Legal professions merger essay

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Kenny Martin        AS Law Essay        24/02/2008

Should the two-tier system of barristers and solicitors be merged into one?

In this essay, I am going to attempt to conclude whether or not barristers and solicitors should become one profession in the UK... For the sake of argument, I will refer to the merged profession of barristers and solicitors as ‘lawyer’ and state the individual professions where necessary.

I would start by analyzing the use of this idea in the US, where they have lawyers (or attorneys-at-law) instead of the separate professions. But after research, I understand the premise of how a court case is executed in the US is unlike how it’s done in the UK. For that reason I conclude that the US system is not a good basis for comparison on this issue. Oral argument, to them, is a small addition to very extensively written "briefs." Here, the oral hearing is paramount. So, in that case, I will start by listing the advantages, and then the disadvantages of such a proposal. This I feel, will give me the best chance of making a judgement and concluding from there.

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First of all, cost and security… If we just had ‘lawyers,’ one would be able to stroll into a law firm and know they were just going to be dealing with those people. This should also mean that you can cut your expenses, as you won't have to pay extra for a barrister, on top of the money you’re paying your solicitor. However, the new 'lawyers' could arguably charge their client for both their legal advice and the cost of their advocacy in court. This entails the possibility that the costs of enlisting the help of a ‘lawyer’ may ...

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