In England and Wales the legal system constitutes of barristers and solicitors. There is a fine line between the two legal professions. The solicitor directly and exclusively has access to the lay client, and also selects and instructs the barrister who is prohibited from dealing directly with the client. The barrister is an officer of the court who acts on behalf of a client, he or she is a lawyer who has been admitted to plead at the bar, which indicates that he or she has been known as to the bar by the benchers of 1 of the four Inns of Court (Middle Temple, Inner Temple, Gray’s Inn and Lincoln’s Inn).
They are required to attain a second-class honours degree, and attend the Inns of Court School of Law, or other validated Bar Vocational Course provider, for a 1 year term and pass the bar final exams. Once they pass the bar exams the call is followed by a one-year pupilage in chambers. This method makes it possible for the novice lawyer to benefit from associating and attending court with an experienced barrister. The role of barristers in the legal system is to make sure that justice is supplied to their clients with the best representation, in the forum of the court prior to the judge. The primary duty of the barrister is to the court and consequently to justice. Basically, the barrister is allowed to appear in court to argue a client’s case. Barristers are prohibited from incorporating or joining together as partners.
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