Understanding the Legal Profession in England

1. THE LEGAL PROFESSION IN ENGLAND Unit 6

2. Whatcanlawyers do for theirclients?

3. Preview • Branchesofthelegalprofession • Solicitors’ training • Solicitors: typeof work • Solicitors’ professional organisation • Barristers: typeofwork • Barristers’ training • Barristers’ professional organisation • Advantagesanddisadvantagesof a split profession • Historicaloverview • Legal terms

4. Branches of the legal profession • Solicitors • Barristers

5. Solicitors • Provide members of the public – their clients – with skilled advice and representation in all legal matters

6. Type of work • The public comes into contact with solicitors more than any other people who work in the law; this gives them a unique insight into how decisions of the courts are made

7. Family or ‘High Street’ Solicitor • ‘on call’ to dealwithalmosteveryaspectof legal life • Individualclients (crime, personal injuryclaims, familymatters, employmentandsocialsecurityproblems) • Otherclients: estateagents, bank managers, accountants

8. Givinginstructions to a solicitor • Anyonewhoneedslegaladviceor to havelegalworkdonewillgo to a solicitor’sofficeandtellthemwhat he requires – thisiscalledgiving a solicitorinstructions

9. Legal advice • Solicitors must be able to explain what the law is and how a particular set of circumstances is affected by the law • Good knowledge of the law and sound common sense

10. Representationincourt • Solicitorsmayrepresenttheirclientsinmagistrates’ courtsandcountycourts • Also: at tribunals • Traditionally, a barrister had to beinstructedif a clientrequiredrepresentationinthehighercourts • Solicitorsmaybeaccredited for higherrightsfollowingthecompletionofanadvocacyassessment: separate awards for civil andcriminaladvocacy

11. Therightofaudience • The Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, as amended by the Access to Justice Act 1999 grantsrights of audiencein the higher courts to the solicitors who are admitted or registered, and who have complied with additional assessment requirements

12. Traditionalsolicitors’ ‘monopolies’ • Certainareasofworkwereonce ‘reserved’ to solicitors: • e.g. administering a deceasedperson’sestate (probate), conveyancing

13. Abolitionofmonopolies • 1985 AdministrationofJusticeAct – createdlicensedconveyancers • 2007 Legal ServicesAct – allowsnon-solicitors to carryout some typesoflegalwork, e.g. exercise a rightofaudience, conductlitigation, probate activities, notarialactivitiesetc.

14. Liabilityofsolicitors • Therelationshipbetween a solicitorand a client – contractual • Each party maybesuediftheyfail to meettheobligations set outinthecontract • Solicitorsmaybesued for negligenceiflosshasbeencaused to someone to whomtheyowedthedutyof care, e.g. a clientor a beneficiaryof a will

15. Training • A lawdegree – notessential • A student who doesnotgraduateinlawtakes a conversioncourse, ortheGraduate Diploma inLaw(GDL/CPE) • 1 year (full time) or 2 years (part-time)

16. Training • A qualifyinglawdegree must includethefollowingsubjects: • Constitutionalandadministrativelaw • Contractlaw • Criminallaw • Equityandtrusts • EU law • Landlaw • tort

17. Traininig • Followingsuccessfulcompletionoftheacademicstage, a student must enrol on thevocationalstage: thelegalpracticecourse (LPC) • 1-year coursethatputsacademiclegaltheoryintopracticeandequipsstudents for theirtrainingcontract

18. Training • Followingsatisfactorycompletionof Legal PracticeCourse, thepracticalstageofthetrainingprocessstarts: a trainingcontractwith a firmofsolicitorsorlocalauthority • Fiercecompetition (smallnumberoftrainingcontracts) • Thetrainingcontractlasts 2 yearsduringwhich time thetrainee must workinthreedifferentareasofpractice

19. Training • A typicaltrainingcontract at a mediumsizedfirmcouldinclude 4 ‘seats’: familylaw, conveyancing, civil litigation, andcrime • At theendofthesuccessfulcompletionofthetwo-yeartraining period, a traineeisadmitted as a fullyqualifiedsolicitor • Oncequalified, theSolicitorsRegulationAuthorityrequiressolicitors to undertake a minimum of 16 hrsperyearofcontinuingeducation

20. Training • Thetraditionaltrainingroute to become a solicitortakes at least 6 years • Fees for undergraduatecourses, feescharged for Graduate Diploma inLawand Legal PracticeCourse • No guaranteeof a training place aftercompletionoftheacademicandvocationalstagesoftraining • Studieshaveshownthatthe system discriminatesagainstprospectivelawyersfromlowersocio-economicgroupsandensuresthattheprofessionremainsthepreserveof a narrowsectionofsociety

21. Solicitors: typesofemployment • Work on their own, or as partners with other solicitors • A solicitor’s practice: firm of solicitors

22. Solicitors’ partnerships • Traditionallyworkedinpartnerships, basedinlocalcommunities • Undertook a broadrangeofwork: divorce, conveyancing, draftigwills, dealingwithcriminalcasesand civil litigation • Thisisstillthecasewithsmallfirms (‘highstreetfirms’) but increasinglysolicitorsworkinlargefirmsandhave to specialize

23. Solicitors’ firms • Largefirmsofsolicitors (‘commercial’) firmshave a numberofspecialistdepartments, such as company/commercial, property, privateclient, litigation • Manyareasoflaw – complex, change on a dailybasis • Anindividualsolicitorcannotkeepup to date • Solicitorshave to narrowtheirfieldofexpertiseandpractice

24. Solicitors’ firms • Thesizeof a legalfirmcanvaryfrom one qualifiedsolicitor (a sole practitioner) to firmswith a global presenceandover 3,000 solicitors • Until 2001, solicitorscouldonlypractise as sole practitionersorinpartnerships • SincetheLimitedLiabilityPartnershipsAct 2001, solicitorshavebeenable to formlimitedliabilitypartnerships (LLP) – a legalentity separate fromitsmembers:canownproperty, enterintocontracts, bringlegalproceedings, etc.

