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Qualification and functions of solicitors
The majority of people wishing to become solicitors now have
law degrees, and can proceed directly to the Final examination
of the Law Society after spending nine months at a recognised
law school. A person without a degree in law must take the Common
Professional Examination, involving one year’s attendance
at law school, before proceeding to the Final examination. In
each case, after passing the Final examination, the would-be
solicitor must serve two years’ articles (a form of apprenticeship)
under a solicitor of at least five years’ standing. He
may then apply for admission as a solicitor, have his application
approved by the Master of the Rolls, and obtain a practising
certificate, which must be renewed annually, from the Law Society.
A barrister cannot also work as al solicitor. If he wishes to
do the work of a solicitor he mast first be ‘disbarred’,
that is, formally give up his qualification as a barrister.
He must then pass an examination to become a solicitor, but
he does not have to be articled.
A practising solicitor may either practise on his own, or in
partnership with other solicitors, or as a salaried employee
of a firm of solicitors. Solicitors cannot turn their firms
into limited companies, and under no circumstances may they
advertise for business.
The work of solicitors is varied. Their main functions include
conveyancing, that is, dealing with sales and purchases of land;
the preparation of wills and the administration of the estates
of deceased persons; and litigation, including the preparation
of cases for counsel and appearing personally in magistrates’
courts and County courts on behalf of their clients. Most solicitors
are also ‘commissioners for oaths’, and in this
capacity act as witnesses for people who have to sign documents
and swear that they are true. A solicitor is an officer of the
high Court, and as such is subject to disciplinary control by
the Court as well as by the Law Society.
A solicitor must keep client’ accounts separate from his
own, and such accounts must be audited every year and any audit
certificate must be supplied to the Law Society.
In their day-to-day work, solicitors are assisted in their offices
by clerks of varying grades, the more senior of whom are known
as legal executives and are member of the Institute of Legal
Executives, which was founded in 1963. Legal executives do not
have to serve articles, and the examinations of the Institute
are not as demanding as those of the Law Society, but they provide
a professional status and help to equip legal executives to
carry quite onerous responsibilities. Legal executives have
a limited right of audience in the county court.
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Solicitors Barristers and Lawyers
index for England Scotland and Wales.
Accident Claims specialist directory for the whole of the
United Kingdom.
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SOLICITORS
ENGLAND & WALES
INDEX
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An A-Z of solicitors based in England and Wales, dealing with
all matters of law
SOLICITORS SCOTLAND
An A-Z of solicitors based in Scotland, dealing with all matters
of law
INDEX
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K
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X
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ACCIDENT
AND PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS ONLINE DIRECTORY
INDEX
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