Avocats, notaires, solicitors and barristers...

Local lawyer, Laure CHAVERON, explains the difference between French avocats and notaires, and British solicitors and barristers.

The role of Solicitors and Barristers in the UK

The UK has two types of practicing lawyers: solicitors and barristers. A solicitor is a type of practising lawyer who primarily handles office work, while barristers plead cases in court. Barristers depend on solicitors to provide them with trial work because they are not allowed to accept work on their own.
The distinction between solicitors and barristers was originally based on their roles in the English court system. Solicitors were lawyers who were admitted to practise in Equity courts, whereas barristers were lawyers who practised in Common Law courts. The modern English judicial system has abolished this distinction. Nowadays, barristers may appear in legal and equitable court proceedings and solicitors handle out-of-court lawyering.
The role of the solicitor in the UK is similar to that of a lawyer in the United States who does not appear in court. The solicitor meets prospective clients, hears the client's problems, gives legal advice, drafts letters and documents, negotiates on the client's behalf, and prepares the client's case for trial. When a court appearance appears inevitable, the solicitor retains a barrister on the client's behalf. The solicitor instructs the barrister on how the client wishes to proceed in court.

The role of Avocat in France

France is a civil law country, as opposed to common law countries such as the UK and USA.
The French legal system is based on the civil law tradition and France has a monist civil code legal tradition with a Latin notarial system. This system was initially introduced under Napoleon following the French Revolution.
A French avocat, compared to his UK counterpart, meets clients, gives legal advice, drafts letters and contracts, prepares the clients’s case for trial but is also allowed to appear before a judge.
On January 1st 2009 there were 50,134 avocats registered in France (50.5 % are women and the average age is 42.8 years). Almost half of all avocats practise in the Paris region. The number of avocats has increased by 38 % in the past ten years and the average age of becoming an avocat is 27.7 years.
An avocat must be registered before a local bar association; registration is mandatory to be able to practise. There were 179 local bar associations on January 1st 2009.

The difference between the French Avocat and Notaire

French notaires (notaries) are lawyers of voluntary private civil law who draft, take and record legal instruments for private parties. They also provide legal advice and give attendance in person, and are vested as public officers with the authentication power of the State.
They are mainly involved in property issues and succession law. Unlike avocats, they have no authority to appear in court on their client's behalf. ■

For more information on this topic, contact:

Laure CHAVERON, Avocat
5 rue Henri Beaune, 23230 Gouzon
Téléphone 05 55 80 15 76
laure.chaveron@wanadoo.fr
http://avocats.fr/space/laure.chaveron