Solicitors

Question 1

What does the Legal Services Act 2007 do?

Answer 1

increased controls over the legal profession and their functions.

Question 2

How many solicitors are there in England and Wales?

Answer 2

180,000

Question 3

Where do they work?

Answer 3

working in private practice as well as local government local authorities, commercial or private businesses and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)

Question 4

Who governs the solicitors?

Answer 4

Law Society

Question 5

If they are employed in private practice what do they get?

Answer 5

A salary.

Question 6

In private practice what can they work as?

Answer 6

a sole practitioner or in a partnership.

Question 7

How many firms are there?

Answer 7

10,000 from small ‘high-street’ to large city firms.

Question 8

Explain how many solicitors will be in each firm. Is it limited and what about in big firms?

Answer 8

The number of partners in each of these firms is not limited and some of the bigger firms will have over 100 partners as well as employing assistant solicitors.

Question 9

What will the work a solicitor do depend on?

Answer 9

will largely depend on the type of firm they work in and the different areas of law covered within that firm.

Question 10

What will most firms advise clients on?

Answer 10

Most firms will advise clients on matters relating to Family Law and Property Law (buying and selling houses or conveyancing).

Question 11

What is specializing?

Answer 11

Solicitors can also specialise in specific areas of law which will depend on whether they work in civil or criminal practice.

Question 12

Give an overview of a solicitors work.

Answer 12

advising clients on a full range of topics

negotiating with other solicitor’s firms on behalf of their client

completing paperwork.

Question 13

What does the paperwork include, give 3 examples?

Answer 13

Writing letters on behalf of clients;
Drafting contracts, leases and other legal documents;
Drafting negotiations;
Drawing up wills; and
Dealing with conveyancing issues (the legal issues of buying and selling houses, etc.)

Question 14

What is advocacy?

Answer 14

Solicitors can also act for some of their clients in court.
This is known as advocacy and involves the solicitor standing up in court, putting the client’s case forward by presenting evidence and questioning witnesses.

Question 15

Most solicitors are general practitioners, what does this mean?

Answer 15

They will deal with more than one area of law.

Question 16

What will they do relating to barristers?

Answer 16

brief barristers who are going to court, or they can instruct a barrister to give an opinion on case.

Question 17

How does a solicitor gain rights of advocacy? What can those with the higher rights apply to become?

Answer 17

Apply for rights of advocacy in the higher courts.

Those with higher rights of advocacy can apply to become a QC

Question 18

What must all solicitors be members of?

Answer 18

The Law Society

Question 19

What does the Law Society do?

Answer 19

supports the interests of solicitors and speaks to government, Parliament and the public on a range of legal issues and tries to influence Parliament to make sure the laws passed protect its members and the public.

Question 20

How does the Law Society do its job?

Answer 20

raising the profile of the profession through campaigns, networking and promoting the UK legal sector locally and globally.

Question 21

What was set up to deal with complaints about professional misconduct of solicitors?

Answer 21

An independent Solicitors Regulatory Authority was created to deal with complaints.

Question 22

What does the Authority do if a complaint arises?

Answer 22

investigate the matter and, if there is evidence of serious misconduct, it can put the case before the Solicitor’s Disciplinary Tribunal.

Question 23

If the Tribunal upholds the complaint what can it do?

Answer 23

it can fine or reprimand the solicitor, or in more serious cases, it can suspend a solicitor from the Roll.
This will mean that the solicitor cannot practise for a specified amount of time.

Question 24

What can happen in serious cases with the Tribunal?

Answer 24

the Tribunal can strike off a solicitor from the Roll for good, meaning they will be prevented from practising as a solicitor again.

Question 25

If the Tribunal cannot settle the complaint where can it be sent to?

Answer 25

it can be sent to the Legal Ombudsman

Question 26

How does a solicitor interact with their client?

Answer 26

A solicitor deals directly with clients and enters into a contract with them.

Question 27

If a client cannot pay what happens?

Answer 27

This means that if the client does not pay, the solicitor has the right to sue for his or her fees.

Question 28

If the solicitor does not carry out his/her job properly what can the client do? Give a case example.

Answer 28

It also means that the client can sue his solicitor for breach of contract if the solicitor fails to do the work required.

Griffiths v Dawson (1993)

Question 29

What can the other solicitor do?

Answer 29

A solicitor can also sue the solicitor for work that has been done negligently.

Question 30

Other people affected by the solicitor’s negligence may also have a right to sue in certain circumstances. Give a case example.

Answer 30

White v Jones [1995]

Question 31

QUALIFICATION

Answer 31

QUALIFICATION