Editing Solicitor (section)

==England and Wales==
{{CourtsEnglandWales}}
{{Main|Legal professions in England and Wales}}

Before the creation of the [[Senior Courts of England and Wales|Supreme Court of Judicature]] under the [[Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873]], solicitors practised in [[equity (law)|equity]] in the [[Court of Chancery]], [[attorney-at-law|attorneys]] practised in the [[common law]] courts, and [[proctor]]s practised in the "civil law" (based on [[Roman law]]) of the [[ecclesiastical courts]]. The [[monopoly]] of the proctors in family, inheritance and [[admiralty law]] had been removed in 1857–1859, and the 1873 reforms further fused all three branches of the profession. After 1873 the offices of "attorney" and "proctor" disappeared as terms relating to legally qualified persons, being replaced by "Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Judicature" (subsequently "of the Supreme Court of England and Wales"), except for the unique government offices of [[Queen's Proctor|Queen's (or King's) Proctor]] (now called "HM Procurator-General", a title generally held by the [[Treasury Solicitor]]), and [[Attorney-General]].<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''</ref> Since the replacement of the judicial aspect of the [[House of Lords]] with a new [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom]] (in 2009), separate from the existing Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales, the full title of a solicitor is "Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales".<ref>Solicitors Journal 5 October 2009</ref>

The term "attorney" is however still used under English law to refer to someone legally appointed or empowered (who may but need not be legally qualified) to act for another person. Currently, the term is most commonly used to refer to someone so appointed under a "power of attorney". This may be a "general power of attorney" under section 10 of the [[Powers of Attorney Act 1971]];<ref>Powers of Attorney Act 1971, section 10</ref> a [[lasting power of attorney]] may be granted under the provisions of the [[Mental Capacity Act 2005]]. Some practitioners in specialist professions, notably intellectual property, are also referred to as attorneys, for example [[registered patent attorney]]s, which is a separate qualification from that of a solicitor.

===Solicitors and barristers===
In the English legal system, solicitors traditionally dealt with any legal matter, including conducting proceedings in courts, although solicitors were required to engage a barrister as advocate in a High Court or above after the profession split in two. Minor criminal cases are tried in [[magistrates' court (England and Wales)|magistrates' court]]s, which constitute by far the majority of courts. More serious criminal cases still start in the magistrates' court and may then be transferred to a higher court.

The majority of civil cases are tried in county courts and are almost always handled by solicitors. Cases of higher value (£100,000 or above) and those of unusual complexity are tried in the High Court, and barristers, as the other branch of the English legal profession, have traditionally carried out the functions of advocacy in the [[High Court of Justice|High Court]], [[Crown Court]] and [[Court of Appeal (England and Wales)|Court of Appeal]].

In the past, barristers did not deal with the public directly. This rigid separation no longer applies. [[Solicitor advocates]] with extended rights of audience may now act as advocates at all levels of the courts. Conversely, the public may now hire and interact with a barrister directly in certain types of work without having to go to a solicitor first<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/about/publicaccess/ |title=Public Access |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131173018/http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/about/publicaccess/ |archivedate=31 January 2009 }}</ref> as a result of the [[Courts and Legal Services Act 1990]] removing the monopoly of barristers to act as advocates and granting solicitors [[rights of audience]] in specified circumstances.

Solicitors now frequently appear in the lower courts and, subject to passing a test and thereby obtaining higher rights of audience, increasingly in the higher courts such as the [[High Court of Justice of England and Wales]] and the [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales|Court of Appeal]]. While the independent bar continued to exist in a largely unchanged state, a few firms of solicitors employed their own barristers and [[solicitor advocates]] to do some of their court work. The rules preventing barristers from being directly instructed were revised to allow direct instruction by certain organizations such as trade unions, accountants, and similar groups. Additionally, barristers who have completed the Bar Council's "Public Access" course can take instructions directly from members of the public under the [[Public Access Scheme]].

Regulation of both barristers and solicitors was reviewed by [[David Clementi]] on behalf of the [[Ministry of Justice]] in 2004. He delivered his final recommendations in December 2004<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legal-services-review.org.uk/ |publisher=Legal Services Review |title=Clementi Review of Legal Services |access-date=22 April 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412051525/http://www.legal-services-review.org.uk/ |archive-date=12 April 2009}}</ref> which included proposals for a more unified regulatory system and new structures for cross-profession work. Many of his recommendations were enshrined in the [[Legal Services Act 2007]].

