comprehensive summary of general and legal English

ALE – week 1 (24/09)

Legal English (p.88-96)
LEGAL PROFESSIONS UK: zie schema jobs p.88-90! +
PowerPoint

Solicitor:

- Direct contact with clients
- Preparatory role
= prepares the cases (for the barristers)
- Pleads only in lower courts
- Same as ‘advocaat’ in Belgium
o But jobs of solicitor and barrister are combined in 1
job/name
 Both advisory and advocacy

Solicitor Advocate:

- Solicitor who has gained the right to plead in higher courts

Barrister (England & Wales) / Advocate (Scotland):

- Gets instructed by solicitor
- Specialized in advocacy (hoofdzaak is het mondelinge pleiten)
- Pleads in higher courts
- Same as ‘attorneys’ in US

King’s Counsel:

- Senior barristers (England & Wales) / senior advocates (Scotland)
that are appointed
- Prior to that: Queen’s Counsel (QC)
- Wear silk robes and wigs
- Do the leading advocacy of complex trails
- Has full right of audience
o Right of audience = wettelijke recht van een jurist om in
een bepaalde rechtbank op te treden namens een cliënt

Prosecutor (England & Wales) / Procurator Fiscal (Scotland):

- 20% work for Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) – England & Wales
- 80% are self-employed barristers or solicitors advocates
- Or via Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal service - Scotland
- Brings criminal cases for the state
- Full right of audience in criminal courts
- Same as ‘openbare aanklager’ in Belgium

, o Vertegenwoordigt de samenleving/staat in strafzaken en
probeert te bewijzen dat de verdachte schuldig is aan een
misdrijf

Judge (England & Wales) / Sheriff (Scotland):

- Presides over the court hearing = Heeft de leiding over de
zitting
- Senator of the College of Justice = title of the highest sheriffs in
Scotland
o Plead in more complex cases
- Does the adjudication = het formeel beslissen / ordeel vellen
- Same as ‘rechter’ in Belgium

Magistrate (England & Wales) / Justice of the Peace (Scotland):

- Volunteer role => voluntary judge
o So no career judiciary
- There is no legal background needed
o Just a basic ‘training’ about law and procedures
- Handle small criminal & family cases in lower courts
o They still preside, because they are the judge
- Also named ‘JP’ in Scotland

Notary (England & Wales) / Notary Public (Scotland):

- Specialist lawyer
o Same degree as a sollicitor but did an extra specialisation
for a specific field
- Specialised in document authentication
o Focus on verifying, legalising and certifying of documents
 Mostly for international matters/use
- In Scotland they were first a sollicitor but then need to do an
extra study and get (notarial) recognition from the Law Society of
Scotland
o Every Notary Public in Scotland is a solicitor but not every
solicitor is a Notary Public
- Same as ‘notaris’ in Belgium
o But in Belgium they focus on property and succesion
 = eigendom en erfopvolging

Paralegal:

- Has a supportive role => help with preparatory and
administrative tasks
- Not a qualified lawyer

, o So no lawyer’s licence but most of the time they did do a
legal education
- Same as ‘juridisch assisent’ in Belgium



LEGAL PROFESSIONS US:
Attorney:

- Is a licensed laywer
= qualified and recognised
- Needs to be admitted to a State Bar
o After mandatory Bar exam
o State Bar = “de balie” = an official agency of attorneys
that:
 supervices access to the profession
 determines who may practice as an attorney
 supervises the professional ethics and discipline of
solicitors
o If not admitted to a State Bar, they cannot represent clients
or court cases
- Has full right of audience depending on court admission
- Same as ‘advocaat’ in Belgium
- Same as ‘Solicitor and Barrister’ in UK

Prosecutor:

- Is a public official = works for/represents the government, not an
individual client
o They represent ‘the people’ or ‘the State’
o Goal is not to win but to seek justice
- Court criminal cases
- Same as ‘openbare aanklager’ in Belgium
- There are different levels of prosecutors:
o District: District Attorney (DA)
 Head of prosecutors at local and state level
o Federal: Attorney-General
 Head of prosecutors at federal level
- Chief Legal Officer in a jurisdiction = term/naam die men geeft
aan de hoogste juridisch verantwoordelijke ambtenaar binnen een
bepaald rechtsgebied
o On local and state level => District Attorney
o On federal level => Attorney-General
- Have full right of audience in criminal courts

, Judge:

- Presides over the court hearing
- Is appointed or elected at local or state level
- Federal judges are appointed by the president and approved by
the Senate
o These are the District Court Judges
o Also all Supreme Court Justices
- Does the adjudication
= het formeel beslissen / ordeel vellen
- Same as ‘rechter’ in Belgium

Magistrate judge:

- Gets appointed by District Court Judges (federal level) to
handle a variety of judicial proceedings
o Not by the president
o They help with the work load
- Work in federal courts
- Presides over a court hearing

Notary Public:

- Government official = works for the government
- Verifies and autheticates signatures
o Prevents fraud involving official documents
- Not a lawyer



Common confusions (p.90):
Lawyer:

- General term worldwide
- In US: means you graduated law school but not necessarily
o But you haven’t passed the Bar exam and so cannot
represent clients
- In UK: has no specific meaning

Counsel:

- General term referring to a person representing you in court
o US: attorney
o UK: barrister / advocate
- Not to be confused with council = raad