legal personnel: Flashcards
how many barristers are there in the UK?
12,700 are self employed
a further 3000 are employed by the CPS
they are collectively referred to as the Bar
What are the four inns of court?
Lincoln’s Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Gray’s Inn. (All near the Royal Courts of Justice).
what is the usual route to become a lawyer
entry is usually degree based
how can someone become a barrister if they do not have a degree in law?
If you don’t have a degree in Law, you have to take the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) in order to go on and qualify as a barrister.
what must students pass to become a barrister?
Student barristers must pass the Bar professional Training Course
what will students do during the bar training course?
Case preparation legal research
Written skills
Opinion writing
Drafting documents
Conference skills
Negotiation
Advocacy
what will happen once students have passed the bar?
they will have to complete their pupillage
What is a pupillage?
The Bar course is theoretical and academic.
Pupillage is practical on the job training.
The trainee barrister becomes a pupil to a qualified barrister.
They will shadow all of their work.
Either be with one barrister for 12 months or two barristers for 6 months each.
what do most barristers focus on and what is it? what are the roles of barristers?
Most barristers focus on advocacy. (presenting cases in court).
They have full rights of audience, meaning they can advocate in any court in England and Wales.
Some barristers specialise in areas such as tax/company law and will rarely go to court.
Barristers still do paperwork as well, drafting documents, writing advice etc. for their use in court.
what was the old route to contact a solicitor?
People used to have to go to a solicitor first in order to instruct a barrister.
The solicitor would then brief the barrister.
Unnecessary cost means that this is no longer necessary for civil cases. (although it does still happen a lot)
where is direct access not allowed?
Direct access is still not allowed for criminal or family cases.
can barristers do direct access work?
For barristers to do direct access work, they must do additional training.
what is Kings council status and how can a barrister be awarded it?
Barristers can apply for King’s Council status.
This will be awarded if they are regarded as excellent in their field.
They must have presented excellent advocacy skills.
They have shown the ability to advocate in complex cases.
It has been an honour since 1597.
Only the best legal advocates gain this status.
Solicitor advocates can now become KC too (if they have higher rights of audience).
And you are regarded as a leader in your field.
how many solicitors is there in england?
130,000
how are solicitors controlled?
their own professional body, the Law society.
how can someone train to become a solicitor?
Usually need a law degree to become a solicitor.
If not, you can do the GDL.
what was the old way of becoming a solicitor?
The old route of becoming a solicitor would be the LPC.
With this, you would study with a university for one year whilst working alongside this as a paralegal etc.
Once you had completed this one year and passed the LPC, you would need to obtain a training contract with your company.
You would sit for two years in 4 different areas for 6 months each.
At the end of the two years, you would be guaranteed a job with that firm and choose which area you would like to sit in.
training contracts were hard to obtain
what was introduced to replace the LPC?
The SQE (solicitors qualifying exam) was introduced to replace the LPC and training contracts.
Now, you must work in a legal field for two years, but this isn’t a training contract, it could be as a paralegal, clerk etc.
Alongside this, you must pass the SQE1 and SQE2.
All examinations are sat in the UK at the same time – it costs £4,500 to take the SQE.
You can then book onto SQE preparation courses at university too to help you prep for the exams.
what is the role of solicitors?
Many people who qualify as a solicitor, will go on to work in private practice in a firm.
Others may become legal advisers.
A solicitor in private practice may work as a sole practitioner or in a partnership.
There’s around 10,000 firms of solicitors from high street practices to big firms.
Number of partners in a firm is not limited and some of the big city firms will have over 100 partners.
how may a solicitors role differ amongst smaller firms?
The role of the solicitor differs depending on the size of the firm they work in.
Those that work in a smaller firm may specialise in more areas and also spend time talking to/interviewing clients, and even more time with paperwork.
Most solicitors specialise in a singular field.
In larger firms, there will be definitive specialisation, with solicitors sitting in a particular department.
can a solicitor act in courts?
The solicitor may also, if they wish to, act for some of their clients in court. Some solicitors will specialise in advocacy and spend a lot of time doing this.
what is another role of solicitors
Another role of solicitors is conveyancing. This is transferring houses/buildings and land. Only solicitors were allowed to do this prior to 1985.
Now, people other than solicitors can become licensed conveyancers.
can a solicitor gain rights of advocacy?
A solicitor is allowed to go to court, but they may decide to brief a barrister instead.
Solicitors have always been allowed to advocate in Magistrates’ and County Court, but not in higher courts.
However, since 1990, solicitors can apply for a certificate of advocacy which allows them to appear in the higher courts.
They would need to have experience already in advocating, take a short training course and pass exams on the rules of evidence.
how are solicitors and barristers roles merging?
It used to be that solicitors and barristers were very different.
Solicitors would work mainly in the office whereas barristers would specialise in presenting cases in court.
There are only around 6500 solicitors with higher rights of advocacy.
So although the rules have changed, and solicitors have more rights of advocacy, this is rarely used in practice.
Now that barristers have direct access, they are doing more work that solicitors would do such as interviewing clients, writing letters and prep work
