Solicitors Directory

Quick Guide to Solicitors

A solicitor is a lawyer who generally deals with any legal scenario, including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, as well as a few Australian states and Ireland (republic), solicitors and barristers (or, in Scotland, advocates), and a lawyer will usually hold only one title. However, in Canada, New Zealand and most Australian states, lawyers are allowed to hold the title of "barrister and solicitor" and operate as both, although the separation between barristers and solicitors is retained.

With regards to the history of this specialist profession, before the unification of the Supreme Court under the Judicature Act 1873, solicitors practised in the Chancery Courts, attorneys practised in the Common law courts and proctors practised in the Ecclesiastical courts. After the late 1800s the titles of "attorney" and "proctor" disappeared as terms relating solely to legally qualified persons, being replaced by "Solicitor of the Supreme Court" in all courts. Since the replacement of the House of Lords with the Supreme Court the full title of a solicitor is now "Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales".

However, the term "attorney" is still used under English law to refer to someone legally appointed or empowered to act for another person. In the English legal system solicitors traditionally dealt with any legal matter, including conducting proceedings in courts, although solicitors were required to engage a barrister as advocate in a High Court or above after the profession split in two.

Minor criminal cases are tried in Magistrates' Courts, which constitute by far the majority of courts. More serious cases start in the Magistrates Court and may then be transferred to a higher court. The majority of civil cases are tried in county courts and are almost always handled by solicitors. Cases of higher value (£50,000.00 or above) and those of unusual complexity are tried in the High Court, where the advocates were, until quite recently, barristers engaged by solicitors to assist.

In the past, barristers did not deal with the public directly but, again, this enforced separation no longer applies. Solicitor advocates with extended rights of audience may now act as advocates at all court levels. Conversely, the public may now hire and discuss matters with a barrister directly in certain types of work without having to go to a solicitor first.