Lawyer vs SolicitorDiffen › LegalThere are subtle differences in many jurisdictions between a solicitor and a lawyer. The epithet "lawyer" can be used more loosely by practitioners than the title of solicitor.

Comparison chart< / >  EMBED THIS CHART

Improve this chart Lawyer SolicitorDefinition: One who is licensed to

practice law.A solicitor is a qualified person who represents and advises his clients. Can advocate in court (with the due accreditation) and usually specialises in a certain area of law. It is an offence to call yourself a solicitor if you are not one.

Region wise: In the US, a ‘lawyer’ is a general term for anyone licensed to practice law.

The term Solicitor is mainly used in UK, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and some parts of the US.

Public: A Lawyer can give legal advice and can represent individuals or entities in legal matters.

A Solicitor deals directly with the public or a corporation and can advise legally.

Qualifications: after receiving a bachelor's degree, must attend 3 years of law school, generally must pass a standardized bar exam, and be found fit to practice law by the state and/or federal court in which the lawyer practices

3 year Under-graduate degree, 12 month Legal Practice Course (LPC) and 2 year apprenticeship known as a Training Contract.

Practice: This comparison does not apply to the United States, where the term "solicitor" is not used. The terms "lawyer" and "attorney" mean the

Must be admitted to the ‘roll’ to be able to practice and registered as a solicitor on the Law Society register of Solicitors, www.solicitors-

Improve this chart Lawyer Solicitorsame thing. A Lawyer must graduate from law school and must be licensed to practice law.

online.com

Regulated by: State Bar Association (U.S.) By the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Role: Represents individuals or entities in civil or criminal matters including litigation.

A solicitor can prosecute and defend litigation in the UK County courts and (with appropriate accreditation) can do this in the High Court too, with or without counsels advice.

Legal status: Must be licensed to practice law by the state and/or federal courts.

It is an offence to portray yourself as a solicitor if you are not a solicitor, hence the creation of the term 'lawyer'.

Contents 1 Definition of Lawyer and Solicitor 2 Role of a Lawyer vs. Solicitor 3 Qualifications of a Solicitor vs. a Lawyer 4 Regulation for solicitors and lawyers 5 Related Articles 6 References

EDIT Definition of Lawyer and SolicitorThe word ‘lawyer’ is a generic term for a member of the legal profession. In England and Wales lawyers are either solicitors or barristers. Generally speaking the lawyer one sees for any personal legal matter (a will, a divorce, to make a claim against an employer, to set up a company etc) is a solicitor. A barrister comes into play if a case needs to go to the higher courts. In America and many other countries the legal profession is not split into two. Thus, the same lawyer performs all the legal tasks. In the US, he is mostly known as the Attorney.

EDIT Role of a Lawyer vs. SolicitorIn the English legal system, solicitors have traditionally dealt with any legal matter apart from conducting proceedings in courts, except for some minor cases. The other branch of the English legal profession, a barrister, has traditionally carried out the advocacy functions. This has now altered, as ‘solicitor advocates’ may act at certain higher levels of court which were previously barred to them. Several countries that originally had two or more legal professions have now fused or united their professions into a single type of lawyer. A lawyer is usually permitted to carry out all or nearly all responsibilities listed below: Oral argument in the courts – Traditionally it is the responsibility of a barrister to argue a

client's case before a judge or jury in a court of law in England. However, the boundary between barristers and solicitors has evolved. Today the barrister covers only appellate courts, and he may contest directly with solicitors in many trial courts. In countries that have a fused legal profession, like the United States, there are trial lawyers who specialize in trying cases in court, but trial lawyers do not have a monopoly like barristers.

Research and drafting of court papers – Mostly, before the proceedings of the case start, a lawyer is expected to brief the court in writing on the issues in a case. For oral argument they may have to perform extensive research into relevant facts and law. In England, solicitor gets the facts of the case from the client and briefs a barrister in writing. It is the latter who then researches, drafts, and files the necessary court pleadings, and orally argues the case.

Advocacy (written and oral) in administrative hearings - In most developed countries, the legislature has granted original jurisdiction over highly technical matters to executive branch administrative agencies which oversee such things. As a result, some lawyers have become specialists in administrative law. In the United States, lawyers have been effectively barred by statute from certain types of administrative hearings in order to preserve their informality.

Client intake and counseling (with regard to pending litigation) - In England, only solicitors were traditionally in direct contact with the client. A lawyer may or may not have direct contact with the client.

