Solicitor

A solicitor is one of the two types of practicing lawyer within England, the other being a barrister. The English legal system differs from the United States in that there is a distinct division of labour between lawyers. Barristers will most often plead cases in court on behalf of clients, whereas solicitors generally handle the administrative side. There are exceptions where solicitors may offer legal counsel in lower courts. However, their duties mostly revolve around trial preparation and document production. Neither lawyer is more important than the other. Barristers rely on solicitors to provide trial work, as they are not permitted to accept work on their own. This distinction emerges from the original roles lawyers held in the English court system. Solicitors practiced in Equity courts, whereas barristers practiced in common-law courts. This distinction has since been abolished, with barristers now performing most in-court duties and solicitors handling out-of-court necessities. At present, there are more solicitors than barristers within the legal system. This is because there is more legal work out-of-court than within it, meaning more people are required to complete it. The predominant roles of a solicitor revolve around discussing a client’s desired outcome, their individual situation, and deciding how best to represent their case. These details are then passed on to the barrister to argue in court.