The
profession of
barristers; may be used as a collective singular, or a plural noun.
Barristers (in England and Wales) have only one legal specialism open to them: litigation, although they do of course specialise in different areas of the law to litigate upon (contrast with the specialisms open to solicitors). The other major area of work that barristers undertake is to provide specialist advice to solicitors reagarding a particular case. While it used to be that only barristers could litigate in the higher courts (Supreme Court of Judicature and House of Lords), solicitors may adopt litigation as a specialism. Nevertheless, the bar is going strong for a number of reasons: First, the bar still has a certain prestige, and all judges at present (except one, who is an academic) are barristers, and seem not to look too favourably upon solicitor-advocates; Secondly, specialisation is expensive for solicitors, and a law student who wishes to become a litigator might as well save themselves the time it takes to become a solicitor-advocate; Thirdly, a junior barrister is (according to the Bar Council) cheaper than any solicitor.
The structure of the profession
The profession may be divided into unqualified barristers, barristers, and "QC's" or "silks".
Before actually qualifying as a barrister (Specifically, before the start of their second "six"), one must be "Called to the utter bar" by one's Inn. Having been so called, one may style one's self a barrister, but not actually practice as a barrister. This will probably also affect what you are allowed to do, as opposed to when you were just a trainee, in the rules of the inn.
Silks are barristers who have taken extra qualifications and been in the bar for quite a few years. It used to be that they were the only ones allowed to litigate before the House of Lords. They also wear silk robes in court, and may append "QC" to their names (or KC if a king reigns).
Those institutions in full
The bar is governed by both the Inns of Court and the Bar Council. The inns were the original governing bodies, with the Council being a newer innovation. In theory, the inns remain responsible for regulating the conduct of their members, and providing for their training, however, the Council also regulates conduct, and training is provided by institutions accredited by the Council to provide the BVC.
The inns (Gray's, Lincolns, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple) still ultimately decide one is to become a barrister, as after completing the BVC, one must be "called" by one's inn.
How to become a barrister
Acquire a degree. If not an accredited law degree, also acquire CPE/PgDL. Join an Inn. Get BVC (Bar vocational qualification). Find two barristers in two sets who will take you on as a pupil for six months each. (Each period is known as a "six"). Get called before completing the second six. Et voila!. For your next trick, join a set of chambers. (You can't practice independantly for three years).
Where Barristers hang out
Barristers hang out in "sets" of "chambers". These may be little more than shared offices, or they may indeed operate as a company; they may be small (less than ten), or large (Nearly a hundred).
Hiring one
To hire one of these guys, you'll either need to have a solicitor (or a few other professionals, like a foreign lawyer registered with the law society, check out the Bar Council website), who will handle all the tasks on your case that the barrister doesn't, or you will need to be licensed by the bar council under the BARDirect scheme to directly instruct barristers.