A new online service that enables clients to access barristers in their area without the need for a solicitor is going live today (10 April), with more than 80 barristers from 12 UK sets signed up.

myBARRISTER, owned and created by former Shearman & Sterling partner Ronald DeKoven, will allow direct access to the Bar through a centralised portal of barristers.

Barristers who are qualified for direct access work can join with a yearly £1,200 subscription to build their profiles on the site. No commission will be charged on fees received, and clients can access the site for free. The service will see member barristers or their clerks respond to enquiries within 24 hours with an initial free half-hour conference.

The site, which previously set out an aim to sign up 150 barristers at launch, with an initial focus on chambers in the southwest, will go live with a list of roughly 80 to 100 barristers at 12 sets around the UK, with more names set to be added throughout the rest of the week. A smartphone and tablet app is expected to go live later this year.

DeKoven said: "It's been extremely well received by barristers, and we're also seeing interest from investors. We have over 1,000 people following myBARRISTER on social networks so I am very confident that the project will go from strength to strength.

"Our initial idea to keep it in the southwest was wrong. We've since seen demand in London, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol – even Ireland and Australia, but we want to remain focused on the UK for now. Moreover, advertising isn't something that can be localised."

The service, which can also be used by solicitors seeking counsel to instruct, is overseen by chief executive Chris Bean, previously Landmark Chambers' first-ever marketing director, and directors Bruce Webster and Jonathan Maskew, who specialise in branding, and chambers business development respectively.

The news comes as more initiatives to improve direct access to the Bar are being pushed through, with the Financial Services Authority earlier this year approving the Bar Council's BARCO initiative. BARCO, a third-party escrow account held with Barclays Bank, will allow barristers and clients to exchange money without the help of solicitors or breaching rules of conduct.

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