25. Solicitors’ specializations • In a companydepartmenttheremaybe sub-departmentsdealingwithintellectualproperty, pensions, bankingandfinance, andinsolvency • Thelargestcommercialfirms – a hugearrayofspecialistareasofexpertise

26. In-housesolicitors • May alsowork ‘in-house’, i.e. as employeesofbusinessorotherorganisationormaybeemployedbylocalorcentralgovernment • Manylargecompaniesandlocalauthoritieshavetheirownlegaldepartmentsandsolicitors, as well as acting for thecompanyinlegalmatters, mayalsoperformotherroles, such as companysecretary

27. The Law Society • The professional bodythatgovernsthesolicitors’ branchofthe legal profession • Responsible for thetrainingofsolicitors

28. The Law Society • Solicitors - ‘admitted to theRolls’, whichmeanstheirnames are entered on the roll (list) ofsolicitorspermitted to practise • They must have a practisingcertificateissuedbytheLawSociety • In 2017: 184,736 solicitors

29. The Law Society • Makes rules as to how solicitors should look after their clients • Carries out spot-checks and audits • Disciplinary powers

30. Solicitors and barristers • Solicitorshavedirectcontactwiththeirclients • Thesolicitor’srelationshipwith a client – more personal

31. Solicitors and barristers • A clientwhoneededtheservicesof a barrister had to gofirst to a solicitor, whowouldinstruct, orbriefthebarrister • Thesolicitorwouldthenchoosethebarristerwhoisright for thecase, andhelppreparethecase for court

32. The Bar Council's Public Access Rules in 2004 • The Bar Council's Public Access Rules in 2004 allow barristers to accept instructions directly from members of the public. • Exceptionally, barristers may not accept instructions from the area of criminal and family law, as well as immigration.

33. Barristers

34. Barristers • Barrister-at-Law; also known as counsel

35. Type of work • Advocacy – work in court • The art of advocacy – the art of persuasion

36. Barristers • Litigationor ‘courtroomlawyers’ whoactuallyconductcasesincourt • Rights ofaudience (rights to appear) inanycourt (Crown Court, High Court, courtsofappeal)

37. Barristers • Mostly specialise in just one or two aspects of litigation (only criminal cases, or one or more of the many types of civil case) • Some: spend their professional lives advising, and writing opinions at the request of solicitors in cases that involve difficult and complicated areas of the law

38. Barristers • Layclientscouldnotsee a barristerdirectly; • theycouldonlyarrange to berepresentedby a barristeror to take hisadvicebyfirstgoing to a solicitor; • thesolicitorwouldtheninstructorbriefthebarrister to helptheclient

39. Barristers’ access to clients • 2004 The Bar Council’sPublic Access Rulescameintoforceallowingbarristers to acceptinstructionsdirectlyfrommembersofthepublicinmainly civil work • May notacceptinstructionsfrommembersofthepublicincriminal, family, andimmigrationlaw

40. Barristers • Unlikesolicitors, barristerscannotworkinpartnerships • Self-employed: have to bemembersof one oftheInnsof Court • In-houselawyers

41. Innsof Court • Sincebarristerscannotformpartnerships, itmakessense for them to shareexpensiveresources, such as premises, secretarialsupport, libraryfacilities, a clerkwhoacts as a business manager

42. Training • 1. Academic: A qualifying law degree or a degree in another subject supplemented by an approved Graduate Diploma inLaw • 2. Vocational: Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC): 1 year of full-time study or 2 years of part-time study; Applicants must also pass the Bar Course Aptitude Test (BCAT) and join an Inn of Court before startingthe BPTC. • 3. Pupillage

43. BPTC: content • Case work skills: Case preparation, Legal research • Written Skills:Opinion-writing (giving written advice on cases), Drafting (writing various types of documents required for litigation) • Interpersonal skills: Conference skills (interviewing clients), Negotiation, Advocacy (court or tribunal appearances) • Legal knowledge:Civil litigation and remedies, Criminal litigation and sentencing, Evidence, Professional ethics, optionalsubjects, e.g. commerciallaw

44. Pupillage • Apprenticeship with an experienced barrister in a set of barristers’ chambers • 6 months with one ‘pupil master’ and 6 with another, in order to gain a wider experience

45. Pupillage • Duringthefirstsixmonths a youngbarristerisnotallowed to appearincourt on hisown • Duringthesecondsixmonths he may do soin ‘appropriatecases’ • Difficult to obtainpupillage: intensecompetition

46. Tenancy • Aftercompleting a pupillage, thenewbarristercanapply to become a tenantin a set ofchambersin one ofthefourInnsof Court • Verydifficult to beaccepted

47. Tenancy • If accepted, the new tenant will use the chambers as a base, and will be ‘clerked’ from them • Tenants have to make a contribution towards the expenses of running the chambers

48. Tenancy • All barristersinchambers – self-employed: no guaranteeofregularincomeorregularwork • Continuingeducationrequired: min. 45 hrsinthefirstthreeyears; afterthis: 12 hrsperyear

49. Call to the Bar • Whenbarristersqualifythey are ‘called to the Bar’ • datesfromthedayswheneachcourtroomwasfittedwith a bar dividingtheareausedbythe court fromthe general public. Onlybarristerswereallowed to stepuptothe bar to pleadtheirclients’ cases

50. Call to the Bar • The ceremony that takes place in the Hall, at which newly qualified barristers are formally admitted and welcomed into the profession • When barristers first qualify they are known as ‘junior counsel’