In England there are two main legal professions. Barristers (also called
counsel - your counsellors at law) have the sole right to act as advocate in
the higher courts, but they do not prepare the cases; that is the work of a
solicitor. He will take instructions from his client, collect the evidence
needed, and prepare a brief for the barrister, who will conduct the case in
court. I am not entirely clear when a separate solicitors' profession
emerged, but think that what you have found in the 1620s sounds much like
the situation today. A solicitor will often instruct a barrister to appear
even in a court where the solicitor has rights of audience, because
barristers are specialist advocates and specialise in such work (and
sometimes in a particular area of law), whereas solicitors have historically
tended to cover many areas of legal work; this is less the case today. In
addition to presenting the case in court, the barrister will (on the
instructions of the solicitor (or attorney) prepare the formal written case
to be presented to the court - the pleadings in a civil case or the
indictment in a criminal one. Quarter Sessions (about which you ask) were
primarily a criminal court, but some of their work was more of an
administrative nature.
The distinction between attorneys and solicitors is that the latter dealt
with cases in Chancery (dealing with a system of law known as equity)
whereas attorneys dealt with common law. However, I think that each of the
higher law courts had its own roll of attorneys (etc.), who were entitled to
practise in that court. However the same man might well have been admitted
to practise as an attorney (etc.) in more than one court.
All barristers are members of one or other of four 'Inns of Court', The
Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Grays Inn, and Lincolns Inn. Lincolns Inn
tended to specialise in equity. The four Inns of Court continue to house
many of the barristers' chambers (which are their professional offices), but
a barrister who has been admitted in one Inn of Court may well have his
chambers in another, or elsewhere. However the fact that a person had been
admitted to one of the Inns of Court did not mean that he in fact practised
as a barrister; it was considered an appropriate way for a gentleman to
finish his education.
There is a higher rank of barristers known as Queens Counsel (also as
silks - because they wear a silk gown). Formerly there was a further grade
called sergeants at law, but that rank has been abolished as unnecessary.
Until recently, all the judges were drawn from the ranks of barristers. At
one time, becoming a sergeant at law was a prelude to appointment to the
bench of judges.
Peter King
-----Original Message-----
From: From: Local-History list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Hideaki Inui
Sent: 08 January 2006 08:55
To: Peter Wickham King
Subject: Counselors at law
Can anyone tell the relationship of Counselors at law (c. 1620s) to
attorneys and solicitors (in this case, at quarter sessions)?
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