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.

No one is let loose on clients unsupervised until training is complete. At the end of the ‘articles’, the student becomes a solicitor and is ‘admitted to the roll’. The ‘roll’ is a list of people qualified to be a solicitor. It is kept on behalf of the ‘Master of the Rolls’ whose main job is being the head of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.

For those who do not wish to take a degree, it is possible to qualify as a solicitor by obtaining employment in a legal office, joining the Institute of Legal Executives and taking the examinations to qualify as a member and subsequently a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives. This can be a stepping stone to qualifying as a solicitor. This process is lengthy, demanding and academically difficult, but enables the non-graduate to qualify as a solicitor.

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-practising 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 practising 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:*

Becoming a barrister requires a lengthy period of training to acquire the academic qualifications and vocational skills needed to do this 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. For a would-be-barrister “the academic stage” usually consists of either a law degree or a degree in another subject supplemented by one-year ‘conversion course’. This could take the form of the Common Professional Examination (CPE) or a diploma in law. 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

Before passing on to the next stage, it is recommended that a future barrister should become a member of an Inn of Court (although it may be done at an earlier point in the academic stage). The Inns link students with senior barristers in relevant areas of specialization. The choice of an Inn may therefore be guided by issues such as atmosphere and character or, on a more practical note, the number and size of scholarships and awards on offer.

During the academic stage of training, 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 specialization 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 practice. 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 organize 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. Overnight 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 practising 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 10. Find in the text above the English equivalents for the following key words and expressions:

1. специальное юридическое образование
2. юрист (солиситор)-стажер
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 диплом юриста
14. получить университетское образование
15. приобрести необходимый опыт
16. быть принятым в коллегию адвокатов
17. начать самостоятельную практику
18. создать себе репутацию

TASK 11. Explain the meaning of the following words and expressions and use them in the sentences of your own:

apprenticeship with a solicitor	pupilmasters
‘articles’	work shadowing
conversion course	marshalling a judge
to be admitted to the roll	mock trial
the academic stage	court appearance
the vocational stage	tenancy
‘pupillage’	off-the-job training
‘mini-pupillage	Queen’s Counsel (QC)

TASK 12. Render the following texts into English, paying special attention to segments in bold type: