Solicitor Advocate

Solicitor Advocate is the title used by a solicitor who is qualified to represent clients as an advocate in the higher courts in England and Wales or in Scotland.

Historically, solicitors took conduct of litigation, and undertook advocacy in the lower courts (tribunals, Coroner's Courts, Magistrates' Courts, County Courts, Sheriff Courts), but were not able to represent their clients in court in the higher courts (Crown Court, High Court, Court of Appeal, Court of Session, Privy Council, and House of Lords). Instead, solicitors were required to instruct barristers (in England and Wales) or advocates (in Scotland) to represent their clients in court.

Section 27 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, in England and Wales, and section 24 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Scotland Act 1990, in Scotland, created a route for solicitors to qualify for a grant of rights of audience in the higher courts where they have sufficient training and experience. The complex rules and regulations were relaxed in England and Wales by the Higher Courts Qualification Regulations 2000 so as to establish four main routes to qualify for higher rights of audience: development (training, assessment, and a portfolio of cases); accreditation (experience and an advocacy assessment); exemption (sufficient experience); and former barrister (called to the bar before 31 July 2000). Higher rights of audience may be granted for the higher criminal courts, or the higher civil courts, or both.

Solicitor Advocates are becoming more prevalent as firms seek to keep work in-house without the need to instruct outside counsel. This has led to some criticism from the bar, particularly as Solicitor Advocates are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or Law Society of Scotland rather than the Faculty of Advocates or Bar Standards Board [ [http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/breaking/view=newsarticle.law?GAZETTENEWSID=376254 Law Gazette - Breaking news ] ] . Further, the recent bar strike led to the Legal Services Commission asking Solicitor Advocates to step in and take over work traditionally conducted by junior barristers [ [http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=116527&d=11&h=24&f=46 Bar strike sees solicitor-advocates ready to step in - 5 September 2005 ] ] . There has been [http://www.jonathanmitchell.info/2008/09/26/how-to-pretend-to-be-a-qc-and-get-paid-for-it/ criticism of the feeing practices of solicitor advocates in Scotland] .

The increasing workload and recognition of Solicitor Advocates has led to a refocusing of the legal profession as some law students elect to train as Solicitor Advocates rather than barristers. The Law Society Gazette has noted that a number of solicitors decide to qualify as Solicitor Advocates very early in their careers.

External links

* [http://www.solicitoradvocates.org/ Society of Solicitor Advocates] for Scottish Solicitor Advocates
* [http://www.sahca.org/ Solicitors' Association of Higher Court Advocates] in England and Wales
* [http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/professional/accreditationpanels/highercourts.law Higher Rights of Audience] from theLaw Society

References