This chapter considers the roles of solicitors and barristers and other legal professionals such as Chartered Legal Executives and paralegals. It outlines the basic business models of legal practice, including alternative business structures (ABS) and the constraints on such organisations. It discusses the rules affecting practice as a solicitor or a barrister and outlines the regulatory organisations overseeing solicitors and barristers. It explains the routes to qualification for barristers: what pupillage is, the need for barristers to be members of an Inn of Court, and the route for solicitors via a training contract. The debate as to whether the two main branches of the legal profession should be fused into one is set out. The most recent reforms to legal education are signposted.
Chapter
This chapter considers the roles of solicitors and barristers in the English legal system. It outlines the basic business models of legal practice, including alternative business structures, and the constraints on such organisations. It discusses the rules affecting practice as a solicitor or a barrister, and other legal professionals, and discusses the regulatory organisations overseeing their work. The debate as to whether the two main branches of the legal profession should be fused into one is set out. The discussion and debate about changes to legal education are signposted, including the major reforms to the qualification requirements for solicitors and barristers.
