Legal roles can be complicated to people outside of the legal world. Many legal professional roles cross over some responsibilities or abilities, making it all the more confusing to decipher who does what. We’re here to help straighten this one out.
The easiest way to think of a solicitor is that they are the legal professionals who help you most outside of the courtroom. Solicitors can help you with legal advice, manage complex legal matters and perform legal tasks on your behalf, and act in your best interest and negotiate on your behalf.
The difference between a barrister and solicitor is best spotted to the non-legal eye as the legal professional who helps you most inside the courtroom. While a solicitor helps with legal advice outside of the courts, barristers have passed the bar to represent clients in the courtroom.
This is a confusing one in Australia as the difference between lawyer and attorney is really just in the name. In Australia, “attorney” is not a common term, unless referring to a Trademark Attorney. But if someone has the title of attorney, outside of intellectual property law, it means that they will either be a solicitor or a barrister.
The difference between a lawyer and solicitor really depends on if your lawyer is a solicitor or something else. All solicitors are lawyers, but not all lawyers are solicitors. Let us explain:
A solicitor conducts general aspects of giving legal advice, as well as conducting legal proceedings, but this is done mostly out of court. They will hold legally-defined qualifications and will have been admitted to a supreme court of one of the countries seven jurisdictions.
Same as the solicitor vs lawyer situation, the difference between a barrister and lawyer depends on if that lawyer is a barrister. All barristers are lawyers, but not all lawyers are barristers.
Barristers are often referred to as your legal counsel, and they are legal professionals who spend most of their time in court. To become a barrister, an experienced solicitor has to pass the Bar Readers Course. Barristers most often deal with solicitors in the handling of cases, rather than clients directly, to provide specialist legal advice and representation in Courts and Tribunals.
As we’ve touched on, a lawyer is really a blanket term for anyone in the legal profession who has legal qualifications; such as a Juris Doctor degree or Bachelor of Laws. In Australia, all solicitors and barristers are “lawyers”. Who you want to deal with will depend on your case.
Use our claim calculator to find out how much your claim is worth, and you can decide to be introduced to the most appropriate legal professional to help you win your claim — with our No Win, No Fee guarantee (excluding defendant costs if the claim is litigated).
Welcome to What’s my claim worth?
Please choose your state below so we can show you the most relevant content
