A lawyer whose responsibilities involve giving legal advice to clients. In order to practise, solicitors in the UK require a practising certificate from the appropriate Law Society. Solicitors have a right to appear for clients in the lower courts, but may not act as advocates in the Supreme Court or House of Lords unless they have the appropriate advocacy qualification. Most are concerned with advice on criminal law, family law, landlord and tenant law, and debt disputes. Solicitors also instruct barristers or advocates appearing for a client in either the lower or superior courts. The distinction between solicitors and barristers does not exist in the USA. A hybrid form of lawyer, termed a solicitor advocate, who can appear in the superior courts, was introduced in Scotland in 1993.
A solicitor is a type of lawyer in many common law jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Australia New Zealand and Canada, but not the United States (in the United States the word has a quite different meaning—see below). In most common law countries the legal profession is split between: solicitors who represent and advise clients, and a barrister who is retained by a solicitor to advocate in a legal hearing or to render a legal opinion.
However in several Australian States (including South Australia), as well as in Canada, the legal profession is "fused" which means that a lawyer can be a solicitor, barrister, and proctor.
Where the legal profession is not "fused" in cases where a trial is necessary a client must retain a solicitor, who will advise him or her and then may deliver a brief to a barrister to act on the solicitor's instructions.
England and Wales
Before the unification of the Supreme Court in 1873, solicitors practised in the courts of chancery, while attorneys and proctors practised in the common law and ecclesiastical courts respectively.
In the English legal system solicitors have traditionally dealt with any legal matter apart from the conducting proceedings in courts (advocacy), except criminal cases tried in Magistrates' Courts which are almost always handled by solicitors.
Regulation
Solicitors in England and Wales are regulated by the Law Society of England and Wales (which wears the hat of both regulator and union) and in order to become a solicitor must have had a qualifying legal education.
Moreover, solicitors must pay the Law Society of England and Wales a practising fee each year in order to keep practising. Solicitors study a one year course called the Legal Practice Course and then must undertake two years apprenticeship with a solicitor, called the training contract (but still widely referred to as 'articles' as in 'articled clerk' by older members of the profession). The 'roll' is a list of people qualified to be a solicitor and is kept on behalf of the 'Master of the Rolls' whose more important job is that he is the head of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. Solicitors who are being disciplined by the Law Society can be suspended from the roll or even struck off, which prevents them acting as a solicitor.
Recent developments
In England and Wales the strict separation between the duties of solicitor and barrister has been partially broken down and solicitors frequently appear not only in the lower courts but (subject to passing a test) increasingly in the higher courts too (such as the High Court of Justice of England and Wales and the Court of Appeal). Firms of solicitors now employ their own barristers and solicitor-advocates to do the work, taking it away from the private groups 'sets' or 'chambers' of barristers who formerly did the work. Despite the numerous anecdotal claims that solicitors are increasingly taking advantage of increased rights of audience, this does not seem to be reflected in practice, with both arms of the legal profession thriving in recent years.
Regulation of both Barristers and Solicitors is being reviewed by David Clementi on behalf of the Department for Constitutional Affairs.
Traditionally, firms of solicitors can only be owned by solicitors. A solicitor will be required to share confidential information with the organisations and individuals who acquire control of their firm even though those organisations and individuals will not be bound by the professional duty of confidentiality and may use their knowledge of the client's confidential affairs to their own advantage. In Scotland the legal profession is divided between solicitors and advocates, the distinction being similar to that between solicitors and barristers in England and Wales, though Scottish solicitors have traditionally represented their clients in the lower courts (such as the Sheriff Court and the District Court), only being excluded from the High Court of Justiciary and the Court of Session (unless they qualify as solicitor advocates). In Scotland, Solicitors are regulated by the Law Society of Scotland, who require prospective solicitors to pass exams in a curriculum set by the Society. Prospective solicitors are then required to take the Diploma in Legal Practice (a one year course provided by several Scottish universities) and then undertake a two year traineeship with a law firm, before they can qualify as a solicitor.
Republic of Ireland
Following the establishment of the Irish Free State many of the features of the England and Wales legal system were continued in the new state. The legal profession remained divided between barristers and solicitors.
The Law Society of Ireland was established by the Solicitors Act of 1954 to be the representative and regulatory body for all Solicitors in Ireland. The Law Society of Ireland is also, under the various Acts of the Oireachtas which govern it, the sole training body for Solicitors in the Republic of Ireland.
In recent years, legal changes have also greatly eroded the traditional boundaries between Solicitors and Barristers, with many Solicitors choosing to represent their clients in all Courts. Thus, while members of the bar practice only as barristers, a practitioner is admitted as a "barrister and solicitor".
Canada
In the English speaking jurisdictions of Canada (and New Brunswick, a bilingual jurisdiction) the profession being fused, all lawyers are called to the bar and admitted as solicitors. While many barristers and solicitors choose to practise within the scope of one or the other traditional disciplines, many others choose a cross-discipline practice.
Amongst lawyers in English speaking Canada, it is common to refer to one another as solicitors, whether practising in a solicitor's or barrister's role. Amongst members of the general public, however, the term "solicitor" has a similar connotation to that in use in the United States (see below).
United States
Legal usage
In some U.S. states, a "solicitor" may be the chief legal officer of a city or town — for example, a "town solicitor," — although cities in other states simply have "city attorneys." Some counties and states as well as the federal government have an official known as a Solicitor General who is actually more of an advocate than a solicitor in the traditional British sense.
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