Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Tone]

I always know that people who has the job to work with law called lawyer but recently I heard that it's not called lawyer for British English but it's called something like solicitor???

I'm just wondering if I said lawyer in England or Solicitor in the US. Will they understand me???

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[CP]

They are called solicitors, but if you need to go to court, your solicitor finds you a good barrister. Apparently, only barristers are allowed to wear the black robes and wigs. Solicitors have to be content with tweed suits and combovers.

In the U.S., both lawyer and attorney are used to refer to the practitioner. But no wigs, no black robes except on judges, and as long as the attorney is licensed to practice before the particular court, he or she can appear there.

And yes, if you say you need a solicitor, most people know you mean you need a lawyer.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Tone]

Thank you so much CP.....

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[Tone]

By the way. Got a bunch of new vocabulary...

Tweet suit?
Barrister?
Combover?
Practitioner?

[CP]

Tweet suit? Tweed is a type of fabric used for making business suits.

Barrister? That's what they call the lawyers who argue in court in the British system.

Combover? You know how some men lose their hair on top, and they try to cover the bald spots by letting the hair on the sides grow long, combing it from one side over the top? That's called a combover.

Practitioner? One who practices a particular profession, such as the law, is called a practitioner.

You should be able to find all these in the dictionary or on Google. Good luck.
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb