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Product category: Engineering Industry Developments and Awards
News Release from: The Engineering Council
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial Team on 02 April 2004

Chartered Engineers gain legal status

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The Bar Council has approved an application by ECUK which will enable all Chartered Engineers to instruct barristers directly for advice on matters falling within their engineering discipline.

The Bar Council has approved an application by ECUK which will enable all Chartered Engineers to instruct barristers directly for advice on matters falling within their engineering discipline This is an extension of the existing recognition of Chartered Engineers in membership of IMechE, ICE, IEE, IChemE and IStructE

Traditionally, barristers had to be instructed by a solicitor but about 10 years ago the Bar Council introduced a scheme whereby certain professional people such as accountants and engineers could instruct barristers directly without having to go through a solicitor.

A solicitor would still have to be involved in the case of, for example, court action, but a Chartered Engineer who simply wants advice on a contract, for example, can now instruct a barrister directly.

This saves time and money because often, in such cases, a specialist Chartered Engineer will know exactly what advice he or she needs and what information needs to be presented to the specialist barrister, and involving a solicitor in such cases would slow the process down and increase costs without "adding value".

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