Quick links
barrister and solicitor
DCHP-2 (Aug 2012)
Spelling variants:Barrister and Solicitor
n. — Law, Professional title
standard qualification and professional title in Canada to practice law.
Type: 3. Semantic Change — In the English legal system, the roles of barristers and solicitors are different. A barrister argues cases in court (before the bar), while solicitors “solicit” clients, assist them in matters out of court, and refer them to barristers when required. In Canada outside Quebec (which has a different legal system), the terms have undergone a semantic change from their origin and are currently used compounded as barrister and solicitor (see Image 1) to refer to all persons permitted to practice law in English Canada (see 1959 quote). The phrase thus references the qualification to practice law and is also used as a title or as a more formal term for lawyer. In other countries with legal traditions based in English law, these terms have evolved differently, as seen by the differences in usage indicated in Chart 1. Although the compound phrase is also widely used in New Zealand and Australia, the way lawyers qualify and practice in these countries differs from the system in English Canada.
See also COD-2, s.v. "barrister and solicitor", which labels the term "Cdn".
See also COD-2, s.v. "barrister and solicitor", which labels the term "Cdn".
Quotations
1884
I have been a resident in British Columbia since 1859, practicing my profession as barrister and solicitor.
1948
The Discipline Committee of the Law Society of Upper Canada has found, after due inquiry, that Ralph Wilkinson Brownell, Toronto, was guilty of professional misconduct and conduct unbecoming a Barrister and Solicitor in that he was convicted of stealing money and was sentenced to imprisonment.
1959
When one "goes to law" in England, the normal procedure is to consult a solicitor, who files the necessary pleadings, collects the evidence and then engages a barrister to conduct the actual trial. [...] In Canada, no such distinction is made among lawyers. Everyone who is admitted to the bar of any Province automatically becomes both a barrister and a solicitor. He is entitled to carry on office practice and also to appear in any court in his Province.
1968
He joined the Attorney-General's Department after being admitted to the B.C. bar as a barrister and solicitor in 1956.
1986
A lawyer who once gained some notoriety for calling an opponent "Dumbo" has been suspended from practising for three months for conduct unbecoming a barrister and solicitor.
1993
When a lawyer hangs out a shingle, it says "barrister and solicitor."
2003
[...] presented by local barrister and solicitor Kimberley Arthur-Leung on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m.
References
- COD-2
Images
Image 1: Law office, Killarney, MB. Source: Wikimedia. Photo: J. Vachon
