Barristers and Solicitors Flashcards
Facts about Barristers P74
Collectively referred to as ‘the Bar’ and they are controlled by their own professional body - the General Council of the Bar. Barristers must be a member of one of the four Inns of Court: Lincoln’s Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple and Gray’s Inn, these are all situated near the Royal Courts of Justice in London.
What are the qualifications and training of Barristers P74, 75 and W21P2
Entry to the bar is normally degree based, if the degree is not law then you have to take a 1 Year Graduate Diploma in Law.
All student barristers also have to pass the Bar Professional Training Course at uni or the Inns of Courts School of Law. On this you study things like case preparation, negotiation and advocacy.
Once they have passed they are called to the Bar, this means you are officially qualified as a Barrister. After this you have to do a practical stage called a Pupillage.
Pupillage is on the job training and is basically work shadowing, this can be with one Barrister for 12 months or two different Pupil Supervisors for 6 months each. Have to make an application to a central point, the Pupillage Gateway. All pupil vacancies are advertised on the Gateway. Applications are made 18 months before. Applications must be for up to 12 vacancies.
Evaluation of the Barrister training process P75
The Bar Professional Training Course is £15,000 so lower income families cannot become Barrister and you also have to pay for the GDL, the GDL means that you have only studied law for a year.
More people pass the Training Course than there is Pupillages, so some are unable to finish their training.
What is the role of Barristers P75
They are self employed but normally work for a set of chambers where they can share administrative expenses
They will employ a clerk as an administrator - booking in cases and negotiating fees and have other support staff. After 10 years you can apply to the Queen’s Council which enables you get to more complicated cases and you will be paid more.
The majority focus on advocacy as they have full rights of audience. However, some that specialise in things like company law will rarely appear in court and all Barristers will do a certain amount of paper work such as drafting documents.
What is direct access, employed Barristers and criminal advocacy P75 and 76
Direct access is when a client goes straight to a Barrister. You can do this for civil cases, although a solicitor is still used in most cases. Direct access is not allowed for criminal cases or family work. To do direct access the Barrister must do extra training.
Barristers can be employed by organisations such as the Civil Service or local government, they have the same right of audience.
In 2015 a new system for doing advocacy in the high courts was announced under the Quality Assurance Scheme of Advocates. They will only be allowed in serious cases if they have showed competency in lower courts.
Facts about solicitors P76
There are 136K solicitors practicing in England and Wales, they are controlled by their own professional body, the Law Society.
Qualifications and training of solicitors W21P2 and P76
Normally have a law degree but if you have a degree in something else you can do a Graduate Diploma in law. The next stage is the Legal Practice Course which can be done at uni or the College of Law. This includes skills like client interviewing and negotiation. Once this is complete you have to do a period of authorised training, where you work for a solicitor firm for two years to get experience. After this be admitted as a Solicitor to the Law Society.
However, this is changing the Solicitors Qualifying Exam is being phased in next year. There is no need to do the course just the exams but most candidates will complete a dedicated course first.
First part legal knowledge through multiple choice and the second tests legal skills.
Evaluation of the training process P76
The Legal Practice Course is £14,000, so some cannot afford it, also have to pay for the GDL, however this can be done part time over two years so you can work, you could work as a paralegal in a law firm. GDL means that they have less experience. Also newly qualified solicitors are competing against legal executives and paralegals for jobs.
Role of solicitors P77
Most solicitors will go and work in private practice, however some may go and work for the Crown Prosecution Service or as legal advisors commercially. When you first start at a firm you will likely be an assistant solicitor, they will hope to be a non-equity partner and then an equity partner. The work done will depend on the type of firm. A solicitor in a small firm will likely spend lots of time interviewing clients and dealing with paper work such as writing up letters on the behalf of clients and drawing up wills. Some specialise in advocacy.
What is specialisation, briefing barristers and rights of advocacy P77
Specialisation happens in all kinds of practices but especially in the big London law firms where there will be departments focusing on one area of law.
Briefing a Barrister is when a solicitor goes to a barrister to do a case, may also go to them for their opinion on a complex case.
Rights of advocacy, solicitors have always been able to be advocates in the lower courts but the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 means that solicitors in private practice have the right to apply for a certificate of advocacy which enables them to appear in the High Court. Have to have experience of advocacy in the lower courts, take a short training course on the rules of evidence.
What else do solicitors do W21P1
Duty solicitor, advice and preparing cases for civil court (litigation). Things they do that is related to court cases is conveyancing - legal paper work for house sales and probate which is dealing with wills.
What is the overlap of work for solicitors and barristers P78 and 79
Both barristers and solicitors can present cases in court. However, there are only about 6,500 solicitors with higher rights, so although the rules allow them to do the same work there is still quite a difference in what they do.
In civil cases the public can go direct to barristers or solicitors. Both barristers and solicitors can do predatory work in civil cases. Only solicitors used to be able to do this
What is the Queen’s Council P78
After at least 10 years of being a barrister or solicitor with an advocacy qualification it is possible to apply to the Queen’s Council. Becoming a Queen’s Council is known as taking silk. Normally take on more complicated cases than junior. Barristers (anyone not QC) and can command higher fees and often have a junior barrister to assist with the case.
Queen’s Council appointment system P78
Until 2004 Queen’s Council were appointed by the Lord Chancellor, however the criteria was critiqued for being too secretive and only 10% were women and few from ethnic minorities. This effected the composition of the judiciary because senior judges are chosen from QCs. In 2004 the Lord Chancellor Bar Council and Law Society agreed a new system of appointment. Selection is now done by an independent selection panel. You have to pay an application fee and an appointment fee if successful. Applicants must provide references. The panel recommends who should be appointed to the Lord Chancellor. This has improved the diversity of the judiciary.
What are legal executives P78
They work in solicitor firms as assistants. They are qualified lawyers who have passed the Institute of Legal Executives’ Professional Qualification in Law. They specialise in a particular area of law.
