1. The legal profession
In England and Wales there are two types of lawyers
(barristers and solicitors), jointly referred to as the legal
profession. Most countries do not have this clear-cut division
among lawyers: a person will qualify simply as a lawyer,
although, after qualifying, it will be possible for them to
specialise as an advocate, or in a particular area of law.

2. Solicitors
O There are over 130,000 solicitors
practising in England and Wales and they
are controlled by their own professional
body, the Law Society.
O Of these, 90,000 are in private practice
and the remainder are in employed work,
such as for local government or the Crown
Prosecution Service or private business.

3. Training routes to become a
solicitor

4. Training contract
O Even when this course has been passed,
the student is still not a qualified solicitor.
He or she must next obtain a training
contract under which they work in a
solicitors’ firm for two years, getting
practical experience. This training period
can also be undertaken in certain other
legal organisations such as the Crown
Prosecution Service, or the legal
department of a local authority.

5. Criticism on training
O The main problem is financial. Students
will normally have to pay the fees of the
Legal Practice Course (about £12,000)
and support themselves while doing the
course.
O Another criticism is that non-law
graduates do only one year of formal law
to take the Common Professional Exam.

6. Solicitors work
O Private practice in solicitors firm.
O Work in the Crown Prosecution Service or for
a local authority or government department.
O The type of work done by a solicitor will
largely depend on the type of firm he or she is
working in.
O A small high street firm will probably be a
general practice advising clients on a whole
range of topics such as consumer problems,
housing and business matters and family
problems.

7. Paperwork
O Writing letters on behalf of clients
O Drafting contracts, leases or other legal
documents
O Drawing up wills
O Dealing with conveyancing (the legal side
of buying and selling flats, houses, office
buildings and land).

8. Solicitors other works
O Speaclising in one particular field
O Conveyancing (transfer of properties)
O Rights of advocates

9. Complaints against solicitors
O A client can also sue the solicitor for
negligence in and out of court work. This
happened in Griffiths v Dawson (1993)
where solicitors for the plaintiff had failed
to make the correct application in divorce
proceedings against her husband. As a
result the plaintiff lost financially and the
solicitors were ordered to pay her £21,000
in compensation.

10. Complaints against solicitors
O Other people affected by the solicitor’s
negligence may also have the right to sue in
certain circumstances. An example of this was
the case of White v Jones (1995) where a
father wanted to make a will leaving each of
his daughters £9,000. He wrote to his
solicitors instructing them to draw up a will to
include this. The solicitors received this letter
on 17 July 1986 but had done nothing about it
by the time the father died on 14 September
1986. As a result the daughters did not inherit
any money and they successfully sued the
solicitor for the £9,000 they had each lost.

11. Complaints against solicitors
O Negligent advocacy, It used to be held
that a solicitor presenting a case in court
could not be sued for negligence.
However, in Hall v Simons (2000), the
House of Lords decided that advocates
can be liable for negligence.
O Solicitors Regulatory Authority, This deals
with complaints about professional
misconduct of solicitors. The Authority will
investigate the matter.

12. Complaints against solicitors
O The Legal Services Act 2007 created the
Office for Legal Complaints. This is
completely independent of the Law
Society and any other sector of the legal
profession.

13. Complaints against solicitors
The Legal Ombudsman The office started work in October
2010. It is independent and impartial. When a complaint is
received, the office will look at the facts in each case and
weigh both sides of the story. If the Legal Ombudsman
agrees that a lawyer’s service has been unsatisfactory, it
can ask the lawyer and the law firm to:
O ● apologise to the client
O ● give back any documents the client might need
O ● put things right if more work can correct what went
wrong
O ● refund or reduce the legal fees, or
O ● pay compensation of up to £30,000.

14. Barristers
O There are about 12,700 barristers in
independent practice in England and Wales. In
addition there are about 3,000 barristers
employed by organisations such as the Crown
Prosecution Service, businesses, local
government and the Civil Service. Collectively
barristers are referred to as ‘the Bar’ and they
are controlled by their own professional body –
the General Council of the Bar.

15. Training route to Barristers

16. Training of Barristers
All student barristers also have to pass the Bar
Professional Training Course. On this course
students study:
O ● case preparation legal research
O ● written skills
O ● opinion writing (giving written advice)
O ● drafting documents such as claim forms
O ● conference skills (interviewing clients)
O ● negotiation
O ● advocacy (speaking in court).

17. Training of Barristers
Criminal advocacy, In 2015 a new
system for lawyers doing
advocacy in the higher courts was
announced. All lawyers will have
to get accreditation under the
Quality Assurance Scheme for
Advocates (QASA).

18. Training of Barristers
Criminal advocacy, In 2015 a new
system for lawyers doing
advocacy in the higher courts was
announced. All lawyers will have
to get accreditation under the
Quality Assurance Scheme for
Advocates (QASA).

19. Barristers work
 Barristers practising at the Bar are self-
employed, but usually work from a set of
chambers where they can share administrative
expenses with other barristers. Most sets of
chambers are fairly small, comprising about 15–
20 barristers.
 They will employ a clerk as a practice
administrator – booking in cases and negotiating
fees – and they will have other support staff.