Text a. The legal profession

Task: read the text, translate it into Russian in written form.

The court system is dependent upon the legal profession to make it work. Although individuals can institute cases and defend them normally lawyers do this job for them. The legal profession is the normal source of judicial personnel for any court system.

England is almost unique in having two different kinds of lawyers, with separate jobs in the legal system. The two kinds of lawyers are solicitors and barristers¹. This division of the legal profession is due mainly to historical causes. Each branch has its own characteristic functions and a separate governing body.

The division has a number of significant impacts upon the judicial system. It is the main reason for the separation between civil and criminal courts. It also has a significant impact upon judicial appointments.

The traditional picture of the English lawyer is that the solicitor is the general practitioner, confined mainly to the office. The solicitor is the legal adviser of the public. Members of the public are able to call at a solicitor's office and seek his advice in a personal interview. The barrister is the specialist adviser much of whose time is taken up with court-room appearance. A barrister can only be consulted indirectly through a solicitor. Today however the lines of demarcation are blurred.

There is approximately one solicitor to every 1300 of the population, with considerable regional and local variations. There is a heavy concentration in commercial centres. The ratio for barristers is about one per every 10,000. Taking the legal profession as a whole (38,500), there is one practising lawyer per 1200 people. This compares with about one lawyer per 600 in the USA. But a lot of work in English solicitors' offices is undertaken by managing clerks, now called «legal executives»², who are a third type of lawyers. (Legal executives now have their own professional and examining body — «the Institute of Legal Executives»).

Notes:

¹ solicitor — солиситор, стряпчий (юрист, консультирующий клиентов, организации и фирмы; подготавливает дела для барристеров) barrister — барристер (адвокат, имеющий право выступать в высших судах)

² "legal executives" - законные исполнители (персонал, нанимаемый солиситорами. клерки)

EXERCISES

Ex. 1. Read the international words and guess their meaning. Mind the stress.

'system 'barrister 'function 'specialist 'interview

pro'fession so'licitor his'torical tra'ditional com'mercial

indi'vidual demar'cation characte'ristic person'nel concen'tration

Ex. 2. Memorize the following pairs of derivatives:

N → Adj	Adj → Adv	V → N
history – historical tradition - traditional region - regional commerce - commercial profession - professional	normal – normally main - mainly indirect - indirectly approximate – approximately separate - separately	execute – execution concentrate - concentration demarcate - demarcation divide – division appear - appearance

Ex. 3. Transform as in the models:

Model 1: to interpret the law — interpretation of the law

to divide the legal profession; to institute a case; to appoint judges; to select magistrates; to determine the facts;

Model 2: office of the solicitor — the solicitor's office

advice of the solicitor; functions of the jury; summing up of the judge; Law Officer of the Government;

Model 3: system of court — court system

judges of High Court; officers of police; departments of government; system of law.

Ex. 4. Match English and Russian equivalents:

1. court system 2. to institute a case 3. legal profession 4. historical cause 5. characteristic functions 6. to seek advice 7. legal adviser 8. court-room appearance 9. heavy concentration 10. personal interview

а. характерные функции b. юридическая профессия с. обратиться за советом d. выступление в суде е. личная беседа f. судебная система g. большое количество h. возбудить дело i. историческая причина j. юрисконсульт, советник по правовым вопросам

Ex. 5. Choose the right word or the word-combination.

1. The court system is dependent upon the ... .

a) legal system b) governing body c) legal profession

2. England is almost ... in having two different kinds of lawyers.

a) characteristic b) unique c) historical

3. The division of the legal profession is due to the ... .

a) governing body b) characteristic functions c) historical causes

4. Each branch has its own characteristic functions and a separate ... body.

a) governing b) examining c) executive

5. A lot of work in English solicitors' offices is undertaken by ... .

a) solicitors b) legal executives c) barristers

Ex. 6. Complete the sentences:

1. The court system is dependent upon ... .2. The- legal profession is the source of judicial personnel for .3. The two kinds of lawyers are ... . 4. The solicitor is ... . 5. The barrister is … .

Ex. 7. Insert the necessary preposition.

of, due to, at, in, upon, through

1. The court system is dependent ... the legal profession to make it work. 2. England is unique ... having two different kinds of lawyers. 3. This division of the legal profession is ... ... historical causes. 4. Members ... the public are able to call ... a solicitor's office. 5. A barrister can only be consulted indirectly ... a solicitor.

Ex. 8. Mark the statements that are true:

1. The court system is independent of the legal profession. 2. England is almost unique in having two different kinds of lawyers: solicitors and barristers. 3. The solicitor is the legal adviser of the public much of whose time is taken up with court-room appearance. 4. There is a heavy concentration of barristers in commercial centres. 5. A lot of work in English solicitors' offices is undertaken by «legal executives». 6. Taking the legal profession as a whole, there is one practising lawyer per 1200 people.

Ex. 9. Answer the questions on the text:

1. What is the court system dependent upon? 2. The division of the legal profession is due mainly to historical causes, isn't it? 3. What are the two kinds of lawyers in England? 4. Are solicitors mostly concentrated in towns? 5. What is a third type of lawyers?

Ex. 10. Give a short summary of the text.