The Legal Profession in the United Kingdom - Essay Example

of the Na me of the Concerned 20 March 2009 The Legal Profession in the United Kingdom UK is a nation that is to a great extent defined by its respect for the law and the ability of its legal institutions to evolve with the altering trends and expectations. However, the respective branches of the legal profession in the UK have a long and relevant historical background. After England came under the reign of the Normans in 1066, it also ushered into this realm the concept of an exclusively legal profession (Encyclopaedia Britannica). In the earlier days, the judges for the courts in the UK came with an ecclesiastical background. Infact, it was these very men of the cloth who first put forward the idea of a legal profession, which encompassed the right of litigious representation in the courts of law (Encyclopaedia Britannica.) In the mean time, the native common law started to evolve under the aegis of a legal society called the Inns of Court (Encyclopaedia Britannica). However, unlike today, this institution did not furnish any special or formal courses for polishing the young entrants to be the legal practitioners (Encyclopaedia Britannica). In fact, the members of this institution acquired the skills and the rights to become the legal practitioners through experience and apprenticeship (Encyclopaedia Britannica.) Thus during the course of time, there developed a whole new range of legal agents in the UK. There were Serjeants who were considered to be the most elite of the advocates (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Then there existed the attorneys who enjoyed a legal validity and under whom served many apprentices (Encyclopaedia Britannica). These apprentices, as they gained experience with time, were alleviated to the post of barristers (Encyclopaedia Britannica). With the establishment of the Courts of Chancery in the 16th century, solicitors were recognized as the valid agents of law, though the serjeants and the barristers still managed to retain the right of advocacy in the courts (Encyclopaedia Britannica). However, the legal profession in the UK could not resist the influx of democratic norms for long. The elitism rampant in it had to eventually go. In the 17th century, the attorneys and the solicitors were literally chucked out from the Inns of Court and the schism between the role of the advocates and the attorneys became more apparent (Encyclopaedia Britannica). In the due course of time, all the barristers working in the UK were given the name solicitor, who rather willingly agreed to serve the clients under the authority and tutelage of attorneys (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Thus, by this time, there existed only two types of legal agents in the whole of UK, which were the solicitors and the attorneys, and the demarcation of their roles become more stern and rigid than ever before. However, today the structure of the legal profession in the UK comprises of two branches that is the solicitors and the barristers. To put it simply, the role of the solicitors is primarily confined to extending legal advice to ones client, whereas the barristers actually represent their clients in the court rooms. That is, solicitors prepare and compile the paperwork associated with a case while the barristers fight the case on behalf of their clients in the courts of law. Solicitors perform a variety of jobs for their clients that may include: Drafting and managing all the legal correspondence on the behalf of a client. Rendering and extending legal advice to the clients regarding the legal issue being faced by them in a given scenario. Extending the advice to the clients regarding the family law issues being faced by them that may include divorce, separation, child custody, division of assets, etc. Drafting the legal documents like contracts and agreements for business firms and corporations. Drafting of will for the clients. Conveyancing that is imparting legal advice and compiling and drafting the paper work for the clients, associated with the buying and the selling of real estate. Extending advice to the clients regarding the legal issues being faced by them in their businesses. Besides all this, solicitors can also represent their clients in the lower courts like County Courts and the Magistrate Courts. Solicitors usually prefer to specialize in a particular area of law like Family Law, Criminal Law etc. and deal with the paperwork and advisory issues associated with that specific area. Barristers most of the times work independently in their chambers. They usually share the incurred administrative costs and the costs incurred in retaining the required staff and the clerks. Though having an affiliation to a chamber is no more considered to be necessary to be a barrister, still this trait commands a high practical importance and often helps a budding barrister in establishing a thriving practice. Barristers in the UK have the right to extend a legal representation to their clients in all the courts in England and Wales. However, some of the times, the barristers prefer to specialize in such areas of law like taxation and the company law, which may rarely require court appearances. Barristers to a certain extent also specialize and indulge in performing the solicitors' work like giving opinions, extending advice and compiling documents. Normally speaking, no person in the UK is allowed tin instruct a barrister, without first going to a solicitor. However, things have somewhat changed after September 2004 (Stephen and Love 27). Barring the criminal cases, a client is allowed to instruct a barrister without hiring a solicitor. Still, in the criminal cases, a client can only hire a barrister through the via media of a solicitor. Many a time the barristers are exclusively employed by big government and private bodies and organizations like the corporate concerns and the firms of solicitors. Hence, it is quite evident that the structure of the legal profession in the UK is two pronged, which has its own pros and cones. Some people advocate that these two distinct branches of the legal profession in the UK must be fused as they came into existence through more of a historical inevitability instead of a natural evolution. There also exists another school of thought that validates the existence of these two separate branches of the legal profession. Off course each side has its relevant arguments and premises. A resolution of this issue in the UK will definitely have a pan European impact as there exist many other European states whose history and structure of the legal profession is more or less same as that of the UK. Thus this issue has large scale ramifications and possibilities associated with it (Susskind 37). Despite the continual criticism of this bifurcate structure, experience bears testimony to the fact that such a two pronged structure of the legal profession in the UK has manifold advantages and must be continued with. There is no denying the fact that a clear classification of roles allocated to specific lawyers in the English legal system has enabled the English lawyers to win a large clientele in today's globalized legal scenario (Cohen 46). In that context, the English lawyers stand in a class of their own as compared to the American or continental lawyers. Relevant studies and surveys have established beyond doubt that English lawyers far exceed in terms of the respect and the fee they command amongst their international clientele as compared to the European and American rivals (Mondaq Business Briefing 1). This is because of the reason that the division of labour made possible by the bifurcation of the English legal profession has enabled the English solicitors and barristers to gain potent expertise in their specific areas of speciality (Mondaq Business Briefing 3). This duality in the English legal profession enables the national and international clients to have access to both the type of experts, from which they can choose the right professional as per their needs and requirements (Mondaq Business Briefing 4). Besides the foreign law firms can also solicit the services of the right kind of professionals, having expertise in the specific areas required by them. There exist a wide range of services pertaining to international commerce, real estate and taxation which are possessed only by the solicitors and not the barristers. On the other hand, a barrister may prove to be real efficient and cost effective if the client intends to pursue a legal battle. A barrister often has a much better on the job experience as compared to a solicitor, when it comes to pure litigation (Cohen 84). Hence this twin branching of the legal profession in the UK has definitely served the purpose of upgrading the professional pool existing in the UK and has enhanced the clout of the English legal community all around the world. Though the bifurcation of the legal profession in the UK was rightly a historical incident, there is no denying the fact that this mammoth change do took into consideration the practical, legal needs and requirements of the English masses. Also the law community in the UK has become more comfortable with and used to this arrangement and has accrued impressive specialities around it over a long period of time. Besides the digitalized and globalized legal environment of today that prefers specialization is more conducive for this arrangement. Total Words: 1,525 References Cohen et al. Ethics and the Legal Profession. London: Prometheus Books, 2009. "Dealing with a split legal profession in contentious matters". Mondaq Business Briefing. 20 March 2009, from HighBeam Research database. "Legal Profession". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 20 March 2009 Stephen, H.S. and Love, H. Ethics and the Legal Profession. Glasgow: University of Strathclyde, 1999. Susskind, Richard. The End of Lawyers Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006 Read More