Exercises. Types of Legal Professions: Great Britain

1. Read the text again to find out if the following statements are true or false.

1. Barristers are paid directly by clients.

2. Solicitors can present cases in lower courts.

3. The number of British solicitors is growing.

4. The Justice Department of the USA is responsible for the effective work of the police.

5. US attorneys are very influential people.

2. According to the text which of the following points completes the sentence best?

1. In Japan a lawyer must………………….

a) take lots of examinations;

b) take one final examination;

c) choose the examination according to his future law career

 

2. In England the decision of a law student is between becoming………………..

a) a barrister or a solicitor

b) a barrister or a judge;

c) a solicitor or a prosecutor

3. The solicitor usually deals with a……………………

a) petty crimes and matrimonial matters;

b) arguing cases;

c) presenting cases in any court

4. Barristers specialize in………………

a) arguing cases in front of a judge and representation in Magistrates’ Courts;

b) advocacy;

c) employing solicitors

5. US attorneys are……………..

a) the President’s assistants;

b) appointed by the President;

c) elected by people or by the members of the Senate

3. Match the following statements with a particular (British or American) law system.

1. Next week Mr. Richardson presents our case in the County Court.

2. Everybody is shocked: the Senate hasn’t approved the President’s decision to appoint Mr. John Brian Star the fifteenth federal district’s attorney.

3. This chamber is situated in 45 Oxford Street.

4. The Inns of Court are as respectable as exclusive clubs.

4. Find in the text words and phrases with the following meanings

1) connected with the law, required by the law;

2) gathering of persons for the purpose of hearing a speaker, etc.;

3) crimes which are not serious;

4) an English lawyer who specialize in arguing cases and representation in any court;

5) legal ending of a marriage;

6) an English lawyer who gives advice to clients, investigates, prepares documents;

7) support of a client in a Court;

8) the carrying out a piece of work;

9) power or right to give orders;

10) US lawyers having the right to prosecute

 

Types of Legal Professions: Great Britain

Read this classification.

Solicitors

There are about 50,000 solicitors, a number which is rapidly increasing, and they make up by far the largest branch of the legal profession in England and Wales. Solicitors are important figures in the British legal system. They are found in every town, where they deal with all the day-to­day work of preparing legal documents for buying and selling houses, making wills, etc. Solicitors also work on court cases for their clients, prepare cases for barristers to present in the higher courts, and may represent their client in a Magistrates' court. It is their job to advise you on legal matters of all kinds. If you get into trouble with the police you will probably ask a solicitor to help prepare your defence and, if the offence is to be heard in a Magistrates' Court, you can ask a solicitor to appear for you and argue your case. If the case goes to a higher Court, the solicitor still advises you, but you must get a barrister to appear for you.

Barristers

There are about 5,000 barristers who defend or prosecute in the higher courts. Although solicitors and barristers work together on cases, barristers specialize in representing clients in court and the training and career structures for the two types of lawyer are quite separate. In court, barristers wear wigs and gowns in keeping with the extreme formality of the proceedings. The highest level of barristers have the title QC (Queen's Counsel).

Judges

There are a few hundred judges, trained as barristers, who preside in more serious cases. There is no separate training for judges.

Jury

A jury consist of twelve people ("jurors"), who are ordinary people chosen at random from the Electoral Register (the list of people who can vote in elections). The jury listen to the evidence given in court in certain criminal cases and decide whether the defendant is guilty or innocent. If the person is found guilty, the punishment is passed by the presiding judge. Juries are rarely used in civil cases.