The structure of the legal profession in the United Kingdom - Essay Example

The essential difference between the two was that a barrister could represent a client in court, whereas a plain solicitor could not (Farley, 2001). A brief explanation of the reasons given for the division between the two types of lawyers will explain both the advantages and disadvantages of the fused system that has now been proposed and appears to be inevitable in the near future. The barrister was traditionally trained at one of the Inns of Court, and undertook both formal legal training and practical experience under the pupilage of a senior barrister.

This system was meant to ensure that there was a relatively small but highly experienced group of trial advocates who would give the highest quality of representation to clients whose cases actually got to court, and who would also maintain a smoothly running court because they were specialists in that procedure (Hailsham, 1983). There were also other reasons given for having a separation between barristers and solicitors. These include the fact that having an independent barrister reviewing a cause for action enables the client to receive a fresh and independent opinions.

The barrister system also enables smaller firms of solicitors to compete with larger firms as they all have access to the same independent barristers (who are legally barred from forming partnerships). A barrister can also act as a kind of check and balance on a solicitor during the trial, and if incompetence is seen may advise the client on a possible cause for action against the solicitor. The disadvantages of the barrister system are supposedly many, and these are starting to outweigh the perceived advantages throughout the British legal system.

These include the fact that having more than one legal adviser leads to higher costs. It is also argued that as barristers depend upon solicitors for their work referrals, they are unlikely to criticize them. Thus the "checks and balances" idea is somewhat offset by the fact that a barrister is unlikely to bite the hand that feeds him/her. The over-specialization of barristers means that they may not have sufficient legal exposure outside of their fields and thus may not in fact give the best representation in cases that overlap several areas of the law (Clementi, 2004).

As the government has suggested the legal system in Britain is widely regarded as "outdated, inflexible, over-complex and insufficiently accountable or transparent" (Clementi, 2004). The idea that the two major sections of the legal service system:- solicitor and barrister - should be fused together, is currently gaining steam within the United Kingdom. The main thrust for future developments is to be found within the very title of the government's latest policy issuance on the subject: The Future of Legal Services: Putting Consumers First (Crown, 2005).

The government is careful not to suggest that those solicitors and barristers that currently work separately are in general offering bad services to their clients, stating that "the professional competence of lawyers is not in doubt . . . the caliber of many of our legal professionals is among the best in the world" (Crown, 2005). But the report goes on to say that "many consumers are finding that they are not receiving a good or fair deal." In response to this the government seeks to produce a legal system that is "efficient, effective and economic" and which will be a "transparent and accountable industry" (Crown,