Barristers' chambers in Melbourne

How Melbourne is organised

Two structures sit side by side at the Victorian Bar. Once you can tell them apart, the rest falls into place.

Chambers are the rooms. Barristers' Chambers Limited (BCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Victorian Bar, provides chambers, a technology network, a service desk and managed floor services across seven buildings in the courts precinct. Other chambers operate outside BCL under their own names.

Lists are the clerks. Most barristers are on the list of a licensed clerk, who manages briefs, fees and availability. A list is organised around a clerk, and a chambers around a building or floor.

The Legal Profession Uniform Conduct (Barristers) Rules 2015 say nothing about either arrangement. Both are creations of the Bar.

The BCL buildings

BCL names eight chambers in its seven buildings. Two of them share 140 William Street.

The Victorian Bar's own office is on Level 5 of Owen Dixon Chambers East.

Some floors inside these buildings carry a name of their own. They are BCL floors, and the Bar lists them among the BCL chambers.

Getting a room. BCL chambers are open to all members of the Victorian Bar. Vacancies are advertised each week, and you apply online, nominating up to three rooms. Where a room is not part of a registered group, BCL offers it to applicants in order of seniority. Where it is, the group ranks the applicants.

The terms. Occupation is a contractual licence under BCL's Chamber Rules of Occupancy. The Rules state that it creates contractual rights only and no tenancy. The standard occupancy is 30 days, with 90-day occupancies on leased floors such as Ninian Stephen Chambers and Rosanove Chambers. There is no entry cost, and you can move between BCL buildings as your practice changes.

Sharing. You may share a room with one or more other barristers. BCL approves each arrangement, including the fee split, and everyone sharing is jointly and severally liable for the fee.

Day chambers. BCL keeps furnished day chambers on level 5 of Owen Dixon Chambers East and level 11 of Aickin Chambers. They suit a barrister without a room, or one who needs a second room for the day.

Chambers outside BCL

The Bar also publishes a list of other chambers, separate from the BCL chambers. It runs to about fifty names. The chambers below are on that list and keep a website of their own.

Clerks and lists

The Victorian Bar describes a barristers' clerk as an agent who knows the skills, experience and availability of the barristers on the list. Clerks advise on suitability, availability and fee levels. They also negotiate fees, deliver and collect briefs, manage accounts and pass on court listing information.

Clerks are licensed by the Bar under its Clerking Regulations 2020, which commenced on 1 July 2020. The relationship between barrister and clerk is contractual, and no rule requires a barrister to have one.

The same clerks are approved to receive trust money on barristers' behalf. Under section 88 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (Vic), the Victorian Legal Services Board may approve a natural person to receive trust money on account of barristers' legal costs in advance of the work. Section 87A provides that a person who is not an approved clerk must not receive it. The Board states that this longstanding Victorian arrangement avoids barristers receiving trust money directly.

The Bar lists thirteen licensed clerks.

Finding and briefing counsel

If you are not sure whom to brief, ring a clerk. That is the Bar's own advice. The clerk will talk through what you need, recommend counsel from the list and confirm availability.

The Bar's Find a Barrister directory covers members who hold a current Victorian or interstate practising certificate and have agreed to be listed. You can filter it by area of practice, clerk and chambers. Separate filters show barristers who take direct access work and those who accept briefs from in-house counsel.

Three rules in the Legal Profession Uniform Conduct (Barristers) Rules 2015, which apply in Victoria under the Legal Profession Uniform Law, explain how briefing works.

• Sole practice. Rule 12 requires a barrister to be a sole practitioner. A barrister must not practise in partnership or as an employee, so chambers are shared premises and never firms.
• The cab-rank principle. Rule 17 requires a barrister to accept a brief from a solicitor to appear before a court in a field in which the barrister practises or professes to practise. The brief must be within the barrister's capacity, skill and experience, the barrister must be available, and the fee must be acceptable. Rules 101, 103, 104 and 105 set out when a brief must or may be refused.
• Direct access. Rule 21 provides that nothing in the Rules obliges a barrister to accept instructions directly from a person who is not a solicitor. A barrister who proposes to do so must comply with rule 22. The barrister must tell the client in writing about the effect of rules 11 and 13 and the disadvantages of having no instructing solicitor, and obtain a signed acknowledgement. Rule 22 does not apply to instructions from an officer of a government department or agency whose usual duties include engaging lawyers.

The Bar's Briefing a Barrister page adds that in-house counsel and government solicitors can brief a barrister without going through a law firm.

Coming to the Bar, and where a reader sits

If you are thinking of coming to the Bar, the Victorian Bar sets out four steps. You must be an Australian lawyer, pass the Bar's entrance examination, complete the Readers' Course, and read under an approved mentor.

The exam has three components: Legal Ethics, Evidence, and Practice and Procedure. The Readers' Course has a preliminary program, an in-person intensive, and a development program that continues after you sign the Bar Roll.

You find your own mentor. Under the Bar's Membership, Examination and Reading Regulations, a mentor must be a member of the Bar in active practice, must not be silk when your reading period starts, and must have at least 10 years on the Bar Roll by its end. You also nominate a senior mentor, who is silk.

During the reading period your mentor's chambers are your place of business, and you occupy them rent-free. Afterwards you take a room or share one. BCL offers readers a time-limited discount on a first room, which you must request when you accept it.

You apply to clerks' lists yourself, once you hold an offer of a place in the Readers' Course. The lists and the Bar agree guidelines for each intake that set the application and offer dates.

The precinct

The chambers buildings stand around William and Lonsdale Streets because the courts do.

Three different things carry the name Owen Dixon: the two chambers buildings and the federal courts building.

Rooms for mediations and conferences

The Victorian Bar Mediation Centre is on Level 11 of Castan Chambers, 460 Lonsdale Street. It has boardrooms and meeting rooms, video conferencing in select boardrooms, a business hub and staff on site. It also has a furnished day chamber that can be booked by the day or week.

Rosanove Chambers has several meeting rooms for its occupants, and video conferencing is available on the floors of Castan Chambers.