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Legal Personnel 1 (solicitors) - Coggle Diagram
Legal Personnel 1 (solicitors)
roughly 149,000 practising solicitors in England & Wales & they're controlled by their own professional body, the
*Law Society
of 149,000, about 75% are in private practice & remainder are in employed work, e.g. for local gov, civil service, CPS, private businesses.
Qualifications & Training of Solicitors
Period of authorised training
even when course is passed, student is still not qualified solicitor. he/she must do period of authorised training in which he/she works in solicitors' firm for 2 years, getting practical exp.
this training period can also be undertaken in certain other legal organisation such as CPS or the legal department of a local authority.
once trainee has completed training period, he/she will be admitted as a solicitor by the Law Society.
to become solicitor it's usual to have law degree but people with degree in other subject can still become solicitor by taking
the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)
.
next stage is
the Legal Practice Course (LPC)
- included training in skills such as client interviewing, negotiation, advocacy, drafting docs & legal research.
there's also emphasis on business management, e.g. keeping accounts.
training requirements are overseen by
Solicitors' Regulatory Authority
briefing barrister
where necessary to go to court, solicitor may decide to brief a barrister to do the case. solicitor may also go to barrister for an opinion on a complex case.
Role of Solicitors
majority of those who've succeeded in qualifying as solicitor will work in private practice. but there's other careers available & some new solicitors will go onto work for CPS or local authority or gov department.
others may become legal advisers in commercial/industrial businesses
about 40,000 newly qualified solicitors are employed.
in law firm newly qualified solicitors (NQS) will start off as an assistant/associate solicitor
they'll hope to progress to being a partner in the firm. initially this is likely to be a non-equity partner/junior partner meaning they do not 'buy in' to become a partner but equally don't receive as big a share of profits as an equity partner
the most senior position in a firm of solicitors is an equity partner.
number of partners isn't limited & some of biggest firms will have over 100 partners as well as employing assistant solicitors
solicitor in private practice may work as a sole practitioner or in a partnership
about 1/4 of firms are sole practitioner firms. in Jan 2017 there was total of 10,370 solicitor firms ranging from small 'high street' practices to big city firms.
type of work done by solicitor will largely depend on type of firm he/she is working in
small high street firm will probably be general practice advising clients on a whole range of topics such as consumer problems, housing & business matters & family problems
solicitor working in such practice will likely spend some of his/her time interviewing clients in his/her office & negotiating on their behalf & large amount of time dealing with paperwork. this includes:
(1) writing letters on behalf of clients
(2) drafting contracts, leases or other legal documents.
(3) drawing up wills
(4) dealing with conveyancing (legal side of buying and selling flats, office building & land)
solicitor may also, if he/she wishes, act for some of his/her clients in court. standing up in court, putting client's case and questioning witnesses is also known as advocacy.
some solicitors will specialise in this and spend much of their time in court.
specialising
although some solicitors may be general practitioners handling variety of work, it isn't unusual, even in small firms, for solicitor to specialise in one specific field.
firm itself may handle only certain types of cases (perhaps only civil actions) & not do any criminal cases, or firm may specialise in matrimonial cases.
even within firm, solicitors are likely to have their own field of expertise.
in large firms there'll be an even greater degree of specialisation, with departments dealing with one aspect of the law. large city firms usually concentrate on business and commercial law.
Rights of advocacy
all solicitors have always been able to act as advocates in Magistrates' courts and County courts
solicitors wishing to exercise rights of audience in higher courts must complete the appropriate higher courts' advocacy qualifications.
solicitors with advocacy qualification are eligible to be appointed as Queen's Counsel and also to be appointed as judges.
Regulation of solicitors
Solicitors regulation authority
although every solicitor must belong to Law Society, it's SRA who deal with complaints about professional misconduct of solicitors.
initially it'll investigate the complaint. if there's evidence of serious professional misconduct, it can bring the case to the
solicitors' disciplinary tribunal
.
if tribunal upholds the complaint, it can fine or reprimand the solicitor or, in most serious cases, it can suspend a solicitor from the Roll, so that they cannot practice for a certain time.
in very serious cases, the Tribunal can strike off a solicitor from the Roll so that they are prevented from practising again as a solicitor.
Liability in contract and negligence
as solicitor deals directly with a client, a contract is entered into. this means that:
1) if client doesn't pay, the solicitor has the right to sue for outstanding fees
2) the client can sue the solicitor for breach of contract if the solicitor fails to do the agreed work
3) client can also sue the solicitor in negligence if they suffer loss due to poor quality of work. it was decided in
Hall v Simons (2000)
that loss suffered as result of negligent advocacy can also be claimed
Hall v Simons (2000)
- 3 firms of solicitors were sued by their clients for negligent advocacy. lower courts were bound by decision of
Rondel v Worsley 1969
which decided that lawyers couldn't be liable for negligent advocacy. using practice direction1966, HoL reversed Rondel v Worsley & ruled protection given to advocates was no longer appropriate because of changes in law of negligence, the working of legal professions, the administration of justice and public perceptions. as result, barristers and solicitors carrying out negligent advocacy could be sued by a client.
4) solicitors can be liable in negligence to persons who aren't their clients but who are affected by their negligent work. this is shown in
White v Jones (1995)
White v Jones (1995)
- farther wanted to make a will leaving each of his daughters £9,000. he wrote to his solicitors instructing them to draw up a will to include this. the solicitors received this letter on 17th july 1986 but had done nothing about it by the time the father died on 14th sep 1986. as result daughters didn't inherit any money. they successfully sued the solicitor for the £9,000 they had each lost.
Civil cases
generally solicitor will be first source of legal advice. the solicitors role is to:
1) collect evidence, both documentary & oral
2) prepare & issue court papers if the case is straightforward
3) carry out advocacy, usually in County Court
4) instruct a barrister to advise on the case if it is more complex, to draft the court papers and to carry out the advocacy
5) support the barrister throughout the case, including obtaining further evidence.
criminal cases
solicitor may initially meet client who has been arrested, in the police station, though nowadays it's more likely that a solicitor will have a phone call consultation rather than face-to-face meeting.
in serious cases, they may sit in on police interviews. in less serious cases client may have been issued with a summons by post & the initial meeting will take place in solicitors office or at first court appearance.
if police press charges, solicitor will obtain details of prosecution case (known as disclosure) and advise client on strength of the evidence.
if case is summary or either-way case heard in Magistrates, solicitor can carry out the advocacy
if case is a more serious either-way or indictable offence, solicitor is likely to brief a barrister or solicitor-advocate to advise & carry out the advocacy. again solicitor will support barrister through court hearings.