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SOLICITORS AND BARRISTERS
The legal profession in England and Wales is divided into solicitors and
barristers. The duty of the solicitor is to give advice and to lead the business of
the client. He will also have a barrister to care of a specific matter of the client's
business. The solicitors have the right to a brief council, who will be called in if
the situation requires, in order to give specialist advice, to draft documents or
to act as advocates in the higher courts. He is the one who will entitle the
barrister to act as an advocate in the higher courts.
The solicitors have been usually considered the junior part of the legal
profession, but have increasingly become the dominant part of it. They are
only admitted for practice if they complete three stages of training: the aca­
demic stage, the vocational stage and the apprenticeship. The academic stage
of training is satisfied by the completion of a qualifying law degree containing
the six core subjects or by passing the Common Professional Examination. The
six core subjects are Constitutional and Administrative Law, Contract, Tort,
also secretarial and other services. Each chamber is required to have at least
one clerk, who performs the functions of office administrator and accountant,
business manager and agent. After around ten to fifteen years in practice, a
successful barrister can consider applying for promotion to Queen's Counsel
known as "silk" from the material of which the Queen's Counsel formal gown
is made.
The distinction between the two branches of the legal profession is an
artificial one. In fact, there are no tasks exclusive to one branch. Solicitors
regularly appear as advocates in the law courts and sometimes in Crown Courts,
which are geographically remote from barristers' chambers. Equally, there are
many barristers who very seldom appear in the court, spending their time on
written opinions on the law. Over the years, there has been debate on the
fusion of the two branches of the profession.
WORD STUDY
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Criminal Law, Land Law and Equity and Trust. The last stage consists of a two the result of fusing; a coalition of ideas, concepts
fusion l
years apprenticeship to an established solicitor and can be regarded as the bronches, parties etc.
clinical stage of training. In this stage, they learn various skills that are neces­ = an opinion or recommendation offered as guide to
advice
sary for a solicitor, like managing an office, interviewing clients, writing letters,
action, conduct etc.
instructing counsel and handling money. Once admitted, the solicitor is re­
to draft = to draw the outlines or plan of; to sketch; to drow up
quired to maintain a practising certificate, for which a substantial annual fee is
in written form, to compose
charged.
circumstance = a condifion, detail, part or attribute, with respect to
The governing bodies of the barristers are more complex then those of solici­
time, place, manner, agent etc. which accompanies,
tors. First of alt in order to become a barrister, it is necessary to become a mem­
determines, or modifies a fact or event; a modifying
ber of one of the Inns of Court, like the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, Lincoln's
Inn or Gray's Inn. Though admission to the Bar is still largely the domain of the
or influencing factor
senior = more advanced in age or older in standing superior
l
individual Inns, the formal education of a trainee barrister is centralised through
the Inns of Court School of Law. Another governing body for barristers is the Bar
in age or standing to, of higher or highest degree
to carry out = to put (principles, instruction) in proctice
Council, which is the barristers' elected representative body.
task = piece of work imposed
Like in the case of solicitors, the training of barristers is divided into three
stages: academic, vocational and apprenticeship. The requirements of the aca­
to handle = to manage (thing, person)
(to) brief = 1. summary of facts and law points of a case drawn
demic stage are the same with those of the solicitors. Barristers work in offices,
up for counsel;
in groups of between twelve and twenty sharing services notably of a derk, but 2. to instruct (barrister, solicitor) by brief, employ
 IjNIT
completion
2

