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Advocacy and specialist opinion

Advocacy

The Bar’s preserve of advocacy has been reduced over time, most notably with the granting of ‘higher rights of audience’ in the courts by the Access to Justice Act 1999. Those interested in advocacy can choose to train either as a barrister or as a solicitor. Solicitors can advocate in the lower courts, such as Magistrates Courts, and pursue higher rights of audience should they wish to do so when they have at least three years post qualification experience. This is referred to as the 'Accreditation Route'. Alternatively, trainees can start to work towards higher rights by accumulating relevant experience from as early as their training contract via the 'Development Route'. See the HRA Guidance Notes for full details.

Once they have the passed the necessary exams, they can call themselves a ‘solicitor advocate’. However, even as a barrister, the amount of advocacy you undertake will depend on the area of law in which you specialise. For example, criminal, family and employment are more ‘advocacy-heavy’ than commercial and Chancery, with common law sitting somewhere in the middle.

Specialist opinion

Barristers offering services here need to be specialists in a particular field or sector so that they can be consulted for a legal opinion in more complex cases. Knowledge of the law and of the relevant industry sector needs to be unparalleled.