Legal advice (with regard to all legal matters) - Legal advice is the application of abstract principles of law to the concrete facts of the client's case in order to advise the client about what they should do next. In many countries, only a licensed lawyer is allowed to provide legal advice to clients. In some other places, jurists who hold law degrees are allowed to provide legal advice to individuals or to corporations, and holding a license isn’t a pre condition.

Protecting intellectual property - In almost all countries, patents, trademarks, industrial designs and other forms of intellectual property must be formally registered with a government agency in order to receive maximum protection under the law. The division of such work among lawyers, licensed non-lawyer jurists/agents or solicitors varies greatly from one country to the next.

Negotiating and drafting contracts - In some countries, the negotiating and drafting of contracts is considered to be similar to the provision of legal advice, so that it is subject to the licensing requirement explained above.

Conveyancing - Conveyancing is the drafting of the documents necessary for the transfer of real property, such as deeds and mortgages. In some jurisdictions, all real

estate transactions must be carried out by a lawyer or a solicitor where that distinction still exists.

Carrying out the intent of the deceased - In many countries, only lawyers have the legal authority to do drafting of wills, trusts, and any other documents that ensure the efficient disposition of a person's property after death. In the United States, the estates of the deceased must be administered by a court through probate.

Prosecution and defense of criminal suspects - In many civil law countries, prosecutors are law-trained jurists, i.e. they’re trained in various aspects of the judiciary. In common law countries, prosecutors are lawyers who may be working for the government offices that files cases against suspects. Criminal defense lawyers specialize in the defense of those charged with any crimes.

EDIT Qualifications of a Solicitor vs. a Lawyer

Porträt eines Notars aka Painting of a civil law notary by Quentin Massys

The most common qualification to be a solicitor is a normal undergraduate law degree, after that solicitors study a one year course called the Legal Practice Course and then must undertake two years apprenticeship with a solicitor, called the training contract (but still widely referred to as articles). Once that is complete, the student becomes a solicitor and is admitted to the roll. The 'roll' is a list of people qualified to be a solicitor and is kept on behalf of the 'Master of the Rolls', who is also the head of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.The educational prerequisites to becoming a lawyer vary greatly from country to country. In some countries, law is taught by a faculty of law, which is a department of a university's general undergraduate college. Law students in those countries pursue a Master or Bachelor of Lawsdegree which is often followed by a series of advanced examinations, apprenticeships, and additional coursework at special government institutes. In the US, law is primarily taught at law schools which award graduating students a J.D. (Juris Doctor/Doctor of Jurisprudence).For admission into a law school a bachelor's degree is a prerequisite. Some jurisdictions grant a "diploma privilege" to certain institutions, so that merely earning a degree or credential from those institutions is the primary qualification for practicing law. However, in a large number of countries, a law student must pass a bar examination (or a series of such

examinations) before receiving a license to practice. Some countries also require a formal apprenticeship with an experienced practitioner.

EDIT Regulation for solicitors and lawyersSolicitors in England and Wales are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, an independently administered branch of the Law Society of England and Wales. Solicitors must also pay the Law Society of England and Wales a practising fee each year in order to keep practising. If they do not do this they are 'non-practising' and may not give legal advice to the public although they can start practising again at will, unlike those who have been struck off the roll. In common law countries with divided legal professions, barristers traditionally belong to the bar council (or an Inn of Court) and solicitors belong to the law society.In the English-speaking world, the largest mandatory professional association of lawyers is the State Bar of California, with 200,000 members. Regulation of both barristers and solicitors is now being reviewed by the Ministry of Justice. In the case of a lawyer, some jurisdictions, either the judiciary or the Ministry of Justice directly supervises the admission, licensing, and regulation of lawyers while some others have granted such powers to a professional association which all lawyers must belong to. In the US, such associations are known as mandatory, integrated or unified bar associations. Generally, a non member caught practicing law may be liable for the crime of unauthorized practice of law.Some countries admit and regulate lawyers at the national level, so that a lawyer, once licensed, can argue cases in any court in the land for example New Zealand, Japan, and Belgium. Others, especially those with federal governments, tend to regulate lawyers at the state or provincial level; this is the case in the United States, Canada, Australia and Switzerland to name a few. Some countries grant licenses to non-resident lawyers, who may then appear regularly on behalf of foreign clients. Others require all lawyers to live in the jurisdiction or to even hold national citizenship as a prerequisite for receiving a license to practice.

The legal profession in England and Wales is made up of barristers and solicitors. Historically, a bright line divided the two branches of the profession. With few exceptions, access to the courts rested solely in the hands of the barrister. The solicitor, in turn, had virtually exclusive access to the lay client. In the 19th Century it was determined that a barrister could act only pursuant to instructions from a solicitor and the barrister was precluded from dealing directly with the client. The solicitor, in turn, selected and instructed the barrister.