The breakdown in the strict separation between barrister and solicitor was expected to go further following recognition by the Act of the so-called "Legal Disciplinary Practice" (LDP)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/advice/practice-notes/legal-disciplinary-practice/|title=Legal disciplinary practice|access-date=17 August 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815234854/http://lawsociety.org.uk/Advice/Practice-notes/Legal-disciplinary-practice/|archive-date=15 August 2014}}</ref> (from 31 March 2009) and "Alternate Business Structure" (ABS)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/advice/practice-notes/alternative-business-structures/|title=Alternative business structures|access-date=17 August 2015|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808202751/http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/advice/practice-notes/alternative-business-structures/|archive-date=8 August 2014}}</ref> (from 6 October 2011) bodies, which allow more flexibly structured legal practices.

===Regulatory scheme===
Solicitors in England and Wales who wish to practise must pay an annual fee to obtain a practising certificate. This fee is paid to the [[Law Society of England and Wales]], which represents the profession. The [[Solicitors Regulation Authority]], though funded by these fees, acts independently of the Law Society. Together, the two bodies make up the complete system of professional regulation for solicitors. Complaints about solicitors, if not satisfactorily resolved by the solicitors' firm, may be made to the Legal Ombudsman.

===Training and qualifications===
The training and qualification required to enter the profession by being admitted as a solicitor is regulated by the [[Solicitors Regulation Authority]]  (SRA). There are two graduate routes of entry into the profession. Prospective solicitors holding a qualifying law degree<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sra.org.uk/students/academic-stage.page |title=Academic Stage |publisher=Solicitors Regulation Authority|access-date=4 January 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216044110/http://www.sra.org.uk/students/academic-stage.page|archive-date=16 December 2008}}</ref> proceed to studying the [[Legal Practice Course]]. Those holding a non-law degree must in addition have completed a [[Graduate Diploma in Law|conversion course]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sra.org.uk/students/conversion-courses.page|publisher=Solicitors Regulation Authority |title=Conversion Course|access-date=4 January 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218100532/http://www.sra.org.uk/students/conversion-courses.page|archive-date=18 December 2008}}</ref> prior to enrolling on the [[Legal Practice Course]]. Once the Legal Practice Course has been completed, the prospective solicitor usually must then undertake two years' apprenticeship, known as a [[training contract]], with a firm entitled to take trainee solicitors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sra.org.uk/students/training-contract.page |title=Training contract information|publisher=Solicitors Regulation Authority|access-date=4 January 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227075521/http://www.sra.org.uk/students/training-contract.page|archive-date=27 December 2008}}</ref> The Legal Practice Course and training contract can also be undertaken simultaneously although this is less usual.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/law-careers/becoming-a-solicitor/training-contracts/|title=Period of recognised training (training contract) |access-date=17 August 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150829075353/http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/law-careers/becoming-a-solicitor/training-contracts/|archive-date=29 August 2015}}</ref> The training contract was formerly known as articles of clerkship. The [[Solicitors Regulation Authority|SRA]] completed an extensive review of qualification routes into law that has brought about the introduction of the [[Solicitors Qualifying Examination|Solicitor Qualifying Examination]] (SQE). The new route was introduced from 1 September 2021 with the first examinations to take place in November of the same year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sra.org.uk/students/sqe/transitional-arrangements/|title=On your way to becoming a solicitor|date=20 July 2021 |access-date=20 July 2021}}</ref>

It is possible to qualify as a solicitor without having attended university by being admitted as a [[Legal executive|Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives]], and thereafter completing the required number of years of practical experience, and studying for the Legal Practice Course.

Although now on a downward trend, there is a large representation of lawyers in the UK with privately educated backgrounds. 37% of barristers and 21% of solicitors are from a private school background, compared to 7% of the overall UK population.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://legalservicesboard.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/The-State-of-Legal-Services-Narrative-Volume_Final.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://legalservicesboard.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/The-State-of-Legal-Services-Narrative-Volume_Final.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=The state of Legal Services 2020|access-date=14 Jan 2021}}</ref>

=== Overseas qualified lawyers ===
Lawyers qualified in foreign jurisdictions, as well as English barristers, can take the [[Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme|Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS)]] assessment, a fast-track route for qualification as an English solicitor which can be completed in a shorter or longer period of time, depending on the legal background of the candidate. There is no training or experience requirement under the QLTS, which comprises two assessments; a multiple choice test (180 multiple choice questions on 14 subject matters) and two practical assessments, the OSCE1 and OSCE2 which include nine written papers, three oral papers and three mixed written-oral papers on the most important areas of practice for solicitors (business law, probate, conveyancing, civil litigation, criminal litigation). The scheme is open to qualified lawyers in many [[common law]] and [[civil law (legal system)|civil law]] jurisdictions, such as the US, Australia, South Africa, Nigeria, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, Russia, China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, India, Pakistan, all EU member states, as well as other countries.