(D) LEGAL PERSONNEL Flashcards
Two professions in the legal profession?
- Solicitors
- Barristers
What is the Legal Services Act 2007?
allows certain non-lawyers to carry out much of the work previously undertaken by the legal profession
□ (e.g. conveyancing, drafting wills etc).
- The purpose of the legislation is to promote price reduction and greater access to legal services.
Solicitors taking instructions
have a choice, they can accept or decline instructions BUT
Barristers taking instructions
required by their ethical code of conduct to accept any instructions within the field of their expertise for which a proper fee is offered
Legal Professionals acting on instructions
• The lawyer must act on the instructions of his/her client UNLESS
• Those instructions require the lawyer to do something illegal or against their code of conduct
- Lawyers can ADVISE of the most likely consequences and RECOMMEND certain action but must DO what their client instructs
The work of Solicitors
– mostly pre-court
Examples
◊ Private Clients (drafting wills, conveyancing, matrimonial disputes)
◊ Business Clients (forming companies, employment law issues, drafting contracts, advising on tax changes)
Some contentious matters (court disputes)
The work of barristers
– specialise in advocacy (presenting a case in court)
® Barristers have ‘rights of audience’ before all courts in the legal system
® They also provide written opinions on specialised or complex areas of law
® They draft documents e.g. statement of claim, defence
- They normally work as sole traders but share CHAMBERS with other barristers
What is the SQE?
• A new form of qualification known as the SQE (Solicitors Qualification Exam) will be introduced in the autumn of 2021.
○ This will be a new, independent, centralised assessment for all would-be solicitors.
- The current method of qualification will continue to operate as an alternative however until 2032, so there will be a long transition period.
Qualification/ Training for a Solicitor
○ Law Degree OR Degree plus Graduate Diploma in Law (1 year)
○ Legal Practice Course (1 year)
○ Training Contract with law firm (2 years)
○ Entry on Solicitors Roll
○ Solicitors are members of the Law Society.
- Their governing body is the Solicitors Regulation Authority
Qualification for a Barrister
- There are 3 stages to the training:
○ Academic
§ Law degree
§ Other degree + Graduate Diploma in Law○ Vocational
§ Bar Vocational Training (BVC)
§ Join Inn of Court [Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Lincolns Inn, Grays Inn]○ Pupillage
§ 12 months training with a senior barrister○ On qualification
§ Set up in Chambers and try to establish a client base - Barristers belong to the Bar Council and their governing body is the Bar Standards Board.
Suing the legal profession
- A client who is dissatisfied with the quality of service provided by his lawyer may be able to sue the lawyer and obtain a remedy.
○ Solicitors – are usually in a contractual relationship with their client and so the most obvious cause of action is ‘breach of contract’.
§ Solicitors may also be liable to third parties under the rules of tort.
Why were solicitors and barristers given immunity from tort actions of negligence?
The Advocate’s duty not to mislead the court – (only give information relevant to the case for their client)
- the fear of being sued might conflict with this
The cab-rank rule –
- barristers should be protected from angry clients whom they had no option to refuse
The need to avoid a retrial – - clients with no grounds of appeal may sue their lawyer in an attempt to get a retrial
Length of trials –
- barristers who feared being sued might be overcautious in court questioning and increase the length of trials
