Lawyer

:For information on the type of fish called Lawyer, see the article on Burbot.

Common Law Jurisdictions

In common law jurisdictions there are generally two kinds of lawyer solicitors and barristers. Each has a specific role in the legal system. In general, solicitors will work for a client, prepare the case and may present it in court (usually just the lower courts), whereas a barrister will present cases in court (particularly the higher courts where they can have exclusive rights of audience.)

Related Topics:
Common law - Solicitor - Barrister

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In Scotland barristers are called Advocates.

Related Topics:
Scotland - Barrister - Advocate

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The Commonwealth

: See main articles at Advocate, Barrister and Solicitor

Related Topics:
Advocate - Barrister - Solicitor

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In the Commonwealth solicitors may practice before lower courts, but their main (and traditionally only) work is outside the courts, in such areas as legal advice (which may be highly specialized), property conveyancing, wills and estates, preparing legal documents for business transactions and negotiating the legal terms of commercial contracts.

Related Topics:
Commonwealth - Property conveyancing - Wills - Contract

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Barristers may practice before lower, superior and high courts. Traditionally (and still for major cases) both a solicitor (for advice) and a barrister (for representation) were required for legal representation before the courts.

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In recent years however, the exclusive rights of audience in higher courts held by barristers have been eroded by the introduction of Solicitor Advocates. Solicitors who are described as such have usually received specialised training including tuition on the practices and formalities of court. However, due to the costs and time associated with this training, the majority of solicitor advocates practice in the fields of commercial law or corporate litigation. Indeed, one of the reasons for introducing Solicitor Advocates was to act as a check on the high costs associated with representation in commercial cases - law firms are now able to offer in-house representation for their clients at substantially reduced cost.

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Other common law jurisdictions, such as, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada (excluding the province of Quebec), and certain states in Australia, have a fused legal profession, whereby lawyers are licensed as both barristers and solicitors and can practice as both, even though most lawyers in these jurisdictions spend most of their time practicing as one or the other but seldom both. For example, in Canada (other than Quebec), a lawyer is called "Barrister and Solicitor", but informally by the title of "lawyer".

Related Topics:
Common law - Malaysia - Singapore - Canada - Quebec - Australia - Barrister - Solicitor

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Unlike the United States most Commonwealth countries subject their lawyers and judges to strict court dress requirements.

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United States of America

: See main article at Attorney at Law

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In the United States, lawyers are called attorneys, in full Attorney at Law.

Related Topics:
United States - Attorney - Attorney at Law

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Strictly speaking, an attorney is similar to an agent, a person who has been formally empowered by someone else (a "principal") to act on behalf of the principal. Lawyers are "attorneys at law", authorized to plead cases on behalf of and in place of their clients.

Related Topics:
Agent - Client

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The United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (1) estimates that there are over 500,000 practicing lawyers in the U.S.

Related Topics:
United States Department of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics

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It is frequently said that there are more lawyers per capita in the US than in any other country in the world. This statistic is misleading because it is difficult to compare numbers of law professionals between different legal systems. The roles of these professionals vary and some of the work that is done in the United States by a lawyer is performed by several different types of professionals in other countries.

Related Topics:
Per capita - United States

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