The term “lawyer” is a broad term that refers to anyone who is a licensed Legal Practitioner who is qualified to provide legal guidance in one or more fields of the law. Simply put solicitors and barristers can be described as two different types of lawyers.
How do you define a solicitor?
The solicitor can be described as a licensed legal professional that provides professional legal advice and assistance to clients. The clients of solicitors can be groups of individuals as well as groups, private businesses or public sector organizations.
What exactly is a solicitor’s job?
Following instructions from clients, solicitors in London can advise on the most appropriate course of actions, based on their specific areas of expertise. The majority of solicitors in the UK are litigators by nature however, some solicitors specialize in particular areas of law. Some are advocates themselves.
Solicitors interact directly with clients. Although certain work activities be contingent on the solicitor’s field of expertise, they usually engage in conversations with clients to determine if their firm is suitable to offer the legal services and advice as well as taking instructions from the client and then advising them about matters of law as well as legal aspects related to their specific case.
Solicitors handle all paperwork and communications that is required for client cases for example, writing letters, documents, and contracts that are tailored to the client’s requirements; assuring precision in legal counsel and procedures and preparing the papers for the court.
Solicitors also work with opposing parties and clients to achieve a mutually agreed-upon goal collect evidence, oversee the execution of agreements, evaluate claims for compensation, damages for loss of earnings maintenance. And coordinate the activities of all parties in the matter. Their work covers the full range of legal work, including high-value commercial cases to personal injury as well as family law matters such as divorce and children law criminal law, wills and probate, and the administration of estates in general.
Lawyers are able to represent their clients during disputes and can represent the clients in court, if required. When disputes are complex solicitors typically request advocates or barristers to appear in court on behalf their clients.
If a case is taken to court, it’s unlikely that a solicitor would represent their client. However, certain solicitors are able to be present in the court as advocates. However, solicitors typically refers the case to a barrister or an expert advocate for advice from an expert or ask the advocate for a court appearance as a representative for the client.
What is the barrister?
A barrister typically provides expert legal advice, and also represents or organisations in court and tribunals as well as providing the written advice of a lawyer.
What is the role of a barrister?
Barristers in general in England and Wales are employed from solicitors in order to present cases in court . They only get involved after advocacy before an appropriate court is needed. The job of a barrister will be to “translate and organize their client’s views of things into legal arguments and to present persuasive arguments that result in the highest possible outcome to their clients.”
Barristers are usually specialized in certain areas of law, such as criminal law and Chancery law (estates as well as trusts) commercial law, sports law, entertainment law, and common law which covers family law, divorce as well as personal injury and housing law.
The work of barristers can vary based on their expertise and the field within which they practice They will usually give advice to clients about how to proceed and on the merits of the argument and give them an opinion in writing. Barristers advocate on behalf of their clients and their solicitor for the client before a judge in presenting their case conducting cross-examinations and examinations of witnesses, and presenting reasons as to that the court should be supportive of the case. They reach agreements with the other side.
In the 15,500 barristers who practice in England and Wales approximately 20% are self-employed. Barristers employed by other firms for instance, in solicitors’ offices that advise clients directly as well as in agencies like that of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) or in specialist legal departments within commerce, industry and charities, or in local or central government, providing advice only to the organizations they represent.
In general, self-employed barristers work in offices referred to as Chambers that they be able to share with barristers from other firms. After they have completed their education they may be offered permanent positions called tenancy within an’set’ Chambers.
Because chambers barristers are each independent of each other, they often take different sides of the same dispute. However, solicitors who work within an identical law company could be barred from doing the same since there is conflicts of conflict of interest.
Barristers are free from deciding and choosing cases they wish to tackle by what is called the Cab Rank Rule. The Cab Rule of Rank prohibits barristers from denying the case in the event that, for instance they find the subject of the case to be objectionable, or if they feel the client is not able to conduct themselves in a manner that is acceptable or a belief or opinion or is a result of the source of the money.
Barristers who are self-employed cannot generally be directly instructed by clients since they must first be instructed by an attorney. But, one exception to this is when the barrister is a part of the Public Access Scheme which enables people to contact the barrister to seek legal guidance or representation.