For many, choosing whether to become a solicitor or barrister is the crucial issue when deciding how and where to study law. While both require similar legal knowledge, in practice they are very different jobs.
Put simply, barristers represent clients in court and plead their case to a judge, while solicitors are clients’ first point of contact and work on the case behind the scenes. They also provide legal advice privately, draft documents and work with other solicitors. Barristers tend to be more specialised than solicitors, who can work for a wider range of organisations and in a wider range of roles.
