Introduction – Legal Profession in UK
Lawyer is the legal profession in UK which are two types including solicitors and barristers. The activities of different lawyers in UK are different. The Law Society of England and Wales and Barrister’s Association regulate two types of lawyers in UK and they are different from other countries’ lawyers (Lawyer in UK and types of lawyers, 2020). It is essential for clients to know about them and their service. Access to justice in UK legal system require some procedure. Clients need to provide payment to get access to justice. Although some barriers include in access to justice. Sometimes customers get access to justice by unwarranted legal fees. Legal Profession in UK comprises of two types of lawyers; the junior lawyer (Solicitors) and the Senior Lawyers (Barrister).
Ebbesson and Okowa (2016) stated that lawyer refers to the person who study, practice legal training and admit to Supreme Court of territory. Lawyer provides legal advice to the person who requires legal action or solution under certain law. Every lawyer requires legal certificate to do the activities of lawyer.
The legal profession in the United Kingdom (UK) comprises of two types of lawyers; the junior lawyer (Solicitors) and the Senior Lawyers (Barrister)
Most of the lawyer require to show the certificate to the office and it ensures that lawyer is certified and qualified to provide legal advice. The two types of legal lawyer profession in UK are describing with examples:
Solicitor: Solicitor is the type of lawyer who provides legal advice to the public and represent a person in the court. According to case of AIB Group (UK) Plc v Mark Redler & Co Solicitors (2013), there are several activities done by the solicitor such as business matters, wills, inheritance and contracts etc. the main activity of Solicitor is to represent a person in the court legally. (Hwang and Firfiray, 2018)They are junior lawyers and work in the lower court of the state. The Law Society of England and Wales represent junior lawyers or Solicitors. In UK, business or person hire Solicitor to work for their legal claim. Footballer vs Club (2011) indicated that a footballer hired a solicitor for claiming his £20000 for unfair dismissal from the club where there is a contract of 3 hour medication. Solicitors instruct advice to the person. In UK, Solicitor takes responsibility of particular case. The activities of Solicitor are:
- They provide legal advice to the clients. Samantha will take legal advice from the solicitor who to take legal action against Extortionate Plc.
- They draft different kinds of letters, emails
- They can promote a business by providing information about how to start and legal activities require to start business. Samantha can take legal advice from solicitor how to start business legally on Magistrates court, high court, country court etc.
- They prepare different kinds of documents on behalf of the clients (Hwang and Firfiray, 2018)
- They represent a person in the court such as
Samantha can hire Solicitor for represent the case in front of court. Solicitor will work as an advocate of Samantha in the court. Solicitor deals with lower profile case and the case against Extortionate Plc falls under civil case and done by solicitor in the court of UK.
Barrister: According to Marsden (2015) Barrister is the type of lawyer who is specialised for representing clients in court. They have whole power in all courts of the country. Barrister’s Association regulates Barrister in UK where they are competent. Barrister can argue with judges, juries and magistrates legally. According to the aces of Adams v Law Society of England & Wales & Ors (2012), Barrister can cross-examine witness and attempt to draw outcome. Barristers have no direct involvement with public where they work by the information of solicitor. They can represent the clients in the high court. They are trained advocates who advocate in courtroom. They deal with high profile case in the courtroom. Barrister can be Solicitors based on the agreement of the clients. They also provide legal advice to the clients as they are specialised in representing case in front of court. United Kingdom Plc & Anor vs Linklaters & Paines filed a case in 3rd may, 2006 and hired barristers for solving this problem. The main activities of barrister are:
- They represent case in front of judges, juries in the courtrooms
- They can cross-examine the clients or witnesses to find out the truth (Marsden, 2015)
- They deal with high profile case and work as advisor of solicitor
The difference in the two types of lawyers is all to do with the right of audience in the course system. Indeed other countries do with only one lawyer
Sawer et. al (2017) argued that solicitors and barristers work with legal claim of clients but the working activities are different. Sometimes the activities of both are same. In UK, Solicitors and barristers are different profession and represent client in different perspectives. But most of the countries, they are same. For example, barrister and solicitor are same profession in USA. UK government and parliament has categorised lawyers into two types as the law systems gets easier.
| Solicitor | Barrister |
| Solicitor is the person or legal profession who prepares legal documents for the clients for representing in the court.
|
Barrister is the person who is highly qualified for providing legal advice where he works for defending, representing and advocating clients in the courtroom. |
| Solicitor are not fully independence as they need to follow the guidelines of barrister | They are more independence |
| They involve with clients more | They less involved with clients |
| They require more support from the client | They don’t require support because they are willing to take risks |
| They take salary for doing particular activity | They are self-employed (Sawer, 2017) |
| They mainly works for civil case | They mainly works for trinomial case |
| To be a solicitor, a person requires 1-2 year degree (LPC) under certain law firm | To be barrister, a person requires BPTC training. |
| Solicitors have full access to deal with public | Barrister have not fill access to deal with public. |
| They are junior lawyers | They are senior lawyers |
| Example: Samantha requires Solicitor for dealing her case in the court and prepare documents on behalf of Samantha | Example: After preparing documents, Solicitors will come to barristers to represent this case in front of judges. |
From the above discussion, it is clear that lawyers profession is different in UK but most of the countries they are same. According to the case of AIB Group (UK) Plc v Mark Redler & Co (2012), lawyers in UK work in various area of law such as property law, criminal, family, injury law etc. But Barrister has specialised practice in specialised law. But in recent times, UK barrister can give legal advice to clients directly under new rules of the government.
Conclusion
In UK, there are different types of lawyers including Solicitor and Barrister. Sometimes a person can be lawyer including both of them. Social relations of place is the barriers which works as barriers of access to justice in UK justice system where include community interactions of the flow of information and conflicts of interest. Cost is a big issue to get real access to justice for clients in the court. To take legal action against someone to resolve legal problems. The role of barristers in UK legal system is to represent a case especially criminal case in the courtroom.
References
Ebbesson, J. and Okowa, P., 2016. Environmental Law And Justice In Context. 8th ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Faure, M., 2018. Access To Justice In Environmental Matters. 6th ed. London: Media Press.
Hg.org. 2020. Lawyer In UK And Types Of Lawyers. [online] Available at: <https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/concept-and-differences-between-a-lawyer-a-solicitor-and-a-barrister-in-uk-18875> [Accessed 11 May 2020].
Hwang, S. and Firfiray, S., 2018. Work-family Conflict, Work Engagement and Satisfaction: A Diary Study of Solicitors in the UK. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2018(1), p.15372.
Marsden, S., 2015. Book Review: The Aarhus Convention — A Guide for UK Lawyers. Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management, 17(04), p.1580003.
Sawer, P., 2017. Different Roles in UK Courtrooms. Journal evess, 1(1), p.22.
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