Solicitor or Barrister?

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There are about 66,000 practising solicitors in England and Wales.

Solicitors do a variety of work - corporate and com­mercial, litigation, property, private law, banking and project finance, employment law and environmental law.

A solicitor is generally the first point of contact for a person where the law is or is likely to be involved. This can be a legal transaction such as a house conveyance, a civil dispute such as a breach of contract or a possible prosecution where a person has been accused of breaking the law. The solicitor will advise the client on the course of action that heeds to be taken.

Solicitors are not generally thought of as advocates. However, increasing numbers of solicitors are now becoming Higher Court advocates and the courts are widening their rights of audience to include solicitors. One of the functions of solicitors is to brief barristers. In other words, they collect all the legal documents that are necessary to enable the barrister to present the best case to the court. Solicitors usually work in partnerships, whereas barristers are what is known as sole practitioners. They work on their own.

Most people consult a solicitor when they want to buy or sell a house, when they want to write a will to distribute their money and property after their death, or to resolve a family dispute. People also consult their solicitor if they want to arrange a business contract or if they are setting up their own company. Some solicitors specialize in criminal work and make themselves available to people who have been arrested.

Solicitors are normally salaried and may be offered a share in the profits of the practice if they are successful.

The barrister is the specialist with particular skills in advocacy, a con­sultant who will examine the case and decide what line to take in court. The barrister will be reliant on 10 the detailed brief prepared by the client's solicitor. Barristers are self-employed in the independent Bar. The Bar is a small but influential independent body with just over 8,000practising barristers in over 400 20 chambers in England and Wales. In addition, there are about 2,000 barristers employed as in-house lawyers.

The Bar is an advocacy profession. The Bar's right of audience in the higher courts remains virtually unchallenged. The'work divides equally between civil and criminal law. There are over 70 specialist areas, including major ones like chancery (mainly property and finance) and the commercial bar.

Judges in England and Wales have mostly been bar­risters of 10 years' standing, then Queen's Counsellors, 30 and are appointed by the Lord Chancellor. Judges can­not work as barristers once they are appointed. A bar­rister who is a part-time judge is known as a Recorder. The Crown Prosecutor, who works for the Director of Public Prosecutions, is responsible for prosecuting criminals based on evidence presented by the police.

Дата добавления: 2015-08-17