Editing Solicitor (section)

===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.