A
There are several stages that must be taken after a-levels to then go on to be a solicitor;
.The first stage would be to go to university and get a law degree or any degree and the common professional exam
.The next stage would be to take the legal practise course this would take one year and costs around £6-7,000
.Then there would be the professional skills course (twenty days and includes and advocacy module)
.Then finally their name would be added to the roll of solicitors.
It takes a long time to be a solicitor and most students by the end of it come out with large debts however the pay is good and these debts can soon be cleared if those students make it.
B
Barristers are governed by the bar council, contacts usually contact them through a solicitor; they do some paper work drafting legal documents and providing written opinions. They also provide general advice and do ‘paper work,’ e.g. writing letters drafting contracts and tenancies conveyancing wills, divorce petitions. They are self employed and work in chambers surrounded by others and managed by a clerk, they do advocacy in the superior courts as well as having rights to the audience in the lower courts. As you can tell barristers have a very high up role and bad work they do makes them look very bad considering they are supposed to be professional and have trained for a long time to get to where they are.
As they are self employed any mistakes are aimed directly at them and as they are usually been paid very highly by their client if their performance in court does not match up to the expectations after the client has paid a lot of money can make the Barrister look bad as he/she will be the person responsible.
Solicitor are governed by the law society, they can form partnerships and work in ordinary offices all over England and Wales; clients are the ones to directly contact them first, they have the choice to take on a case or not where as barristers do not usually have that choice they can do advocacy in the lower courts and have some rights to audience in the crown court.
Solicitors will not be held quite as responsible as barristers might be for the fact that the clients directly came to them, where as with barristers clients are usually referred to them because of their reputation etc for the fact they often work in pairs too the responsibility on the individual is not quite so harsh.
By Emily Willis
