Barristers and Solicitors - Education and Career

"If law school is so hard to get through...
how come there are so many lawyers? "

Becoming a solicitor:

In order to become a solicitor, one must have a qualifying legal education. The most common methods are getting an undergraduate law degree, or a degree in any subject followed by one year cramming law in a course formerly called the Common Professional Exam (CPE) and recently renamed the Postgraduate Diploma in Law. Other routes, for example, spending time as a clerk to magistrates, or passing exams set by the Institution of Legal Executives (ILEX) are possible. Up to this point, a barrister and solicitor have the same education. Thereafter they split. Solicitors take a one year course called the Legal Practice Course (LPC) and then must undertake two years apprenticeship with a solicitor, called "the training contract" (but still widely referred to as 'articles' by older members of the profession). At this stage young solicitors are paid salaries and are referred to as trainee solicitors.

Solicitors must pay the Law Society of England and Wales a practicing fee each year in order to keep practicing. If they do not do this, they are 'non-practicing' and are not allowed to give legal advice to the public.

Career stages:

The typical stages of a solicitor's career are as follows: being a trainee solicitor; becoming a practicing solicitor at a partnership or a solicitors' firm; and finally, the ultimate ambition of any solicitor is reaching the position of senior partner in a law firm.

Becoming a barrister:

Research has shown that the main abilities that contribute to success as a barrister are as follows: the ability to deal with a wide range of people; presentation and advocacy skills; the ability to digest large volumes of information in a short time and to handle the stress of long hours, tight deadlines and great responsibility; motivation.

Becoming a barrister requires a lengthy period of training to acquire the academic qualifications and vocational skills needed to do the job. They say that being a barrister really is a way of life, not just a career. It involves hard work, long hours and time pressures which can sometimes mean considerable sacrifices in terms of social and family life. However, many at the Bar would say that life as a barrister is worth the sacrifices.

THE ACADEMIC STAGE.

During the academic stage the following foundations of legal knowledge are to be studied:

• constitutional and administrative law

• criminal law

• law of contract

• law of tort

• land law

• equity and trusts

• European Union Law

While studying, a potential barrister should try to get some further insight into the work in his profession. The best way of doing this is through mini-pupillages. These usually take the form of a week's work experience and work shadowing: reading papers, discussing cases, attending court-events. Mini-pupillages are an important part of deciding whether life as a barrister really would suit a young lawyer and, if so, which areas of specialisation interest him or her.

THE VOCATIONAL STAGE. While the academic stage of training provides a general, theoretical introduction to the law, the next step – "the vocational stage" – is meant to acquire some legal training specific to work as a barrister. It consists of a one year course: the bar vocational Course (BVC). It is also possible to do the course on a part-time basis over two years. A potential barrister should aim to gain as much relevant experience and knowledge as possible during the vocational stage. This might include: debating, mooting (holding mock trials), work for a Citizen's Advice Bureau, attending court, marshalling (shadowing a judge), further mini-pupillages or, at the very least, reading the legal pages in the newspapers.

The vocational stage of training to be a barrister provides essential off-the-job training. Indeed, anyone successfully completing the vocational stage is eligible to be called to the Bar (a graduation-style ceremony at their Inn), whether or not they are going on to practise. However, it is only during pupillage that barristers can use to the full the valuable lessons learned during previous stages of training.

PUPILLAGE generally takes one year. All pupils are assigned to one or more pupilmasters or pupilmistresses, experienced barristers who organise training, allocate work and assess performance. Pupillages also give Chambers the opportunity to assess pupils with a view to ensuring that they become effective practitioners.

There is no doubt that pupillage is hard work. There is a great deal of research, together with document-writing and document-reading. In time, young barristers get cases of their own, clients of their own, court appearances on their own resulting in cases won or cases lost. This is where they start to build their own reputation.

In common with other professions, training for the Bar no longer finishes with pupillage. At the moment, a compulsory system of continuing professional development for the three years following pupillage is being elaborated.

