No partnership

3VB is a set of barristers' chambers. A set of chambers has no legal personality. The members of the set are all self-employed individuals. They are not partners and 3VB is not a firm. Any use of the word ‘we' or the expression ‘3VB' on this website or elsewhere is not intended to suggest the contrary, but only to refer to the collection of individuals who practice from this set of chambers.

Disclaimer

This website has been produced for general information purposes only. No statement on it is intended to be relied upon when taking any action whatsoever and the barristers of 3VB assume no responsibility to any user of the website in respect of any such statement. We also accept no responsibility for any consequences of your not being able to access this website in the event that it is encountering technical difficulties.

Legal Advice

The specific facts of each case or matter will usually be of great significance. The barristers of 3VB will only give legal advice on a specific matter or case to clients who have instructed them through a solicitor qualified to practice in England & Wales, or a qualified foreign lawyer or a member of a recognised professional body approved by the Bar Council for the purpose of direct professional access work, or a Licensed Access client. Any statements on this website or in 3VB's Newsletter or in talks or seminars given by barristers from 3VB or made otherwise than pursuant to such instructions must not be relied upon as being legal advice intended to be acted upon. You are strongly advised to take specific legal advice on any case or matter with which you are concerned and not to rely on any such non-specific statements.

Confidentiality/Conflicts

If instructed by you, we will be very careful to protect the confidentiality of the information that you send or give us. We operate a policy requiring our Practice Managers to check for possible conflicts of interest before allocating work to a particular barrister or accepting work on behalf of a particular barrister. If you have any concern that there might be a conflict of interest in relation to any instructions that you wish to send us, please check with a Practice Managers by telephone or e-mail before sending us any confidential information, in documentary or other form. In any case, your instructions will not be accepted until a conflicts check has been conducted, and we will not consider ourselves to be retained by you or your client until one of our Practice Managers has confirmed that there is no conflict and the instructions can be accepted. For the avoidance of doubt, the members of 3VB will, from time to time, accept instructions to act on a matter where another member of 3VB is acting on a different side of the dispute or transaction. This is normal practice at the English Bar, and flows from the fact that we are not partners but independent practitioners. In such situations, we will apply established systems to ensure that there is no breach of client confidentiality resulting from the fact that we practice from the same premises.

Complaints

We welcome feedback from all our clients. We hope that most of it will be positive. However if you have a complaint it will be taken seriously. It will be dealt with in accordance with our complaints procedure. A copy of the 3VB complaints procedure is available here.

Charity

Through its own charity, the 3VB Charitable Trust, Chambers is pleased to be able to assist various projects and organisations in the local community.

Diversity Data

3VB has a comprehensive set of policies and guidance reflecting its commitment to Equality and Diversity. The implementation and monitoring of these policies are overseen by the Chambers Equality & Diversity Committee.

3VB is committed to the promotion and application of equal opportunities, in accordance with The BSB's Code of Conduct, The Equality and Diversity Code for the Bar and statutory regulation. 3VB strives to ensure that the principle of fair and equal treatment is upheld in all areas of our business, including recruitment of pupils, tenants and staff and also in the areas of practice development of members of chambers and promotion of staff.

In particular, in the selection of tenants, pupils and staff and in the operation of Chambers generally, we recognise the obligation not to discriminate against clients, members of chambers, pupils or staff on grounds of gender, race, ethnic or national origin, nationality, citizenship, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, age, religion or belief. In this way, we consider that we should continue to recruit and retain members of chambers and staff of the highest quality from the widest pool of talent.

Chambers has had a detailed Equal Opportunities Policy for many years which is regularly reviewed and updated. 3VB is committed to assisting all tenants, male and female, to manage their family responsibilities and to enjoy a rewarding career in Chambers. 3VB has a comprehensive Maternity & Paternity Policy which reflects our philosophy in this regard.

Figures as at January 2012