What is the difference between a solicitor & a solicitor advocate?

Oct 31, 2021

Written By Natasha Jones

So, you want to be a lawyer but you’re unsure whether you want to be a solicitor or barrister? What if we told you that, as a solicitor advocate, you could have the best of both worlds?

What is a solicitor?

First things first. Solicitors are lawyers who offer legal advice to clients and act for them in both contentious and non-contentious matters.

Contentious work involves a dispute between parties who want to achieve opposing end goals. In contrast, non-contentious work is usually transactional and involves drafting and negotiating legal documents to help the parties involved achieve a common goal.

Solicitor vs barrister

So, what’s the difference between a solicitor and a barrister?

Broadly speaking, clients tend to seek the advice of a solicitor first, whilst barristers are generally hired by solicitors and become involved with a case once the need for advocacy arises.

Although solicitors who do contentious work often have to issue court proceedings, attend court and may even be involved in advocacy, unlike barristers, solicitors can’t exercise ‘rights of audience’ in all higher courts.

A right of audience is basically the right to appear before and address a court, including the right to call and examine witnesses. The higher courts are the Senior Courts of England and Wales (the Crown Court, High Court and Court of Appeal) and the UK Supreme Court.

Where representation is needed in the higher courts, or in complex disputes requiring specialist advice, solicitors usually instruct barristers to advocate in court on behalf of a client.

What is a solicitor advocate?

We just told you that solicitors aren’t automatically able to exercise rights of audience in all higher courts. So, does that mean those interested in appearing before the senior courts have to become a barrister? No. That’s where solicitor advocates come in.

Solicitor advocates are fully qualified solicitors who have undergone additional assessments and obtained the SRA’s Higher Rights of Audience qualification (HRAQ), allowing them to represent clients in the higher courts of England and Wales. They therefore have the same rights of audience as barristers.

In Scotland, solicitor advocates can represent clients in civil cases in the Court of Session, the Supreme Court, and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC). In criminal cases, they can represent clients in the High Court of Justiciary, as well as the JCPC.

Solicitor advocates bridge the role of solicitors and barristers. They are uniquely placed to offer clients focused advice from the outset about what to expect in court and can provide a complete service to clients from start to finish.

How do I become a solicitor advocate?

There are separate assessments for criminal and civil advocacy, resulting in separate awards. Aspiring solicitor advocates can either undertake both or choose one or the other.

As of April 2021, you must have been admitted as a solicitor before taking the assessments. You can therefore no longer sit the assessments during your training contract, but you can undertake the assessments and apply for the HRAQ at any time after qualification.

Many solicitors often choose to wait a little longer though, preferring to undertake the assessments after a few years of experience working in litigation.

Having said that, there is no mandatory training that must be undertaken, or level of litigation experience required, before sitting the assessments. This is because aspiring solicitor advocates will likely have completed the advocacy module of the Legal Practice Course or Solicitors Qualifying Examination.

However, if you want to maximise your chance of success, many accredited providers do offer optional courses that help to prepare you for the assessments. Trainee solicitors can complete the training should they wish to but must wait until they are fully qualified to complete the assessment.

Want to take your career in this direction? Learn more about how to become a solicitor advocate.

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