TENANCY. While pupillage provides a somewhat robust introduction to life as a barrister, the transition to tenancy is the real beginning of a barrister's independent career. It is not simply a matter of getting your name on the door. Overnigh, a young barrister acquires a different status. It is now where the real responsibility begins. Sometimes, junior tenants are 'led' by their seniors (i.e. they assist them in large, important cases), but generally they are responsible for their own cases and clients.

Because junior tenants are self-employed, the flow of work can be spasmodic and the hours irregular. They may be given very little notice of court appearances. Briefs can arrive by fax in the evening, leaving little time to prepare for a case to be heard a hundred miles away the next morning. However, what is lost in terms of social life and excessive travelling will be gained in the sense that they are getting enough work. In addition to normal expenses, self-employed barristers also need to pay their share towards the cost of running chambers.

Career stages:

To sum up, the main career stages of a barrister are as follows: a junior tenant, a full-time practicing barrister and an experienced barrister with his own practice. Experienced barristers who have built up a thriving practice at the Bar may apply to become a Queen's Counsel (the highest position a barrister can have). Barristers are appointed to this rank by the Sovereign on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor. A QC wears a silk gown, that is why becoming a QC is referred to as 'taking silk'. A QC is not allowed to appear in Court without having a junior with him, therefore it is more expensive to have a QC in one's case.

Task 2. Answer the questions on the text.

1. How are solicitors educated?

2. What are the typical stages of a solicitor's career?

3. What is the academic stage of the training of barristers characterised by?

4. What is included in the vocational stage?

5. How does pupillage work?

6. How does tenancy differ from pupillage?

7. When is a barrister said to "take silk"?

Task 3. Find in the text above English equivalents for the following key words and expressions.

1. специальное юридическое образование

2. юрист (солиситор)-стажёр

3. практикующий солиситор

4. будущий барристер

5. профессиональные навыки

6. основы профессиональной подготовки юриста

7. стипендия

8. инсценировать судебное разбирательство

9. проникнуть в самую суть профессии

10. составлять документацию и письменные предписания

11. получить работу в юридической фирме

12. платить взносы за право самостоятельной работы в качестве солиситора

13. получить университетское образование

14. получить диплом юриста

15. приобрести необходимый опыт

16. быть принятым в коллегию адвокатов

17. начать самостоятельную практику

18. создать себе репутацию

Task 4. Read the following text to find out where business lawyers work.

Business Lawyer

Most business lawyers practise their craft in private law firms, which can range in size from two lawyers to over 1,000 lawyers.

Any business lawyer practicing in a medium-to-large-size law firm is a specialist in a particular field of law. So, the firms usually have several departments, or groups focusing on a particular practice area. The clients of business law firms are corporations, companies and entrepreneurs.

But many business organisations have setup in-house legal departments of business lawyers who are also employees of the organisation. The law department is a law firm within the corporation, consisting of dozens, if not hundreds, of litigators and business lawyers.

While titles vary, usually the young business lawyer in a corporate legal department starts out as a "counsel", performing very routine tasks, then works his/her way up to "associate general counsel", then "assistant general counsel", and finally ending his/her career at the top of the departmental ladder as "general counsel" to the corporation.

The corporate law department is expected to perform most of the routine, day-to-day legal tasks. But when a complex legal issue arises, they still refer to an outside law firm with more diversified expertise.

Task 5. Answer the following questions on the text.

1. What organisations do business lawyers mostly work in?

2. How large are private law firms employing most business lawyers?

3. Why are there several departments in a law firm?

4. Who are the clients of business law firms?

5. What is the difference between a law firm and an in-house legal department of a business organisation?

6. How many litigators and business lawyers can in-house departments normally employ?

7. What are the legal titles of lawyers employed by corporations?

8. What title does the beginning lawyer start out with?

9. What tasks are performed by a counsel?

10. What is the highest title of a business lawyer in a corporate legal department?

11. What is the typical legal career of a business lawyer?

12. Who do corporate lawyers apply to if they need expert evidence on complicated legal issues? Why do they have to do it?

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