The preservation of the barrister's dignity in his relations with the solicitor seems to have induced this:
"Conferences at a Solicitor's Office: The Council have expressed an opinion that as a general rule it is contrary to etiquette and improper for a barrister to attend conferences at a solicitor's office, but that under exceptional circumstances the rule may be departed from." An. St. 1904-1905, p. 10.
The complicated subject of one barrister assisting another, usually in the capacity of a devil, while avoiding quasi-partnerships, has been the occasion for frequent resolutions by the General Council of the Bar, of which the following are a few:
"It is not permissible, or in accordance with professional etiquette, for a counsel to hand over his brief to another counsel to represent him in court as if the latter counsel had himself been briefed; unless the client consents to this course being taken.... In the Chancery Division it is not the practice for one junior to hold a brief (other than a mere formal one) for another and the same is true of King's Counsel."
"In the King's Bench Division, in the case of juniors, it is not uncommon for one counsel to devil a brief for another: but in the case of King's Counsel it is very seldom done."
"There is no rule or settled practice governing the remuneration for devilling, or assistance given by one counsel to another, in the cases above referred to."
"With regard to juniors, it is a common practice in the Chancery Division for the one counsel to remunerate the other by paying him an agreed proportion, generally one half, of the fees the former receives in respect of opinions or drafting. In the King's Bench Division, remuneration for devilling of briefs or assistance in drafting opinions is not common. In both Divisions occasionally such work is remunerated either by casual or periodical payments."
"An arrangement of this kind is also not unfrequently made in the case of a King's Counsel who desires regular assistance from a junior in the perusal and noting of his briefs."
"So far as the Council are aware, there is no practice to pay any remuneration in the rare cases where one King's Counsel holds a brief for another."
"In conclusion the Council desires to say that no practice in the least resembling a partnership is permissible or (so far as they know) practiced between Counsel: and they are of opinion that the etiquette of the profession forbids the handing over of work by one counsel to another, outside of the conditions above stated." An. St. 1902-1903, p. 4.
A large number of resolutions deal with the subject of fees and refreshers. Thus, it is held that while the Council is not a debt-collecting body, yet, where it is "in the interest of the whole profession" that solicitors who default in payment should be "exposed and punished" assistance may be given by the Council to a barrister in taking proceedings before the Statutory Committee of the Law Society—the solicitor's governing body. (An. St. 1901-1902, p. 13.) Again it was resolved that a junior Chancery man was not precluded by the etiquette of the Bar from accepting a refresher less in amount than two-thirds or three-fifths of the refresher accepted by the leader. (An. St. 1903-1904, p. 14.)
Somewhat in the same line is the following: "A King's Counsel should refuse all drafting work and written opinions on evidence as being appropriate to juniors only; but a King's Counsel is at liberty to settle any such drafting and advice on evidence in consultation with a junior. A King's Counsel in accordance with a long-standing 'Rule of the Profession' cannot hold a brief for the plaintiff on the hearing of a civil cause in the High Court, Court of Appeals or the House of Lords, without a junior. It is the usual practice for a King's Counsel to insist on having a junior when appearing for the defendant in like cases and when appearing for the prosecution or the defence on trials of criminal indictments". An. St. 1901-1902, p. 4.
The following is more general than most of the resolutions as it states a fundamental rule rather than its refinements:
"Junior and Leader. Proportion of Fees. Refreshers:—By long-established and well-settled custom a junior is entitled to a fee of from three-fifths to two-thirds of the leader's fee, and, although there is no rigid rule of professional etiquette which prevents him from accepting a brief marked with a fee bearing a less proportion to his leader's fee, it is in accordance with the practice of the profession that he should refuse to do so in the absence of special circumstances affecting the particular case and that he should be supported by his leader in such action. An. St. 1900-1901, p. 8. (The Council of Incorporated Law Society dissent from the view expressed in this resolution). The same rule applies to refresher". An. St. 1896-1897, p. 11.
The necessity for a barrister upon accepting a brief in a circuit of which he is not a member, to see that the solicitor retain a junior belonging to the circuit, which will later be explained, is recognized in the following resolution:
"Special Fees at Assizes:—The universal practice of the circuits since June 1876 (when the matter was considered by a Joint Committee of all the Circuits) is that a counsel going special on to one circuit from another circuit should, if a King's Counsel, have a special fee of 50 guineas in addition to the brief fee, and that one member of the circuit should be employed on the side on which the counsel comes special." An. St. 1899-1900, p. 8.