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Solicitors - Coggle Diagram
Solicitors
Introduction
- Unlike most countries, legal professions in England and Wales is a "split profession" i.e. divided into 2 branches - solicitors & barristers
- The legal profession in England and Wales is separate from their counterparts in Scotland and Northern Ireland
- This is different from Malaysia where the term barrister and solicitor is a fused profession (the same legal professional carry the works of that of a barrister and a solicitor)
- Legal profession is an ancient and honorable profession
- Governed by certain barriers to entry and professional standards to those who entered to the profession
- Age
- Academic qualification
- Professional apprenticeship
- Good character
- Residence/nationality
What they do?
- The legal profession is part of the administration of justice, that facilitates the application of the law to achieve lawful practical outcomes
- The core work in the legal profession ADVOCACY (representing the client's interests) and drafting (preparation of documents, including legal advice)
- Examples of drafting work: facilitating commercial transactions, preparing drafts of agreements/statements, making representation to public bodies
- Examples of advocacy work: defending / prosecuting accused persons in criminal proceedings, representing claimants/defendants in civil (non-criminal matters) in court
There are other "legal personnel" who do specialised forms of legal-related work, such as:
- Crown Prosecutors
- Members of the Government Legal Service
- Chartered legal executives
- Paralegals
What are they
- Specialise in liaising, understanding, advising and delivering on client expectations (this may be individual clients, organisations/corporate clients)
- Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority
- There are currently approximately 130,000 practicing solicitors in England and Wales
Examples of Solicitor Work:
- Conveyancing (the legal aspects of the buying and selling of property)
- Drawing up contracts
- Probate work
- Family law matters
- Commercial matters d
- Giving written and oral legal advice on legal problems
Salary?:
- The average annual salary of a solicitor is approximately 45,000 per year. But those working for Magic Circle law firms earn alot more (in some cases above $ 1million per year)
- Most solicitors work in small firms that can be found throughout England and Wales (LLPs and High Street Firms)
- Solicitors can also be employed in-house to do legal work solely for a corporation, educational institution, or a Government department
Solicitor-advocate:
- After the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, solicitors undergo training (regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority) to be admitted to the roll (an official register of qualified lawyers entitled to practice in higher courts)
- Solicitors who complete this training and gain admission is referred as solicitor-advocates and conduct cases in higher courts just like barristers)
- Qualifying as a solicitor-advocate enables solicitors to do advocacy work in the higher courts themselves just like barristers
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Regulation of solicitors
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA):
- Established via the Legal Services Act 2007 the representative and regulatory functions of the Law Society are now separated
- In charge of regulatory and disciplinary matters on solicitors ONLY (monitors + enforces standards of professional competence for them)
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