Solicitors Part One

The solicitor can be characterized as a legal general practitioner, a lawyer who deals with clients directly and, when a particular specialism or litigation is required, will engage the services of counsel, that is, a barrister. Looking at the solicitor as a legal GP and the barrister as a specialist, however, can be misleading. Most solicitors, especially those in large practices are experts in particular areas of law. They may restrict their regular work to litigation or commercial Conveyancing (transferring rights in land and property) or revenue work. Many barristers on the other hand might have a fairly wide range of work, including criminal, family matters and a variety of common law areas such as tort (civil wrongs, such as negligence) and common contract cases.

As mentioned previously, one group of people practicing in the court of chancery came to be known as solicitors. Originally they performed a variety of miscellaneous clerical tasks for employers such as land owners and attorneys. Their name was derived from their function of soliciting or prosecuting actions in courts where they were not officially recognized as fully fledged advocates. Eventually, various occupational groups who were performing legal work but who had not been admitted to the inns of court merged and organized themselves as a distinct profession.

It was not, however, until 1831 that "the society of attorneys, solicitors, proctors, and others, not being barristers, practicing in the courts of law and equality in the UK" was given its royal charter. this body emerged as the governing body of solicitors, the term attorney falling from general use.

Figures published in 2006 show that the ere are 126,142 solicitors "on the roll", that is, people qualified to work as solicitors, of whom 100,938 have a current practicing certificate. This represents a growth rate of about 50% during the last ten years. the number of female solicitors with practicing certificates has increased over the same period by 120% to 41,967. The percentage of practicing certificate-holders drawn from minority ethnic groups has increased over the same period from 2.2% to 9%. Just over half of all practicing solicitors with a certificate are aged forty or over.

the geographic distribution of solicitors has much room for improvement. Of the 9,081 law firm in England and wales, 27.5% are in london, and almost half of all firms are in a single region: the south east. Firms in london employ 39% of the 78,092 solicitors in private practice.