Legal Profession

Solicitors and Barristers The British legal system has 2 main branches, A. Solicitors and B. Barristers. The term “lawyer” covers both branches. The work: 1. Advocacy – representing clients in court 2. Drafting legal documents – e.g. contracts, letters, court papers etc 3. Giving written legal advice – to clients concerning a dispute 4. Interviewing – to gain information from the client or other relevant parties

Work - Traditionally Traditionally solicitors dealt with 2 – 4 (above) and barristers with 1 (advocacy) Solicitors were instructed by the clients, the solicitors then instruct a barrister, if advocacy work was involved Barristers are not directly hired by clients but can under Bar Direct

Reform Since 2007 the profession has undergone change (Legal Services Act 2007): Solicitors have been engaged in more advocacy work, the divisions have broken down (Clementi Report) There has been a rise in a third branch of professionals called : Legal Executives and Paralegals

A. Solicitors There are over 120,000 solicitors. Represented by: the Law Society. Supervises training, keeps a register of practicing solicitors and trainees as well as acts on behalf of the profession. Web link : http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/ Regulated by : the Solicitors Regulation Authority http://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page

work of Solicitors - 2-4 from above - Automatic ‘limited rights’ of audience Magistrates and County Courts - Can acquire ‘full rights’ of audience then become a Solicitor Advocate there are 5,500 of them as of 2014 (Courts and Legal Services Act 1990) - Sols can appear in HC in bankruptcy cases and in appeals to the Crown from Mags court if they were involved with the initial case at the mags - Solicitors now have a choice of keeping the money (by doing the advocacy themselves) - contract, tort, conveyancing, litigation, mergers, family law, wills, probate etc.

Organisation – Solicitors - a sole practitioner - form a partnership - since 2001 can form a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP). There is an increasing trend in forming LLPs - MDPs allow solicitors to work with accountancy firms and banks as a “one stop shop” s66 CLSA 1990 - Large city firms in the “Magic Circle” - Law Centres, Citizens Advice Centres, Local Govt

Training - Solicitor Law degree route 1 GCSE (5 A-C) 2yr [free], 2 A level (3 A-B) 2 yr [free] LNAT for Russell Group, 3 Law Degree LLB (2:1) 3yr [27k], 4 LPC (pass)1yr [9k], 5 PSC (pass) 20 days, 6 Training contract (4 x 6months) 2 yrs – 7 Admit to roll by Law Society

Other Training routes Non law degree Same till stage 3 but before 4 they have to cover CPE (pass) 1 yr [9k] then steps 4-7 Cilex route 1 Work in a law firm 2 Complete Cilex Levels 3 Diploma in law and Level 6 Higher Diploma in law 3 LPC 4 3 year qualifying employment

Evaluation of training Adv. - Sols can be Sol Advocates - Grants for training - 2:1 is high standard - Cilex solves debt issue - flexible distance learning and part-time courses

Dis - LNAT tests limited skills / rich get private tuition - cost of training over £50k - CPE and LPC not gov’t student loans - Pay for trainees is very low considering competition and debt levels - Nepotism “who you know not what you know”

Changes to the profession - Gaps between small and large firms and mergers driving away high street practice - MDPS fuelling this - No win no fee claims management companies paying sols referral fees and then providing a remote impersonal service - Increased reliance in IT, spam mail and cold calls - cost of insurance premiums increasing as sols and claims co. take fees - Opening up competition to non lawyers like TESCO and Co-op has reduced cost but devalued the work of lawyers

Complaints - Solicitors 1 Complain to Solicitor first 2 Then Complaints Dep’t in the Firm 3 Legal Services Board (LSB) - Solicitors Regulation Authority oversees the regulation of sols 4 Legal Services Ombudsman (LSO) chance of final appeal regarding complaints 5 Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal – via 3 or 4 (above) Court action - negligent advice Saif Ali v Sydney Mitchell and Co 1980 Since the Arthur JS Hall 2000 they can be sued for negligence in court White v Jones 1995 solicitor sued for negligent paperwork

B. Barristers - Work Over 15,000 of them Governed by: Bar council Regulated by: Bar Standards Board - interviewing and advising to prepare for court - submitting court documents and meeting deadlines - written opinions before trial - negotiating and plea bargaining to settle cases - Advocacy in all courts (full rights audience) - observe “cab rank” rule

