A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the philosophy, hypothesis and history of law, and giving expert legal opinions.
An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, in Scottish, Manx Law, South African, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Scandinavian, Polish, Israeli, South Asian and South American jurisdictions, "Advocate" indicates a lawyer of superior classification.
A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to practise there as such. For example, in England and Wales a solicitor is admitted to practise under the provisions of the Solicitors Act 1974. With some exceptions, practising solicitors must possess a practising certificate. There are many more solicitors than barristers in England; they undertake the general aspects of giving legal advice and conducting legal proceedings.
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn. It is located in the wider Temple area of London, near the Royal Courts of Justice, and within the City of London.
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, a person must belong to one of these Inns. It is located in the wider Temple area, near the Royal Courts of Justice, and within the City of London.
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to the bar." "The bar" is now used as a collective noun for barristers, but literally referred to the wooden barrier in old courtrooms, which separated the often crowded public area at the rear from the space near the judges reserved for those having business with the court. Barristers would sit or stand immediately behind it, facing the judge, and could use it as a table for their briefs.
The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple.
Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecution.
Siddhartha Shankar Ray was an Indian lawyer, diplomat and Indian National Congress politician from West Bengal. In his political career he held a number of offices, including Union Minister of Education (1971–72), Chief Minister of West Bengal (1972–77), Governor of Punjab (1986–89) and Indian Ambassador to the United States (1992–96). He was at one point the main troubleshooter for the Congress Party.
Sir Charles Michael Dennis Byron is a former president of the Caribbean Court of Justice. He also serves as President of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, and is former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and former Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. He was born in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Solicitor advocate is a hybrid status which allows a solicitor in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong to represent clients in higher courts in proceedings that were traditionally reserved for barristers. The status does not exist in most other common law jurisdictions where, for the most part, all solicitors have rights of audience in higher courts.
Gregory Reginald James is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
The Bar of Ireland is the regulatory and representative body for barristers practising law in Ireland, active since 1897. The General Council of the Bar of Ireland is composed of twenty-five members: twenty who are elected, four co-opted, and the Attorney-General, who holds office ex officio. Every year ten members are elected for two-year terms, five by senior counsel and five by junior counsel.
Geoffrey Ma Tao-li is a retired Hong Kong judge who served as the 2nd Chief Justice of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal—the court of last resort in Hong Kong. Between 2001 and 2010, he held various positions in the High Court of Hong Kong, including Chief Judge, Justice of Appeal, and Judge of the Court of First Instance. Before his judicial career, he was a barrister-at-law in private practice at Temple Chambers, and was qualified to practice in England and Wales, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore.
David James Porter is a part time acting judge of the Supreme Court of Tasmania, and an adjunct professor of law at the University of Tasmania. He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. Porter graduated from UTAS in 1975 and was admitted to practice in Tasmania in 1978. His early years in practice were spent employed in private practice in a Launceston, becoming a partner in a firm in 1983. He was made managing partner of that firm in 1989. Porter was made Queens Counsel in 1995 after going to the Independent Bar in 1992. He has appeared in all courts in Tasmania including the Federal and Family Courts, in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal of Victoria, the Supreme Court of NSW and in the High Court. Following a 30-year continuous career in the practising profession dealing with both civil and criminal matters, he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Tasmania in 2008. At the time of his appointment he was practising as a barrister from chambers in Hobart, and was the editor of the Tasmanian Reports and the chair of the Tasmanian Medical Complaints Tribunal. He resigned as a judge in May 2016, and was appointed an acting judge in February 2017. Both as a solicitor advocate and a barrister, Porter was involved in many high profile and contentious cases. Of note among these is his appearance in 1991 for the then Leader of the Opposition in the Royal Commission into the Attempted Bribery of an MP. Porter's client was Premier of Tasmania at the time of the events, and was a person of primary interest. Porter also appeared for the family of the deceased at a lengthy inquest in 1992, and subsequent Supreme Court proceedings, in relation to a highly publicised police shooting. In the years leading up to his appointment as a judge, Porter had extended his practice to Victoria. One matter in which he was briefed was a test case brought against a State orphanage and the State of Victoria. The case involved historic allegations of sexual and physical abuse, and Porter appeared for the orphanage. The claims were ultimately settled at mediation in which he was involved. Porter was very active in various professional bodies. He was President of the Tasmanian Bar Association from 1987 to 1989 and President of the Law Society of Tasmania in 1992. In 1995 he was invited by the then President of the Australian Bar Association to represent the Tasmanian Independent Bar on the ABA. He did so from 1995 to 2002. He was President of the Australian Bar Association in 2000, and served as Treasurer until 2002. He also has a long history of involvement with legal education. In particular, he was the Director of the Tasmanian Legal Practice Course from 1996 to 1999, having been acting director in 1994 and deputy director in 1994 and 1995. He was a member of the Board of Legal Education from 1993 to 1996, being Chair of that Board from 2008 to 2021, and also a member of the national Legal Admissions Consultative Committee from 2008 to 2021. Porter is a qualified advocacy teacher and has been active in that role from 1990 to date. A highlight of that role was his involvement in an Australian Bar Association teaching trip to Bangladesh in 1999. Outside the law, Porter has been president of the Northern Tasmania Football Association and a director of Crimestoppers. He married Anne Dart in July 2003.
Clive Coleman is an English barrister turned journalist, who from 2010-2020 has been the BBC News Legal Correspondent. He is also a playwright, film and sitcom writer.
Nuruddin Ahmed (1904–1975) was an Indian lawyer and three-time mayor of Delhi. Born in 1904 in Delhi in a wealthy family to Principal Mushtaq Ahmed Zahidie, of Sadiq Eggerton College, Bhawalpur, India, he did his early education at St. Xavier's School, Delhi and completed his pre-graduate studies from St. Stephen's College. Subsequently, he did Classical Tripos from Cambridge University before studying law at the Inner Temple from where he was called to the bar. Returning to India, he started his career as a junior to Muhammad Shafi where Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, who would later become the fifth president of India, was his colleague, and started practice at Lahore High Court. Then, he went to Delhi to continue his practice and became known for his prowess in criminal trials. He was also involved in civic administration and during his four terms as a member of the Delhi Corporation, he served as the Mayor of Delhi for three terms, from 1960 to 1965. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1964, for his contributions to public affairs. Ameena Ahmad Ahuja, a noted artist, was his daughter. Ahmed died in 1975, at the age of 71.
QEB Hollis Whiteman is a leading set of barristers' chambers specialising in criminal, financial, and regulatory law, located in the City of London. Established in the 1980s, it employs 70 barristers, including 21 Queens' Counsel, four Treasury Counsel and one Standing Counsel to the RCPO. The current Heads of Chambers are Selva Ramasamy QC and Adrian Darbishire QC and the Chief Clerk is Chris Emmings.
2 Hare Court is a barristers' chambers specialising in criminal and regulatory law, located in the Inner Temple, one of the four Inns of court. Established in the 1967, It employs 61 barristers, including 16 Queens' Counsel and several former prosecutors, including those who have acted as First Senior, Senior and Junior Treasury Counsel – barristers appointed by the Attorney General to prosecute the most serious and complex criminal cases to come before the courts.
Satsang is a philanthropic organization founded by Sree Sree Thakur Anukulchandra. It is one of the major spiritual and cultural movements in India started in the early 20th century. Satsang was originally registered in Pabna in 1925 as a public charitable institution. However, after the Independence and partition of India, it was again registered in 1951 in the Indian Union under the Societies Registration act of 1860.
