LAWYERS PERFORM FOUR MAJOR FUNCTIONS

1. First, lawyers counsel. This means that lawyers offer advice, even if it is advice their clients would prefer not to hear. Of course, lawyers regularly counsel clients during negotiations & litigation.

2. Second, lawyers negotiate. This means that they mediate between competing interests aiming for results that will prove advantageous to their clients and, if possible, their opponents.

3. Third, lawyers draft documents. This is probably their most intel­lectually challenging function.

4. Fourth, they litigate. This is the skill most people associate with lawyers. Ironically, only a small fraction of all lawyers devote much time to courtroom activities. In fact, the majority of attorneys never venture to work in a courthouse except to file legal papers with a clerk.

 

Negotiation (n) — переговоры; обсуждение условий

negotiate (v) — вести переговоры, дело; обсуждать условия

mediate (v) — посредничать

aim (v) — стремиться

advantageous (adj) — благоприятный, выгодный

draft (v) — составлять (документ; проект)

litigate (v) — 1. судиться; быть тяжущейся стороной;
2. оспаривать (на суде)

venture (v) — 1. рисковать; 2. отважиться, решиться

5. Professional Titles Quiz. You’ve learnt a lot about different types of legal professions. Now test yourself matching the following hints with the law professional titles.

Barristers, High Court Judges, Magistrates, solicitors, attorneys

1. English lawyers who judge cases in the lower courts. They’re usually unpaid and have no legal qualifications, but they’re respectable people who are given some training.

2. They make up the largest branch of the legal profession in England and Wales (Уэльс). They are found in every town where they deal with all the day-to-day work of preparing legal documents for buying and selling houses, making wills, etc. These lawyers also work on court cases for their clients, prepare cases for other lawyers to present in the higher courts, and may represent their client in a Magistrates’ Court.

3. Each federal judicial district has this lawyer who is appointed by the President.

4. Only a small proportion of these lawyers doesn’t preside in Magistrates’ Courts. They deal with the most serious crimes, such as those for which the criminal might be sent to prison for more than a year. They are paid salaries by the State and have considerable legal training.

5. They defend or prosecute in the English higher courts. They specialize in representing clients in court. In court, these lawyers wear wigs and gowns in keeping with the extreme formality of the proceedings. The highest level of them have the title QC (Queens Counsel).

6. Read the text. Then agree or disagree with the statement: “It’s very difficult to become a lawyer.”

How does someone become a lawyer?

In some countries in order to practise as a lawyer it is necessary to get a university degree in law. However, in others, a degree may be insufficient; professional examinations must be passed. In Britain, it is not in fact necessary to have a degree, although nowadays most people entering the profession do. The main requirement is to pass the Bar Final examination (for barristers) or the Law Society Final examination (for solicitors). Someone with university degree in a subject other than law needs first to take a preparatory course. Someone without a degree at all may also prepare for the final examination, but this will take several years. In most countries, lawyers will tell you that the time they spent studying for their law finals was one of the worst periods of their life! This is because an enormous number of procedural rules covering a wide area of law must be memorized.

In Japan, where there are relatively few lawyers, the examinations are supposed to be particularly hard: less than 5 percent of candidates pass. Even after passing the examination, though, a lawyer is not necessarily qualified.

A solicitor in England, for example, must then spend two years as an articled clerk, during this time his work is closely supervised by an experienced lawyer, and he must take further courses. A barrister must spend a similar year as a pupil.

The rate at which the legal profession grows is terrific. In the 21^st century the number of lawyers will probably outpace the rate of population growth.

Why is the career in law so popular? In the USA the average salary of experienced lawyers in private practice is more than $100,000.

Lawyers’ salaries are substantially greater than those of many other professionals. The glamour of legal practice strengthens the attraction of its financial rewards.

 

The Bar Final examination — экзамен, который сдается при поступ­лении в Коллегию Адвокатов

the Law Society Final examination — экзамен, дающий право быть членом Общества юристов (профессионального союза солиситоров)

degree (n) — звание, степень,e.g. university degree

insufficient (adj) — недостаточный

pass (v) — зд. сдавать (экзамены)

requirement (n) — требование

take a course — пройти учебный курс

finals (n) — выпускные экзамены

articled clerk — клерк-стажер (без жалования)

supervise (v) — наблюдать (за кем-то), руководить (кем-то)

outpace (v) — опережать, превышать

salary (n) — заработная плата, получаемая ежемесячно

strengthen (v) — усиливать, укреплять