Introduction
There is various classified terminology which is being used in the legal profession including Solicitor Generals, Barristers, Advocates, Attorney and Lawyers who represent the legal arena by holding different intellects with a remarkable personality. It is quite difficult for laymen to identify the specified individualities of them along with the associated duties they represent in this legal arena.
“The legal profession is a business with a tremendous collection of egos. Few people who are not strong egotistically gravitate to it.” – F. Lee Bailey
The individualities of persons belonging to the legal arena outshine any other person present over. Here the role of a lawyer and an advocate is the most commonly known in the court of law. These are the individuals who practice and furnish themselves according to the situations they are dealing with on the various circumstantial grounds.
Being a part of the legal profession is like dealing with the burning fire every day because you don’t know that how come you will survive the battle or you will lose the battle with one small mistake. Lawyers and Advocates do the same on a daily purpose while facing the judge and challenging out the defense counsel with the furnished skills on-demand in the court of law.
But on the other hand, laymen of the society don’t get the identification of the legal person for their matter that it only being solved in the court of law with the technical skills and knowledge.
While seeking for the redressal in a court of law, it is bit confusing for laymen that whom they should approach? A lawyer or an advocate; because they generally cannot identify whether they will be needing a lawyer or an advocate due to the lack of knowledge about their duties and responsibilities they both hold in the legal arena and how they perform in the court of law.
In particular, this article is technically focused on the differences which are being present amongst the professional identities of a lawyer and an advocate on a basic ground so that it will help the laymen and lawmen when they reach out so they can easily identify their roles in the legal arena and understands them on a very basic ground itself.
Two Basic Questions of the hour
In the spotlight of the legal arena, Lawyers and Advocates play different and classic roles as per to the demand of the profession and clients they are dealing with. But here, we will cross out the basic differences present amongst these two individuals on a basic legal ground with different perceptible approaches.
Who is a Lawyer?
A person who pursued a law degree to get the eligibility mark for the admission in the legal arena so that he or she can successfully represent the matter of their client in the court of law; it doesn’t make sense that from which side the client actually belongs to.
“Working as a lawyer involves the practical application of abstract legal theories and knowledge to solve specific individualized problems, or to advance the interests of those who hire lawyers to perform legal services. The role of the lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions.”[1]
Who is an Advocate?
A person who pursued the law degree and further represents the client in the court of law holding better skills and perception. While doing the pleadings in a court of law, an advocate tries hard to help the client to win the particular case; or the advocate somehow manages out that the client wouldn’t get any kind of imprisonment orders from the court and the matter should be settled down on the fulfilment of compensatory damages which solemnly depends whether the client is the complainant or an accused person.
“It is in the habits of lawyers that every accusation appears insufficient if they do not exaggerate it even to calumny; it is thus that justice itself loses its sanctity and its respect amongst men.”[2]– LAMARTINE
As accordingly to this quote, if the lawyers and advocates will not exaggerate their grounds of defence then there will be no such argument left for the discussion in the court of law to justify their part on the behalf of their client. It is kind of necessary for them to outshine in the legal arena likely that it matches out with their personality in person and professionalism.
Down the line, the basic definitions of a Lawyer and an Advocate clears out the authenticity of their work and skills they use in the legal arena as per to the demand of the matter and circumstances. While following out these two, we will further discuss the ground level differences of their individualities on the behalf of their skills and knowledge experiences so that it will create a better understanding for the person who would be reading this article.
Differences Between Lawyer And Advocate
While discussing out the identities of these lawmen, it is being disclosed that they hold two different aspects of the law arena in their perception through which they will help out the people who reach out to them. In this head, the basic differences between lawyers and advocates are being discussed for a clearer understanding.
Eligibility for the Bar
The first difference talks about the eligibility of the lawyers and advocates that could be taken into the account. On the very first part, all the lawyers are not being eligible for the admission in the Bar for the representation of the client in the court of law; because it includes the students who are enrolled in the law school and the lawyers who are already being graduated from the law school. While on the other part, all advocates are eligible for the admission in the Bar so they can deal with different circumstantial situations of their clients and represent them successfully in the court of law for the better verdict.
Training Concept
It is being observed that the advocates are being considered the most experienced one as compared to the lawyers because they undergo in a rigorous training at their specialized law schools from where they are graduated. But on the other part, it’s not the matter with a lawyer because some of them are not even graduated from the respected law schools and others who have been graduated don’t even enroll themselves in the training or internship programs. Due to the lack of skills and practical knowledge, most of them are unable to represent their client in the court of law.
Responsibilities and Duties
In this, an advocate is highly involved into the client’s matter while representing it into the court of law and he tries to plead the best for getting the verdict in the same season itself. On the other part, most of the lawyers don’t try their level best in representing their client for the best verdict delivered by the court of law but they just stretch out the dates of matter for delay; they don’t give any kind of assurance to the client for the fulfillment of their legal responsibility in the court of law.
Compensation and Charges Credibility
The credibility of the charges and the amount of compensation involved is much higher and dignified in the matters dealt by an advocate while prosecuting it in the court of law. On the other part, the credibility of the charges and the amount of compensation is slightly lower in the matters dealt by a lawyer as compared to an advocate while prosecuting it in the court of law.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawyer
[2] https://books.google.com/books?id=aSrxCwAAQBAJ
This Article Written by Yumna Chand, 4th Year BBA LLB (Hons) Student of JIMS, school of law, affiliated to GGSIPU
Also Read: Who Can Be a Advocate on Record?
