In the United Kingdom a prospective lawyer starts legal career around the age of eighteen by entering a law school and receiving a degree three or four years later.
Applicants to a law school must have the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and A-level (advanced level) that show the achievements of the candidate. There is no special admission test to law schools, though some universities have their own tests.
After obtaining law degree, future lawyers in the United Kingdom must decide whether to pursue careers as general lawyers (“solicitors”) or as trial specialists (“barristers” in England and Ireland and “advocates” in Scotland).
To qualify for a solicitor, it’s required to take one-year Postgraduate Legal Practice Course (LPC). Once the LPC is successfully finished future solicitors complete a two-year traineeship.
On successful completion of traineeship, the student will qualify and be admitted as a solicitor. Most of the time solicitors advise clients, undertake negotiations and draft legal documents. It is primarily a desk job, but it sometimes involves travelling to see clients and representing them in court. Solicitors can be divided into those in private practice, i.e. those who offer their services to the public for a fee, and those who are employed as “in-house” solicitors. Solicitors work in partnerships, where each partner is a specialist in a particular branch of law. The highest rank is a Senior Partner.
Future barristers in the UK need to enroll on Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC). This is one-year full-time course, which provides practical training, focusing on advocacy skills.
After finishing the Bar Professional Training Course, prospective barristers in England work under the supervision of an experienced barrister for one year. This stage is called pupilage. To become a barrister and plead in court, a person should also pass special Bar exams.
Barristers do not come into contact with the public as much as solicitors. They are given details of a case by a solicitor and then have a certain amount of time to review the evidence and to prepare what they are going to say in court (a pleading). Unlike solicitors, barristers do not have the right to form partnerships, but they belong to one of the Inns of Court, which is the professional organization for barristers in England and Wales.
In the text find contextual synonyms of these words:
a) future - ____________________________
b) candidate - _________________________
c) choose a career - _______________________
d) advocate - ______________________
e) office work - ________________________
f) act on behalf of the client - ______________________
g) corporative - _________________________
h) defend the accused in the court - ____________________
SPEAKING
6. Answer the following questions in your own words:
1. What are two main legal professions in the UK?
2. What are the requirements to a law school?
3. What stages of education should a future solicitor pass?
4. What stages of education should a future barrister pass?
5. What is the difference between a solicitor and barrister?
6. What is the name of the professional organization for barristers?