Types of legal career
There are two main branches of the legal profession – solicitors and barristers.
What is a career as a solicitor?
What is a career as a barrister?
Other opportunities
What is a career as a solicitor?
Solicitors form the largest part of the legal profession with around over 100,000 practitioners. They advise individuals and organisations on legal matters and their main role is generally problem-solving. Solicitors tend to work in an office rather than in court, although they can represent clients in some courts, and all courts if they have sufficient experience and training.
Types of solicitor
- Private practice – works in a firm with other solicitors or alone as a sole practitioner. The majority of solicitors (around three-quarters) work in private practice and this is where the vast majority of training contracts are to be found.
- In-house – employed by a particular business or organisation and deals only with that organisation’s interests.
- Local government – most common areas of practice for solicitors in local authorities are education, childcare, anti-social behaviour, housing or trading standards. They may also become involved in larger projects dealing with, for example, major land redevelopment.
- Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) – the Government Department responsible for criminal prosecution work. Despite this sole focus, it is possible to secure a training contract or pupillage with the CPS which is organised regionally across the country.
Types of firms
Solicitors’ work depends a great deal on the practice area and the size of employer. Selecting the right firm and practice area is a key decision. The client base and work you undertake at a particular firm will determine the quality of experience you gain during your training contract.
- High street firms – the main client base of high street firms will be small to medium sized businesses and private individuals. The work undertaken will tend to be very diverse, covering all areas of commercial law, property, private client and, occasionally, publicly funded work.
- National and regional firms – medium to large size and usually have a number of offices. Clients will be diverse, from public and private companies to individual clients, and the work covers the full spectrum of legal practice.
- City and corporate firms – the work of large corporate and City law firms tends to be international in focus and many will have a worldwide network of offices, dealing with issues such as mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance at an international level. Clients are mainly public companies and financial institutions. As the largest law firms, they also tend to recruit large numbers of trainees, with some offering over 100 training contracts each year.
- Specialist or niche firms – advise in one area of law, in which they will be experts.
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What is a career as a barrister?
There are around 15,000 barristers in England and Wales, broken down into the self-employed or independent Bar (80%) and the employed Bar (20%). The employed Bar consists of counsel working in-house within companies, charities or government organisations.
Overview of barristers’ work
Representing clients and handling litigation – advocacy – will form the bulk of your work as a barrister. You can work on either civil or criminal cases. You will generally be instructed by a solicitor and may be involved in a variety of work on behalf of the solicitor's client. This may include opinion writing, drafting documents and taking the case to court.
As a barrister, you may also be asked to give specialist opinions on complex legal matters. This might entail how to proceed in a case, what to do next, the prospects of success, and what the legal position is in any given situation.
Junior and QC (Queen’s Counsel)
A junior is any barrister who is not a QC and could be newly qualified or very experienced.
QCs are also known as ‘silks’ because when a barrister is invited to be a Queen's Counsel they are allowed to wear coloured robes, traditionally made of silk. When a barrister is appointed as a QC, they are said to ‘take silk’. QCs are the most experienced, senior barristers and judges are usually appointed from their ranks.
Inns of Court
Practising barristers must be members of one of the four Inns of Court:
To qualify, barristers are ‘called to the Bar’ by one of the Inns.
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Other opportunities
Given the discipline, knowledge and skills required to study law, a legal qualification can open up many other legal or non-legal career routes beyond becoming a solicitor or barrister.
Within the law, for example, there are opportunities to become a paralegal, Citizens Advice Bureau caseworker, Crown Prosecution Service caseworker or to work for Her Majesty’s Court Service as a court clerk, court reporter or administrator. Some students pursue careers as licensed conveyancers, patent attorneys or trademark agents ¬ or go into teaching or lecturing in law – the list of options is almost endless.
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