Lawyer? Shouldn't that be Solicitor?

[nickytwotimes]

So says dh anytime he hears lawyer being used outwith USA copntext.

Is he right?

[Hulababy]

Legal exec and paralegals are lawyers - they practise law. The term lawyer emcompasses all.

[elkiedee]

I work as support staff in an inhouse legal department, and job titles were changed from senior solicitor and solicitor a few years ago to lawyer/senior lawyer. We have barristers and solicitors occupying the same posts, as well as some people who are legally qualified but not in the UK (especially in Australia and NZ), so we had people who were qualified for the jobs they do, but not allowed to call themselves solicitor.

Previously, because of the career path they'd ended up taking, I think we had a few people who had trained as a barrister, taken on a litigation role that involved a lot of court work, and had to then qualify as a solicitor.

[Freckle]

A legal executive is most definitely a lawyer. They are governed by a professional legal body, the Institute of Legal Executives, and their training procedures are vigorously supervised and accredited. They have their own caseloads and do, in the main, very much the same work as solicitors. Their rights of audience in court are increasing and there is very little that a solicitor is authorised to do that a legal executive isn't. The difference between them these days is more to do with how they qualify. Legal executives train pretty much the same way as chartered accountants, training and qualifying whilst actually doing the job.

The dictionary definition of a lawyer is: a professional person authorised to practice law, conduct lawsuits or give legal advice, which I would suggest pretty much includes legal execs.

[Freckle]

I should add that, if you go to see a solicitor about something, the chances are that you may well be dealt with by a legal executive for the whole of your matter and will never know the difference. You should not worry because legal executives are highly trained and frequently more experienced than many solicitors.

[Turniphead1]

Actually, yes, I would agree Freckle. A legal execs are a profession with a governing body. Any eejit can be a paralegal (and some of them are! some are great). A large amount of what they do is admin related and many have no legal training whatsoever. The US paralegals tend to be highly qualified but not here.

[Hulababy]

flowerybeanbag - Dh is a solicitor and would hapilt refer to one of his highly trained and qualified legal execs as a lawyer.