Common Terminology Used in Reference to Practicing Lawyers
Introduction:
This note will discuss several common terminologies used to refer to practicing lawyers globally. The terminologies to be discussed in this note are those from the course manual on law practice management. In this note, the terminologies are grouped by subject matter.
A. Terms to Describe a Person Involved with Law Practice:
1. The Advocate:
According to Britannica [1], an advocate is
A person who is professionally qualified to plead the cause of another in a court of law. As a technical term, advocate is used mainly in those legal systems that derived from the Roman law.
Similarly, the Law Dictionary [2] defines an advocate as:
One who assists, defends, or pleads for another; one who renders legal advice and aid and pleads the cause of another before a court. A person learned In the law, and duly admitted to practice, who assists his client with advice, and pleads for him in open court.
Finally, Black’s Law Dictionary, 9th ed., defines an advocate as
A person who assists, defends, pleads, or prosecutes for another.
In legal practice, the forum for such assistance, defence, pleading, or prosecution would often be in the courtroom or before bodies like the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
2. Ambulance Chasers:
According to Black’s Law Dictionary, an ambulance chaser is:
1. A lawyer who approaches victims of accidents in hopes of persuading them to hire the lawyer and sue for damages. 2. A lawyer's agent who engages in this activity. 3. Tendentious slang. An attorney.
These types of lawyers thus focus on personal injury cases. In Ghana, the ability of lawyers to engage in ambulance chasing is limited by Rule 15(1) of the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct and Etiquette) Rules 2020 (L.I. 2423), which provides that:
A lawyer or a law firm shall not personally or through other means of communication solicit for professional employment from a prospective client where the motive for the solicitation is the pecuniary gain of the lawyer or the law firm unless the person contacted
(a) is a lawyer; or
(b) has a family, personal, or prior professional relationship with the lawyer or the law firm.
Here, if the motive for the solicitation is for the pecuniary gain of the lawyer, the solicitation cannot be done. It may, however, be done if the motive is for rendering legal services to persons in need of such services. A further exception is created if the person being solicited is a lawyer or has a prior relationship with the lawyer.
3. Attorney:
According to Black’s Law Dictionary, an attorney is:
1. Strictly, one who is designated to transact business for another; a legal agent. - Also termed attorney-in-fact; private attorney.
2. A person who practices law; LAWYER. Also termed (in sense 2) attorney-at-law; public attorney. Cf. COUNSEL (2)
Thus, an attorney may or may not be a lawyer. If X is designated by Y to transact business for him, X can be said to be an attorney. If the business/transaction is in the form of legal representation, then the attorney is most likely a lawyer.
4. Barristers and Solicitors:
Barristers are lawyers who have been admitted to plead cases in the courts. Black’s Law Dictionary, in defining a barrister, says:
In England or Northern Ireland, a [barrister is] lawyer who is admitted to plead at the bar and who may argue cases in superior courts .• In many other Commonwealth nations, the legal profession is similarly divided into barristers and solicitors
On the other hand, a solicitor is a lawyer who:
consults with clients and prepares legal documents but is not generally heard in High Court or (in Scotland) Court of session unless specially licensed. Cf. BARRISTER.
The Ghana Bar Association [3] defined barrister and solicitor as follows:
The English colonial legacy meant that the division of the English profession into barristers and solicitors was initially imported into the colonial Gold Coast. The barrister is the advocate in Court, and the solicitor is the counsellor and the drafter of documents.
In Ghana, every lawyer is entitled to practice as a barrister, a solicitor, or both. this is provided for in Section 2 of Legal Profession Act, 1960 (Act 32) as follows:
Every person whose name is entered on the Roll to be kept under this Part shall—
(a) subject to section 8 of this Act, be entitled to practise as a lawyer, whether as a barrister or solicitor or both, and to sue for and recover his fees, charges and disbursements for services rendered as such…
5. Counsel:
This refers to one or more lawyers who represent a client. For example, if X is a lawyer, he would be called counsel the moment he represents a client in a case. So he is counsel for the client (e.g., counsel for the plaintiff).
6. The Criminal Attorney:
This broadly refers to a lawyer who works on criminal cases.
7. Defence Attorney:
An attorney representing a defendant in a lawsuit or a criminal prosecution.
8. General Lawyer/Generalist:
This is the lawyer version of the full-service firm. Here, a single lawyer offers legal services in several areas of law. They do not specialise or focus on a single area of law.
9. Fee Earner—Partners:
A fee earner is a lawyer who generates income for a law practice. These are distinct from non-fee earners (support staff) who do not earn income directly for the firm. For instance, in a law firm, all the lawyers are likely to be fee earners, while all the accountants and security personnel are likely to be non-fee earners because their activities do not directly generate income for the practice.
Summarily, the role played by fee earners is revenue generation, while the role played by non-fee earners is supporting the fee earners to generate revenue.
