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'.

The committee has also recommended that restrictions over the giving of small promotional items such as branded stationery be lifted.

Commenting on the body's findings, BSB chair Ruth Evans said: "Excessively lavish entertainment intended to induce a solicitor to choose counsel having regard to anything other than the client's best interests would already constitute a breach of the existing rules under the Code of Conduct and those rules remain in place."

She added: "Meanwhile, we recognise that there are legitimate reasons for client entertainment by barristers and sets of chambers."