Solicitor Attorney Barrister Lawyer

a. This person is a lawyer who gives legal advice and opinions to solicitors. He or she passed the exams of the Bar Council of England and Wales at the end of his or her studies.

b. This person is a lawyer who gives legal advice to individuals and companies. He or she passed his or her exams in the USA at the end of his or her studies and is usually a member of the American Bar Association.

c.This person is a lawyer who gives legal advice to individuals and companies. He or she passed the exams of the Law Society of England and Wales at the end of his or her studies.

d. This the general job title that we use for people who work as a solicitor, barrister or attorney.

Exercise 2 Supply the missing forms of the words.

Exercise 3

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the word. Determine the part of speech of the missing words.

1. to represent The green movement lacks effective ….. in Parliament.

2. to instruct Follow the….. of your lawyer.

3. to limit They will resist any….. of their power.

4. practice He is a highly qualified….. in his field.

5. to undertake He is interested in buying this club as a commercial…

Text 1 Legal Practitioners

Pre-reading task: Read the text and make up the plan of it.

Lawyers in the United Kingdom jurisdictions generally practice as solicitors in private firms, as legal advisers in corporations, government departments, and advice agencies, or as barristers. They can each do advocacy, draft legal documents and give written advice, but solicitors, unlike barristers, cannot appear in every court.

Traditionally, solicitors undertake work such asconveyancing and drawing up contractsand wills. Barristers spend more time in court and have a right of audience in the higher courts. Unlike solicitors, barristers cannot usually be employed directly by clients but are instructed by solicitors. Solicitors normally form partnerships with other solicitors and work in offices with support staff. The qualification and practice of solicitors are regulated by the Law Society.

Unlike solicitors, barristers can’t form partnerships but must act as sole traders with unlimited liability. Some barristers are in employed practice and may only represent their employer, for example as in-house counselor in government departments. Many work independently in self-employed practice in groups called chambers.

A barrister’s main work is to provide representation in the courts, to draft documentsassociated with court procedure, and to give opinions, that is, specialist legal advice. They are normally instructed by solicitors on behalf oflay clients. As the law has become more complex, barristers increasingly specialise in particular areas, such as personal injury, crime, family or commercial law. Barristers are governed by the General Council of the Bar, known as the Bar Council.

Exercise 4 Find pairs of synonyms: self – employed person, barrister, undertaking, sole trader, counsel, business, company’s legal adviser, in-house lawyer.

Exercise 5 Find opposites to these words in the text.

Exercise 10

Which of these statements best expresses the main idea of the text? Give reasons for your answer:

1) Barristers can also take cases in the inferior courts.

2. The solicitor is more of a specialist than the barrister.

3. Barristers are not allowed to form partnerships.

4) In the English legal system there is a division of the legal profession into barristers and solicitors.

Section II

Exercise 11

Determine the part of speech of the words and give their derivatives:

Practising, admitted, engaged, superior, inferior, interview, presentation, prosecuting, defending, accused, pleading, independence, involved, pretrial, share, specialise, litigation.

Text № 2.

The Legal Profession

Pre-reading task: