Solicitors
When people need legal advice, they contact a solicitor. Solicitors offer skilled advice on all kinds of legal matters – from buying a home to selling a corporation.
Solicitors also represent their clients in court, mostly in the lower courts; but some have advocacy rights in higher courts.
Most solicitors are in private practice. They work in multinational City firms with hundreds of staff, in high street offices as sole practitioners, and in firms of every size in between. Other solicitors have jobs in local government, law centres, the civil service, commerce and industry.
Solicitors deal with people from a broad cross-section of the community. And that’s one of the reasons the Law Society promotes equality and diversity in the profession.
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Barristers
Barristers act on instruction from solicitors; they have little or no contact with members of the public.
Barristers perform two roles. When specialist expertise is needed, they give opinions on complex matters of law. And when clients require representation in the higher courts (Crown Courts, High Courts, Court of Appeal and House of Lords), barristers provide a specialist advocacy service.
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