The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has come down against introducing explicit restrictions on barristers offering hospitality to solicitors, citing a 'blush test' as a useful guide to preventing improper conduct.

The decision – which follows a consultation on hospitality by an 18-member BSB committee led by Brick Court Chambers' Charles Hollander QC – found no evidence that hospitality had influenced instruction decisions.

However, the committee warned that barristers should not offer entertainment which either party would feel embarrassed to disclose to colleagues, clients or regulators – the so-called 'blush test'.