The barrister is a lawyer who has been admitted to "plead at the bar." That means that he or she has been called to the bar by the "benchers" of one of the four Inns of Court (Middle Temple, Inner Temple, Gray’s Inn and Lincoln's Inn) and, subject to pupilage requirements, is allowed to appear in court to argue a client's case. Prerequisites to call include attaining a second-class honours degree, attending the Inns of Court School of Law, or other validated Bar Vocational Course provider, for a one

year term and passing the "bar final" exams. The call is followed by a one-year pupilage in chambers, where the novice lawyer benefits from association and attendance at court with an experienced barrister.The requirements for admission to the Bar Vocational Course (BVC) are strict and the course itself is demanding. A pupilage is somewhat similar to an internship in the medical profession and allows the new barrister to observe and assist the "pupil master" in action and, hopefully, learn from the experience. In recent years graduates have found it difficult to secure and finance a pupilage and have experienced even more difficulty in obtaining a "tenancy," i.e., a position in chambers upon completion of pupilage. The pupil can earn nothing for the first 6 months and there is little expectation of significant earnings in the second 6 months. A number of chambers assist pupils with an award of funds, which auguments any earnings the pupil may realize during the second 6 months.

Although a number of barristers may make up any particular "set" of chambers, they are prohibited from incorporating or joining together as partners, and each acts as a sole practitioner.

Anyone who has viewed Rumpole of the Bailey" on Thames Television or the Public Broadcasting System, or has read any of the Rumpole books authored by John Mortimer Q.C., has received an excellent overview of how barristers' chambers operate. The barrister is easily identifiable by his or her working garb, which include robe and wig.

A solicitor, on the other hand, is a lawyer who, after having served under the supervision of a practicing solicitor for two years, and having satisfied other demands of the Law Society, including educational requirements, is admitted to practice by the Master of the Rolls. Solicitors have limited rights to practice before the courts ("rights of access"), but traditionally "instruct" a barrister to appear in court for them. The instructions provide the barrister with necessary information and documents, and outline the tasks which the solicitor wishes the barrister to perform. Following tradition, the instructions and related papers are tied with a colored ribbon, referred to as a "brief" which, in turn, is delivered to the barrister. After review of the instructions, conference(s) with the instructing

solicitor and his or her client, and any required legal research, the barrister argues the matter at issue in court. The solicitors' rights of access to the courts have been expanded of late but, generally, a solicitor is considered an "office lawyer" whereas the barrister, who provides opinions to solicitors on difficult points of law, also appears in court.

Considerable change has been made in recent years with respect to the traditional rights of access, i.e., the solicitor's right of access to the courts and the client's right of direct access to the barrister. The Court & Legal Services Act abolished the exclusive rights of barrister access to the higher courts, i.e., the Crown Court (criminal), High Court (civil), Court of Appeal and House of Lords in 1990. After first obtaining certification, solicitors may appear in the higher courts, thus expanding upon the solicitor's historical rights of access to magistrates courts (criminal), county courts (civil) and interlocutory hearings in chambers (private hearings) in the High Court. Relatively few solicitors have sought certification.

Direct access to barristers by members of certain recognized professional bodies has been allowed since 1989. Citizens Advice Bureau, trade unions, police and professional bodies have been allowed direct access as well. Changes to the Bar Council Code of Conduct effective 6 July 2004 now allow, but do not require, barristers to accept instruction direct from the public. Particularly sensitive areas, which are excepted from the 2004 Code of Conduct changes are (1) immigration or asylum work, (2) family or ciminal proceedings other than for advice where proceedings have been commenced (but not to attend interviews conducted by prosecuting or investigating authorities) or some appeals and (3) where the instructions come from intermediaries and are in connection with any family or criminal proceedings. To qualify to perform direct access work, the barrister must have been in practice for three years following completion of pupilage, have complied with training requirements imposed by the Bar Council and have notified the Bar Council that he or she intends to do public access work.

There are several web sites available to the internet user which explain in considerably more detail the rich history of the bar, the requirements to qualify for call to the bar, the dichotomy between

the role of the solicitor and the barrister, the workings of chambers and the role played by the barrister within the British judicial system. Perhaps the best of those sites are the web pages maintained by The General Council of the Bar and by Online Law.

In rounded numbers, there were 10,300 barristers admitted to practice before the bar of England and Wales as of 1st March 2003 and 86,000 practicing solicitors as of that date, a total of 96,300 lawyers. In comparison, on 1st March 2003, there were 191,000 lawyers admitted to the active practice of law in California, the population of which is approximately 40% of that of England and Wales.