Types of Legal Profession in Great Britain and the USA

Although many kinds of people working in or studying legal profession are referred to as lawyers ( US attorneys), the word really describes a person who has become officially qualified to act in certain legal matters because of examinations he has taken and professional experience he has gained.

In Britain, the decision is between becoming a barrister or a solicitor.The training and career for the two types of lawyers are quite separate.

Solicitors make the largest branch of legal profession in Great Britain. They are found in every town, spending most of their time in offices (law firms), where they give legal advice to clients and prepare legal documents for buying and selling houses, making wills, etc. They may conduct litigation on behalf of their clients by making applications to the court, writing letters to the client's opponent and so on. Solicitors may also represent their clients in lower courts.

Barristers are different from solicitors. They are experts in the interpretation of the law. Although solicitors and barristers work together on cases, barristers specialize in representing clients in courts andgiving expert legal opinions. In courts barristers wear wigs and gowns. Barristers do not have public offices in any street. They work in what are known as chambers, often in London. Barristers are rarely hired by clients directly but instead are hired by solicitors to act on behalf of clients.

To qualify as a solicitor, you just join a practicing solicitor as a ‘clerk’ and work for him or her part-time while studying for the Law Society exams. Interestingly enough, it’s not necessary for you to go to university. When you have passed all the necessary exams, you can ‘practice’, which means you can start business on your own. To qualify as a barrister you must have a university degree and take the examinations of the Bar Council. These are different from solicitors’ examinations. In the United States there is no distinction between barristers and solicitors.

A barrister is mainly known as an advocate. However, he or she can be called upon to prosecute in one case and defend in the other. A barrister who speaks for the defendant in a court is referred to as Counsel for the Defense. A barrister who speaks against the defendant is called Counsel for the Prosecution. In the United States the main prosecutingofficers are the US district attorneys.

In Britain, only experienced barristers can become judges of higher courts. They are called High Court Judges and they deal with the most serious cases. They are paid salaries and have considerable legal training. A barrister always enters the judiciary at the lower level. He is then promoted, if he proves successful in the initial judicial post.

In the United States, judges are likewise drawn to the bench from the experienced practitioners. Once on the bench they are not, in the main, promoted through the ranks of the judiciary. Another feature of the American judiciary that distinguishes it from other countries is that lawyers can enter the judicial system at any level. A lawyer can initially become a judge on the highest court, the lowest, or any court in between. There is no system about this.

‘Judge’ is the most general term for a public officer with authority to hear and decide cases in a law court. However, a judge of the Supreme Court is usually referred to as ‘ Justice’. Both in Britain and the United States, only a small proportion of judges are judges of higher courts. The vast majority of judges are called magistrates or Justices of the Peace (JPs). They are usually unpaid and have no formal legal qualifications, but they are respectable people who are given some training. The only difference between these two types of judges is that magistrates are found in urban areas, and JPs are found in rural areas. Judgesare, of course, at the core of any legal system. They are the decision makers.

Notes:

1) The Law Society represents solicitors in England and Wales. Their aim is to help, protect and promote solicitors across England and Wales.

2) The Bar Council represents barristers in England and Wales. It promotes the Bar’s high quality specialist advocacy and advisory services; the highest standards of ethics, and the development of business opportunities for barristers at home and abroad.

2.2 C hoose a), b), or c) to complete the sentences.