"When you make an initial enquiry through a claims management company, say, then your claim is allocated as a ‘package’ to a solicitor, who will assess it and decide if it is worth pursuing. This solicitor will take the case under his wing from start to finish if it is sound. He will only refer to a barrister if he thinks he needs an advocate.

What’s an advocate? It is a lawyer who can stand up in court and argue the case before a judge. If the case is serious enough to warrant the judge being robed and bewigged, then only a lawyer with a right of audience can present a case to him. Barristers, and not solicitors, have this right. Otherwise, if the case needs argued in court, the solicitor may or not do this himself. Many cases never make it to court anyway.

A solicitor is a more administrative-based job, it would seem. More generally, it is a completely different job: right from when the law graduate leaves college, he must choose one path or the other, although many people swap over to the other side halfway through their training. Being a barrister is more risky as it is a self-employed position: it is expensive to qualify and there is no guarantee of a return on your investment. The lawyer who opts for being a solicitor is usually the employee of a company and therefore has a safer foundation."