To ensure that at all times the lay client receives clear and understandable advice.

Ashley achieves the above objectives in the following ways:-

•  He ensures that his client is informed by him at all stages of his involvement in a case in which he is instructed of any significant developments and the structure and meaning of the case presentation to be submitted on the client’s behalf;
• He ensures that he maintains a professional relationship with his colleagues and the Court;
• He hosts seminar events at which other experts as well as himself deliver lectures upon the state and development of the law in which he specialises and he regularly gives seminars at other legal events and is a legal author of many published family law articles and  a co-editor of a standard legal textbook, Cohabitation, Law Practice and Precedents. Lexis/Nexus.
• He provides to his professional clients several methods of communicating with him over any aspect of the law in which he specialises and is always prepared to meet with his client at his solicitors offices if requested.
• He provides his professional and lay client with a detailed Note of any Conference which he undertakes within 24 hours of the meeting concerned.
• He publishes on his website and will make available to his professional and lay client upon request a detailed list of the range of fees he is likely to charge.
• He maintains a client care statement which he has published on ashleymurraychambers.co.uk website at www.ashleymurraychambers.co.uk

For a copy of Ashley’s Quality Assurance Statement please click here.

For a copy of The New Standard Contractual Terms for the Supply of Legal Services by Barristers to Authorised Persons please click here.