A Simple Guide to Legal Professions - Barristers & Attorneys

Inns of Court, London : 1. Lincoln's Inn, 2. Middle Temple, 3. Inner Temple, 4. Gray's Inn (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Having previously looked at the overarching definition of what constitutes a lawyer in the UK, and then the more specific definition of a solicitor with their particular responsibilities, the second instalment of this article focuses on the comparative definition of a barrister, with a further mention of the concept of attorney.

Barrister/Advocate
In contrast to solicitors, barristers in England and Wales, or the equivalent role of advocate in Scotland, have the responsibility of representing legal cases in court. Until the recent exception of solicitor advocates, they have had the particular privilege to appear in the higher courts where solicitors have not traditionally been allowed. They are rarely appointed directly by their client but instead by their client’s solicitor and cannot be enlisted to carry out litigation on a client’s behalf - that being the role of the solicitor. What’s more they only have the authority to act on their client’s behalf in advocacy when they receive instruction from the client or their solicitor and so do not possess the same powers of attorney as solicitors. In British courts barristers can usually be identified by their horse hair wigs and gown.

The collective term for the profession is the bar (a reference to the physical part of the courtroom they would have occupied) and so when a lawyer has the achieved the necessary qualifications and has the demonstrated that they have an advanced knowledge of case law they may be able to join the bar (i.e., become a barrister). The admission process is overseen by the four Inns of Court - The Honourable Societies of Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Lincoln’s Inn and Gray’s Inn - to one of which every barrister must belong. When the Inns invite qualified lawyers to join, the individuals are said to have been called to the bar. These ancient Inns of Court, all occupying distinct sites on the outskirts of the City of London, represent all members of the bar and, as such, are also responsible for their regulation.

Barristers are required to operate as lone entities and therefore cannot form the partnership firms that other lawyers do. Instead, they often locate themselves alongside fellow barristers so that they are able to share resources, such as administration assistance and physical infrastructure, and receive the economies of scale that would be available in partnerships despite being distinct operations. These collaborative set ups are called chambers and are often located within the confines of one of the Inns of Court.

Attorney
The term attorney is perhaps most familiar to many of us in the UK as an American term for a type of lawyer through exposure to it in US films and TV, however, in the UK it has a distinct alternative meaning. It describes anyone who is appointed to represent another individual in a legal context irrespective of whether they are legally trained. The authority invested in an attorney is referred to as the power of attorney (POA), a phrase which appears far more prevalently. The term originated from the title of the old English profession of a lawyer who would act in the common law court. This title was subsumed by that of a solicitor in the 19th century as so has only been retained in this very specific context. However, in some countries the original meaning has been retained and evolved, as is the case notably in the US where it now refers to lawyers who are able to represent the state during court proceedings.

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