There were 4 great “Inns of Court” since 19th century in
The inns were made up “exclusively of barristers”. They “excluded all attorneys and solicitors and their articles clerks”. (id...).
The Inns were recognized by the judiciary and the legislature as “guilds of advocates” and they “delegated to them the control of the education, administration and discipline of advocates.” (id., 30).
Barristers have “monopoly of the right of audience in the superior courts”, while the “right of audience is also extended to solicitors in… the country courts and Magistrates courts.” (id., 30). Barristers “are consulted from time to time as experts by solicitors.” (id., 31).
The Client “can only approach, consult or instruct a barrister through a solicitor”. (Land, in Cheatham, 31). “A barrister must work as an individual and may not practice in partnership whereas a solicitor not only may do so but… generally does.” (id., 31).
Before the Supreme Court only a barrister may appear (id., 31).
There were only 2,000 Barristers in Great Britain in 1952, “…many of these are no doubt earning their living in some way other than at the bar for the most part, e.g. in journalism.” ( id., 31). Some 1,200 were earning their living “exclusively from their progression.” (id., 32).
Since 1894, the General Council of the Bar has served as the “central representative organization of barristers and a “consultative and deliberative body”. It has “no disciplinary powers of enforcement nor has it any control over the education or admission of Bar students.” (id., 31).
The requirements for admission to the British Bar were: “a test of general education (of approx. the same standard as that required for entry into a university)”; must “fulfill certain conditions of fitness and respectability”; must “keep a certain number of terms (general twelve, which involved nothing more than dinning in half on a number of days in each term, 4 terms in a year”; and must “pass a qualifying exam, of a largely theoretical nature.” (id.).
The exam approximated those for a university law degree and Bar students frequently kept their terms while at the university.” (id.)
As to citizenship, Barristers “may be of any nationality” and Solicitors “must be
British subjects.” (id., 31).
Solicitors “do nine-tenths of the work which members of the bar in the
A Queen’s Counsel is one “who wear silk gowns and are called ‘Silks’ or ‘Leaders’, while Juniors are “all other barristers”. A “Q.C” is appointed on the recommendation of the Land Chancellor…” (id., 32).
“Nearly all common-law barristers are members of a circuit”.
The Lord Chancellor is “the highest judicial officer of the Crown”. (Frank, Wagnalls, 221).
Before 1873, the Chancery was the court presided by the Lord High Chancellor. It is the “highest court next to the House of Lords”. (Judiciary Act of 1873; id.).
The Solicitors Law Society originated in 1823. It was incorporated by Royal Charter. it is the association of solicitors in
The legal education required of a Solicitor consisted of the following: must “serve a period under articles of clerkship (or apprenticeship) with a solicitor engaged in the active practice of law” (“the term is normally five years but is reduced to three years for university graduates (whether in law or arts)”; must “pass a preliminary examination on general knowledge, an intermediate and a final examination in law and trust accounts”; must “obtain the consent of The Law Society and must satisfy the Society of his character, suitability and fitness to do so.” (id.).
In 1952, the fee for clerkship paid by a clerk to his principal was 300 Pounds or more.
The management and control of the Solicitors’ Examinations were “placed by Parliament in the boards of the Law Society which is empowered to make regulations governing the syllabus, the appointments of examiners, and other kindred matters”, which “must be approved by the Master of the Rolls, the Lord Chancellor, and the Lord Chief Justice”. “Before talking the final examinations, the articled clerk must have attended a course of legal education at a school of law provided or approved by The Law Society… The required course of legal ed. Is of one year’s duration, either part-time at the approved law schools or full-time at The Law Society’s
The Solicitor’s license was called the “annual practicing certificate or license”, which may be with or without condition and was renewed yearly. (id.).
The Rules of the Law Society, by order of the Parliament, provided that “all clients’ monies or monies of a trust where the solicitor is a sole trustee, which are held or received by a solicitor, must be kept in a bank entirely apart from the solicitor’s monies and the solicitor must keep adequate books of accounts”.; that “juggling or mixing of clients’ monies was prohibited”; that the solicitors was “required to submit annually to The Law Society a certificate signed by a member of one of the recognized accountancy bodies to the effect that the rules have been complied with”. The Law Society may “inspect a solicitor’s books of accounts and bank accounts”. (id., 34).
“Advertising, touting undercutting, profit sharing with unqualified persons and ambulance chasing” were prohibited. (id., 34, citing “Solicitors’ Practice Rules, 1936” of The Law Society, by authority of Parliament). To “tout” is to solicit business (Frank and Wagnalls, 1328).
The Law Society maintained as Compensation Fund “for the purpose of relieving or mitigating losses sustained by any person in consequence of dishonesty on the part of any solicitation or solicitor’s clerks”. Every Solicitor was “required by statute to contribute to this Fund when taking out his annual practicing certificate” (
The Law Society administered the “Legal Aid and Advice Act of 1949”. In legal-aid cases, a maximum of 85% of a “lawyer’s normal fee” was paid by the state and 15% paid by client. “State-financed schemes were drawn up and operated, subject only to ultimate government consent, by voluntary organizations representative of the profession itself”. (id.).
Since 1953, a lawyer’s “remuneration was no longer fixed by schedule but was determined by agreement, subject to review by a taxing master.” (id., 35).
In 1952, a Solicitor earned 700 Pounds per annum. (id., 35).
Atty. Manuel Laserna Jr.
Las Pinas City, Philippines
lcmlaw@gmail.com