10. Lawyer:
In light of Sections 2and 7 of the Legal Profession Act, 1960 (Act 32) , it may be said that in Ghana, a lawyer is a person who has been enrolled and called to the bar and whose name has been entered on the Roll of Lawyers established under Section 6 of Act 32. In Section 56 of Act 32, a lawyer is defined as:
any person enrolled at the time the relevant business was done; and, for the purposes of Part VI of this Act, does not include a lawyer for the time being suspended from practice;
In the Black's Law Dictionary, a lawyer is defined as:
One who is licensed to practice law.
It may be said that the Ghanaian version of “licensed to practice law” is the enrolment and call to the bar.
11. Named Partner:
This is a person/partner whose name appears in the name of the partnership. For instance, in the series Suits, the name of the firm was at some point Pearson Spectre Litt. This simply makes Jessica Pearson , Harvey Spectre, and Louis Litt named partners.
12. Notary:
According to the Black's Law Dictionary, a notary, also known as a notary public, is:
A person authorized by a state to administer oaths, certify documents, attest to the authenticity of signatures, and perform official acts in commercial matters, such as protesting negotiable instruments. Often shortened to notary.
13. Of counsel:
According to Black’s Law Dictionary, an of counsel is:
1. A lawyer employed by a party in a case; esp., one who although not the principal attorney of record is employed to assist in the preparation or management of the case or in its presentation on appeal
2. A lawyer who is affiliated with a law firm, though not as a member, partner, or associate.
14. Prosecutor
According to the Black’s Law Dictionary, a prosecutor is:
1. A legal officer who represents the state or federal government in criminal proceedings… Also termed public prosecutor; state's attorney; public commissioner.
15. Queen’s Counsel (QC):
This is a term popular in the United Kingdom and refers to an elite, senior-level barrister or advocate. Per the Blacks Law Dictionary, the Queen’s Counsel was originally the person appointed to serve as counsel for the reigning monarch. Another term for this is senior counsel.
16. Senior Counsel:
Per the Blacks Law Dictionary, a senior counsel, also known as lead counsel, Queen’s Counsel, or King’s counsel, is:
The more highly ranked lawyer if two or more are retained; the lawyer who manages or controls the case or cases, esp. in class actions or multidistrict litigation
In Ghana, a senior counsel is a lawyer who has been on the roll of lawyers for ten years or more.
17. Special Counsel:Per the Blacks Law Dictionary, a special counsel is:
An attorney employed by the state or a political subdivision to assist in a particular case when the public interest so requires
18. Specialists:
These are lawyers who focus on a single area of law and develop substantive expertise in that area of law. For example, a lawyer may only focus on constitutional law cases to the exclusion of other cases. While they have knowledge of other areas of law, they do not actively practice in those areas and do not often have the same level of expertise as the specialists in those fields.
19. Trial Lawyer:
This is a lawyer who focuses on trying matters in court.
B. Terms to Describe Ways of Organising a Law Practice/Structure of a Law Practice:
1. Boutique Firms:
These are small local firms that specialise in a niche area of law. These firms are attractive to clients who are particular about specialisation. Per the Black’s Law Dictionary, a boutique is:
A small specialty business; esp., a small law firm specializing in one particular aspect of law practice <a tax boutique>
2. City firms:
City firms are large, prestigious law firms based in the City of London, the financial and business hub of the UK. These firms typically specialise in corporate law, banking and finance, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, and other high-value commercial legal work.
3. Full Service Firms
These are law firms that offer legal services in a variety of areas and do not focus or specialise in a single or few areas. For instance, they provide services covering commercial law, immovable property, environmental law, and several other areas of law.
It is very often a large firm with a number of lawyers, and the practice is organised and delivered departmentally. Each lawyer in each department focuses on one area of law. However, collectively, the law firm with all its departments provides legal services across various law fields.
Note, however, that a firm may be described as full service even though it does not cover all (100%) areas of law. But a firm must cover several of these areas to be described as such.
4. Global Firms:
These firms offer legal services across borders and cover a variety of practice areas. These firms have a presence in multiple countries and are mostly preferred by clients with international businesses.
5. Magic Circle Firms:
This is an informal term given to the five most prestigious and elite law firms that are headquartered in London. These firms are mainly focused on corporate law.
The magic circle currently consists of:
i. Allen & Overy.
ii. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
iii. Clifford Chance
iv. Linklaters
v. Slaughter and May
6. White Shoe Law Firms:
These are prestigious law firms in the United States. To qualify as a white shoe law firm, the following conditions must be met:
i. The firm has been operational for a 100 years or more. Or
ii. The firm represents a business that is 100 years or more. Or
iii. The firm represents a fortune 500 company.
C. Terms to Describe Compensation Models:
1. Eat-What-You-Kill:
This is a compensation model where employees are paid or reward in proportion to what they generate. With this model for instance, a lawyer who brings in more revenue will be paid more than a lawyer who brings in less revenue. Some simply refer to it as a commission based model of compensation.
2. Lockstep:
This is a compensation model where profits are shared in accordance with seniority or rank. By “seniority” and “rank”, what is meant is how long a person has worked with the law firm. Factors such as performance, merit, qualifications, do not affect the amount receivable in remuneration.
This compensation model is popular in the United Kingdom.
[1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/advocate