Barristers in England and Wales - Origin of The Profession

Origin of The Profession

The work of senior legal professionals in England and Wales is divided between solicitors and barristers. (A great deal of legal work in England & Wales is undertaken by legal executives and paralegals.) Both are trained in law but serve differing functions in the practice of law.

Historically, the superior courts were based in London the capital city, and in order to dispense justice throughout the country, a judge and court would periodically travel a regional circuit to deal with cases that had arisen there. From this emerged a body of lawyers that were on socially familiar terms with the judges, had training and experience in the superior courts, and had access to a greater corpus of research material and accumulated knowledge on the interpretation and application of the law. Some would go "on circuit" with the court to act on behalf of those requiring representation. By contrast, solicitors were essentially local to one place, whether London or a provincial town.

Lawyers who practised in the courts in this way came to be called "barristers" because they were "called to the Bar", the symbolic barrier separating the public—including solicitors and law students—from those admitted to the well of the Court. They became specialists either in appearing in court, or in the process of using the courts, which would include giving oral or written advice on the strength of a case and the best way to conduct it. For those who had the means and preference to engage a solicitor, it became useful, then normal and then compulsory, for the solicitor in turn to select and engage a barrister to represent the client before the courts. Likewise, it became either useful or normal (but not compulsory) to engage an appropriate barrister when highly specialist advice was required. In fact, many barristers have largely "paper practices" where they rarely or (in some cases) never make court appearances.

Historically practising at the bar was a more socially prestigious profession than working as a solicitor. In the 18th and 19th centuries the bar was one of the limited number of professions considered suitable for upper class men; politics, the Army and Navy, the established clergy, and the civil and diplomatic services being the others. Many leading eighteenth and nineteenth century politicians were barristers; few were solicitors. In the 20th century solicitors closed the gap greatly, especially in terms of earnings, and by the early 21st century the social gap was far less important than formerly.