Home Law What are the key differences between a lawyer and a solicitor?

What are the key differences between a lawyer and a solicitor?

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You may have heard about lawyers and solicitors in describing a professional who is working in the justice system or the field of law. However, these terms may have come up in different ways like in a newspaper, television or on a radio or the internet.

On the other hand, a lot of people are also involved in legal proceedings which are why the terms lawyers and solicitors have come up to your mind which prompted to ask yourself what are the differences between these two legal professionals?

While both are described as a type of legal professionals on their own, there are actually key differences between them and in this post, let us explore their differences to learn more about their responsibilities and their role according to the best solicitors in chester.

Lawyer- A lawyer is a professional who was able to obtain a legal qualification which in general is a graduate of the Bachelor of Laws or a Juris Doctor degree in Law and already has legal training in permitting them to provide legal advice to people. It is , therefore, a common term used in describing a legal practitioner which applies also for a solicitor.

Solicitor- By definition, a solicitor according to the Legal Professional Uniform Law is a legal practitioner who has completed the law degree and also holds a certificate for the legal practice. This certificate that they carry comes from their practical legal training which is being used for their profession in legal practice. Solicitors have to complete at least two years of strictly supervised practice before they are eligible for accepting the practicing certificate.

Compared to lawyers, solicitors are not that common even though they are technically considered still as a lawyer. A solicitor is a lawyer who provides legal advice to their clients in many facets of the law and they are the ones who are usually hired or called when there is an entity or an individual is in need of legal advice over an issue they want to resolve.

Usually, solicitors are the ones who draft contracts, assisting with the business sales and purchases, managing the daily legal affairs of their clients, and also drafting contracts.

A lawyer meanwhile or also called an attorney. They are legal professionals who passed the bar examination and are active in practicing the law in a particular facet of it or a particular jurisdiction. As a lawyer, they act as the legal representation of their clients whenever there is a case filed in the court. Just like solicitors, they also provide legal advices, but they are the ones who attend on hearings and proceedings during the trial of the case they are handling on behalf of their client.