Barristers - Organisation - traditionally self-employed (but this is changing) - share chambers or offices - hire a clerk who manages diary, fees, paperwork etc. - 70 based in London Inn’s of Court - can be employed in house in Law Centres, Advice Agencies and Private firms - Can be approached directly now Bar Direct

Training – Barristers Law degree route 1 GCSE (5 A-C) 2yr [free] 2 A level (3 A-B) 2 yr [free] LNAT for Russell Group 3 Law Degree LLB (2:1) 3yr [27k] 4 Join an Inn (Inner/Middle/Gray’s/Lincoln’s) 5 BPTC (pass)1yr [12k] 6 12 Dinners at the Inn (linked seminars) 7 Called to “Bar” – 1 x 6month pupillage 8 Find tenancy in an Inn 9 Ongoing CPD 45 hours for first 3 years The non-law degree route via CPE

Progression – Barristers Queen’s Counsel After 10 yrs and sol adv or bar can apply for QC 10% of Bar are QC ‘taking silk’ Take on complicated cases and not called juniors anymore, higher fee Has become less secretive and open system of selection New appointment system Now applicant pay £2,500 and interviewed by selection panel who recommend to LC 2006, 443 applied and 175 appointed, 33 were women, 10 ethnic, 4 sols

Evaluation – train Barrister Dis - CPE/GDL not enough grounding - quality of pupillages vary - choice to become a barrister too early - many can’t find the 2nd 6th months of pupillage - cost of study and income very low for pupils - there is no CILEx equivalent for barristers - lack of diversity social class / ethnic glass ceiling

Complaints - Barristers 1 No contract between barrister and client thus unless under direct access 2 Negligent advice Saif Ali v Sydney Mitchell and Co 1980. Since the Arthur JS Hall 2000 they can be sued for negligence in court 3 Complain to Head of Chambers at Inn 4 Bar Standards Board via LSB to investigate breach of Code of Conduct. They can be disciplined at tribunal at the Inn 5 Office for Legal Complaints since 2007 refers cases to Legal Services Ombudsman who can ask them to apologise, give back documents, correct the wrong, reduce or waive fees and order compensation up to £30,000

Background of lawyers - Class – 1 in 5 working class / third fee paying schools but only 1 in 7 go to private school - Race – 10% in Bar (which is better) but less than 2% QC ethnic / 11% for solicitors but again partnerships are underrepresented. Biggest problem Afro-Caribbean sols paid 25% less as partners (£50K) - Sex – 35% barristers and 46% sols but soon to take over males as sols. Issue is they are paid 6% less than men and between 18-25% are partners. Less than 11% are QC. Biggest problem by year 9 of qualification 40% leave as juggling family and work is hard “the glass cliff NOT glass ceiling” - Disability – some old law firms are based in old buildings without lift access but legislation is helping improve representation

Fusion – should we merge them? Yes Expense –Zander “having one taxi meter running is less expensive than running two”. It is cheaper to hire a junior barrister with court experience than a solicitor. Inefficiency – work may be duplicated unnecessarily  Waste of talent – lawyers are forced to enter one or the other branch, what if they later realise they made the wrong choice Other countries – no other country divides the profession as England

Fusion – should we merge them? No Specialisation – 2 professions do their different jobs better than one Independence – the cab rank rule guarantees that no defendant can go undefended  Importance of good advocacy – due to the fact we have an adversarial system and judges have no power of investigation lawyers must present the case properly. Many argue that arguing a case before jury requires special skills. Access to barristers –leading barristers will join large law firms the average person will thus be denied accesses to legal expertise. Judiciary – reducing the number of specialist advocates will allow restricted choice to the judiciary

Do we need lawyers? Lawyers are seen to have imposed too many unjustified restrictions on competition – going oversees Multi-Disciplinary Partnerships – other businesses taking over Tesco law, Co-op law and the AA as well as online providers Paralegals and Legal Execs are increasingly undertaking the work Face to face contact with lawyers is diminishing via internet advisors and claims companies Citizens Advice and legal executives can become experienced enough A MacKenzie (1970) “friend” can be used in court to represent a person Information is available online