Bar Standards Board publishes guide on with vulnerable immigration clients
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has published an online guide to assist immigration barristers when they work closely with vulnerable clients which it hopes will help immigration barristers identify, assess and manage vulnerable clients and meet regulatory and other legal duties.
The guide – developed in response to the BSB’s 2016 Immigration Thematic Review – found that barristers sometimes face difficulties identifying, assessing and managing client vulnerability. The review showed that consumers of immigration advice are a particularly vulnerable group and that barristers and other legal professionals working with them would benefit from this type of non-mandatory guidance.
The BSB take the view that a barrister’s ability to identify vulnerability is highly likely to be relevant to their client’s legal case.
The vulnerability guide is in addition to guidance issued by the BSB in June 2017 in collaboration with the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner.
In particular it
- helps barristers identify immigration client vulnerability and understand the factors which might contribute towards making a client vulnerable;
- helps barristers understand every stage of the immigration client journey from identifying their legal need, choosing a provider, receiving legal advice and/or representation, to following up on the information they receive; and
- contains fact sheets, case studies, useful contacts and links to further resources.