= the act of completing; fulfilment advice = guidance

SOLl(ITORS4Nb._IS'ERS;f~~r. 'ii.'.
apprenticeship = working for another in order to learn a trade, for
instruction, training
vocational stage = educational training that provides a student with prac­
tical experience in a particular occupational field
'II ANTONYMS
Inns of court = a legal society occupying such a building increasingly - decreasingly
sole = belonging or pertaining to one individual or group to satisfied - unsatisfied
the exclusion of all others; exclusive subjective - objective
practitioner = 1. one engaged in the practice of a profession, occu­ to maintain - to discontinue
pation; simple - complex
2. one who practices something specified artificial - genuine
clinical = extremely objective and realistic to spend - to earn
equity = 1. the application of the dictates of conscience or the
principles of natural justice to the settlement of con­
troversies;
2. a system of jurisprudence or a body of doctrines
II HIUd.;) ~: '1 \~1 [I] \ IJ:'1 i{~ f1fJ
and rules developed in England and followed in the
1. Answer the questions:
United States, serving as supplement and remedy
1. What are the solicitors dealing with?
the limitations and the inflexibility of the common
law 2. Is there any difference between solicitors and barristers?
trust 3. Which is the historical recognition regarding the two branches of the legal
= a fiduciary relationship in which one person (the
profession?
trustee) holds the title to property (the trust estate
or trust property) for the benefit of the other (the 4. Which is the final stage in the solicitor's education?
beneficiary) 5. Name some barrister's governing bodies.
gown = official or uniform robe of various shapes worn by 6. Which are the stages the solicitors and the barristers are supposed to pass through?
judge, lawyer, clergyman, college 7. What do the barristers deal with?
tort = a wrongful act, not including a breach of contract or 8. When can a barrister consider applying for promotion to Queen's Counsel?
trust, which results in injury to another's person, prop­ 9. Can the two legal professions interfere within each other?
erty, reputation, or the like, and for which the in­ 10. Which are the motives that can lead to a fusion of the branches of the legal
jured party is entitled to compensation profession?

2. What part does each of the following take in a trial?

.'iIlSYNONYMS a) The judge
b) The solicitor
to divide = to separate c) The barrister
occasion = opportunity
3. Which of the following statements are true and which are false?
to maintain = to keep up
Correct the false ones.
artificial = synthetic
a) The barrister gives advice and has the conduct of the business of the client
to spend = to disburse from day to day.
~'I'.~NIT
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b) The solicitor has the conduct of the business and he will retain another
solicitor to carry out a specific task in handling the client's business.
c) Barristers are increasingly becoming the dominant branch of the profession.
d) There are eight core subjects for the final stage of training of the solicitors.
e) In order to become a solicitor it is necessary to become a member of the Inn's
(ourt
f) After around ten years in practice, successful barristers can consider applying for
promotion the Oueen's Counsel.
4. Fill in the blanks with the missing words:
0) The ........ , is currently alone entitled fo act as advocate in the low higher
courts.
b) The six (ore subjects are,. " .. " ..., ..., ... and .. '.
c) Once admitted, the ., .. ,'," is required to maintain a practising certificate.
d) The ...... , .. of the academic stages are common to both branches of the profes­
sion.
e) . . . . . . . .. are all sole proctitioners.
£) ......... regularly appear as advocates in the low courts.
of the crime, This latter category was described as part of "jury equity" in
which juries are prepared to allow extra-legal considerations to influence their
decision making.
Baldwin and Mc Conville went on to examine more closely the incidence
both of questionable acquittals and of doubtful convictions. An acquittal was
regarded as questionable if the iudge and one other responded voiced doubts
about it. They concluded:
liThe number of defendants who seem to us to have been acquitted in
questionable circumstances, without any apparent equitable justification save
in a handful of cases, suggests that trial by jury is a relatively crude instrument
for establishing the truth".
Adapted from "The Sociology of White Collar Crime", by James W. Coleman

5. Comment on:
First think, and then speak.

II READING PRACTICE
ARE THEY GUilTY OR NOT?
Baldwin and Mc Conville's major research on jury trials focused on 370
defendants tried by juries out of a total of 2406 defendants passing through
Birmingham Crown Court in the study period. There is also some comparison
with cases tried in London, The opinions of judges, of prosecution and defence
lawyers, of defendants and of the police were sought on wide range aspects of
the Cases. The researcher examined the incidence of agreement and disagree­
ment with the verdicts of the juries. There was a higher incidence of disagree­
ments with both acquittals and convictions that had been indicated by earlier
research studies. In all cases of acquittal, participants were generally agreed
on the most important reason for the acquittal. The most commonly mentioned
factors were the strength of the defence case, the weakness of the prosecution
case and the jury's being swayed by sympathy for the defendant to the victim