Barrister / Solicitor / Lawyer

[Maggie]

I remember seeing a post on either this Forum or Lisa's Forum, by someone who said Barrister was just another name for solicitor or lawyer.

This is not so, just want to set the records straight.


A solicitor usually advises clients, and may represent them in the lower courts, but not the higher courts.
For a solicitor to qualify as a Barrister takes much more education and practice.
(Yes that's practice in this case, not practise)

Barristers are advocates who may act for the defense or prosecution in a higher court.
They may also be called as a Queen's Counsellor, literally mediating as the Queen's representative in a higher court. In this case, they are entitled to the initials Q.C. after their name.

A murder trial in the UK is announced as "Her Majesty the Queen versus John Doe".

My daughter-in-law Victoria went through the long difficult process and is now a Barrister.
She got her Law degree from King's College, London University.
She then took a Legal Practice Course and passed the required exam.
She then served 2 years as a Junior Solicitor as required before becoming a solicitor.

To become a Barrister from then on, membership of one of the four Inns of Court is mandatory. The Inns of Court originated in the fourteenth century, and are located in the middle of London. Their function is to educate and regulate their members. There is also a social element, with libraries, meeting rooms and dining facilities.
So Victoria is a member of Lincoln's Inn.
She then took the Bar Vocational Course, and passed the examination.

I found this piece by an American, explaining what becoming a Barrister entails in the UK:

"Becoming a barrister is far harder. The typical route for a British lawyer would be to complete their normal legal training followed by a year of Bar School (often at the Inns of Court School of Law) in which one learns the practical elements of court appearances, etc. Then you must get offered a pupilage at a barrister's chambers which are highly competitive. Some proportion of those offered a pupilage will, after a year, be given a tenancy. Once you have a tenancy at a barrister's chambers, you are formally called to bar, have an independent legal practice with rights of audience in court."

[Nero Angelo]

That helps explain a bit of Rumpole, then. Many thanks, Maggie!

[OldFatGuy]

If I recall correctly, a barrister is considered a minister of the court, while a solicitor is merely an officer of the court, a lower standing.  Barristers usually have more specialized (or specialised )knowledge of case law and precedent.  Does that sound right, Maggie?

[zankoku]

Maggie,

My cousin is a retired British Judge who served many years on the bench in Hong Kong and now spends 3 months a year on the Royal High Court of Bruni.

Jim

[Maggie]

Maggie,
My cousin is a retired British Judge who served many years on the bench in Hong Kong and now spends 3 months a year on the Royal High Court of Bruni.
Jim

That must have been interesting! He was probably a Barrister in the UK at one time.
Recently I was reading about the transition of HK from being a British Colony to being part of China again. They retained some British Judges to oversee the process.
They will still have a British-based judicial system.

BTW, the Sultan of Brunei's son was at University with my son. They were friends, although there was a big gap, materially........for his son's birthday, the Sultan sent the lad a state-of-the-art bells & whistles BMW,
with the registration "I AM 18".
For my son's 18th, I bought him a course of driving lessons!!!

-----------------------------------------
Rich, I don't think they are Ministers or Officers of the court.
A solicitor advises his client before the case goes to court, and he can appear in the lower courts.
A Barrister can represent either side in the High Court, or can be called in to mediate in the case of a stalemate. They are the ones in white wigs and funny gowns.

Victoria chose to go into Corporate Law, specializing in Revenue / Tax matters.
She is also a Company Director.
When she is an old lady, I can see her as a Q.C.
She's one heck of a daughter-in-law! She's about to become a good mommy, too.

Just found this site:
www.online-law.co.uk/bar/becoming_a_barrister/index.html