Barristers and solicitors are the two main branches of the legal profession in a number of countries, such as Ireland and the UK. They are regulated by their respective regulatory bodies, the Law Society for solicitors and the Bar Council for barristers. Solicitors tend to be the first point of contact for most people seeking legal advice. Barristers, on the other hand, are specialists engaged by solicitors on behalf of their clients in order to provide advice about specific issues, or to represent clients in court.

Barristers are trained advocates and are invariably engaged for important court cases. But that is not their only role. For example, barristers who specialise in specific areas of law (in addition to litigation) can also provide advice about that area of law, whether or not there is any litigation involved. If, let's say, you have been left an inheritance in a will which is being contested by another person, you can seek a barrister's opinion regarding whether or not that person is coorect in challenging the will.

Transactional work such as drafting wills and contracts can normally be done by a solicitor without needing to engage a barrister.

Certainly. Mahmud advises clients in all parts of the country. It will be necessary to arrange a consultation with you; however, this can be done by teleconference or telephone. Where it is necessary to hold a face-to-face consultation in person, we can arrange this for a time and location which suits yourself and Mahmud.

Barristers who have gained sufficient experience may apply to be considered for the title of "Senior Counsel" (in Ireland) or "Queen's Counsel" (in the UK). This is a mark of excellence which entitles that barrister to certain privileges, for example being regarded as a senior advocate in the highest courts.

The first question to consider is whether you need a Senior Counsel. In particular, it is important to consider the costs of engaging three lawyers - the solicitor, the barrister and the Senior Counsel. In order to engage a Senior Counsel, you must first have a solicitor and barrister, and they will help you decide whether or not a Senior Counsel is required, and to identify the most appropriate person for the job.

They are, but they play different roles in the litigation process. The barrister (or Junior Counsel) will normally carry out the research and draft the court documents. The Senior Counsel will review the documents and do most of the talking when the matter gets to court. But if there is no Senior Counsel then the Junior Counsel will do all the court work, including advocacy.

The reality is that you can hire as many lawyers as you want - it is not unusual for very high profile cases to have several Junior and Senior Counsel on the same side. But this will not likely impact the result of the case. Whether or not you win will generally depend on the quality (not quantity) of your lawyers and the strength of your case.

Only solicitors and members of certain prescribed bodies can directly instruct barristers in Ireland. The Government has enacted legislation which would allow members of the public to directly engage barristers, but this has not been commenced as yet.

If you do not already have a solicitor, we will take a note of your case and refer it to Mahmud for some initial thoughts and comments. You will not be charged anything for this. Because of our extensive knowledge of solicitors in Ireland, we can then refer you to a solicitor in your area who you can formally instruct. Once you have a solicitor on board, Mahmud will then be able to provide a comprehensive opinion about your case and, where appropriate, represent you in court.

The amount of legal fees will depend on the complexity of the work involved. Sometimes, this can be impossible to predict at the outset, for example in complex litigation which can take numerous twists and turns. Where you are seeking Counsel's advice or Opinion then we will provide you with a fee estimate before carrying out any work, and you will never be charged any more than this irrespective of the work involved. Where you are involved in litigation, we will endeavour to provide you with an estimate which is as accurate as possible.

We will let you know at the outset how long we expect the work to take. Obviously, this will depend on the nature and complexity of the work, but we can guarantee that it will be completed within the time notified to you. Generally speaking, obtaining Counsel's Opinion takes around seven working days from the time when all necessary information is received from the client.

Not necessarily. In order to conserve court time, most applications are heard by way of affidavit evidence without the parties needing to attend in person. An affidavit is a document which is sworn before a solicitor or commissioner for oaths - the content of the affidavit is treated as your evidence and must therefore be factually accurate. Affidavits are normally prepared by barristers after consulting with the client, and the client will need to review them before signing.

No, not every application. This is governed by the Rules of Court, which are statutory rules dealing with almost every aspect of court procedure. The client will not normally have a choice about whether his/her case is heard by affidavit evidence or by oral testimony. However, cases which get to trial are normally heard by oral evidence rather than affidavit, and witnesses will therefore need to attend court.

A standard court case often goes through a number of "motions" before it gets to a hearing. In fact, most cases are settled before they ever actually get to a hearing, often based on the results of the motions. A "motion" is an application made as part of the overall proceedings. For example, suppose you slip and fall in a supermarket and then issue legal proceedings for personal injuries. Before the case goes to court, you may want to see the CCTV footage from the supermarket showing the incident in question. If the supermarket refuses to voluntarily hand over the footage, you can apply to court, in what is known as a "motion for discovery", to compel the supermarket to provide you with the footage. You can then use this to strengthen your case and improve your chances of succeeding at the trial. The motions are normally heard by affidavit evidence.

This is a general rule which applies in most, but not all, cases. We can advise you further depending on the kind of court case you are dealing with.

We wish we could say that no job is too small, but the reality is that there will be cases which simply do not warrant a barrister because the cost of hiring a barrister would be disproportionate to the benefit. For example, if you have a contractual dispute with a customer who is refusing to pay €300 for goods then it is important to remember that the cost of instructing a barrister is going to be more than the €300 you are looking to claim.

Barristers will not refuse to take on cases for the reason that they are "too small" but you need to make sure it is to your advantage to instruct them.