Brian Kennedy has petitioned the Lord Chancellor that it is a basic human right of a defendant for his solicitor-advocate to be allowed to wear a wig in court.

He is not alone in being irritated by the way the current rules operate.The differences between the professions have been highlighted by a spate of barristers throwing their lot in with law firms this year, most notably Manchester firm Halliwell Landau's recruitment of Adrian Wallace from Peel Court Chambers in Manchester and Sadie James from King's Bench Chambers in Bournemouth to act as in-house counsel.Penny Belcher, assistant director of Hammond Suddards Edge's specialist advocacy team in Leeds was, like Mr Kennedy, a barrister before she became a solicitor.The fact that she cannot wear a wig is the least of her annoyances.

THorrible itchy things,' she says.

She only does civil cases, although she can see that it is potentially unfair to criminal defendants that a jury might think their bare-headed lawyer has less importance than the wig-wearing prosecutor.She sees the issue from more points of view than most people in the love-envy relationship between the two sides of the legal profession.Ms Belcher qualified as a barrister in 1980, then in 1987 moved to the US and requalified as an attorney in California, where there is no distinction between the two types of lawyer.She returned to Britain in 1990 with two small children, and -- wanting to work part-time -- joined Leeds-based solicitors Walker Morris as a legal research assistant.But, despite working on the Barlow Clowes trial, and still being qualified as an English barrister and a California attorney, she was limited in the contact she was allowed with clients.'After a while I thought "this is ridiculous", 'she says, 'and I took the exam to allow me to practise as a solicitor.' She then voluntarily disbarred herself as was required at the time under Bar Council rules for barristers changing to solicitors, but because of the quality of her experience, she was quickly able to obtain higher rights of audience as one of the first solicitor-advocates.

Disbarment is not required now, but barristers-turned-solicitors cannot hold themselves out as barristers.This has left Ms Belcher with exactly the same advocacy aptitude and experience, but with a less itchy head, and having to raise her voice slightly more because she has to address the judge -- as do all solicitor-advocates -- from further back in court.She has further underlined the anomalies and illogicali ties of the rules and regulations since joining Hammond Suddards Edge last year, by successfully petitioning the Middle Temple to be re-admitted as a barrister, although she says she is still not permitted to appear in court as a barrister, or to market herself as one.

TIt is all a complete nonsense,' she insists.Ms Belcher is working under a barrister now, because the head of advocacy at Hammonds, Patrick Walker, chose not to convert to the solicitor's profession when he joined the firm last year.'It means I cannot share the profits as an equity partner,' Mr Walker says, but otherwise it makes no difference to his status or role within the firm.So Ms Belcher now appears as a junior to QCs, or against other barristers, but judges (who are mostly ex-barristers) and opponents have no idea she too is a barrister.'I still get the same buzz as ever from advocacy,' she says.'I probably do about the same amount of advocacy now as ever.' Aside from the petty restrictions, the introduction of solicitor-advocates has allowed her, and many others, to enjoy the best of both worlds -- salaried employment and part-time work, combined with the chance to appear in the higher courts.But many other barristers and solicitors swap sides of the fence because a few years into their careers they realise that -- at least in career terms -- the grass is greener on the other side.Niall Ferguson, now a barrister at London chambers 36 Bedford Row, remembers his conversion.

He was enthused and inspired by Richard Wilson, a barrister in the chambers he has now joined: 'I saw him in court and I thought "I want to do that", 'he recalls.Mr Ferguson, still only 33, had qualified two and a half years earlier at Bailey Shaw & Gillet, a medium-sized London commercial firm, which was absorbed by Fleet Street firm Speechly Bircham a couple of years after he left.His was in many ways a brave choice -- he had a wife and two small children, and he had to give up a salary, and pay for his pupillage, which he managed to negotiate down from 12 to nine months because of his experience, but with no guarantee of a tenancy at the end.Has it been all Mr Ferguson had hoped? 'I think it has been better,' he says.

Even though it was glamorous court work that had attracted him to the profession, he says: 'I've found all the work more stimulating.

I like the freedom.

I can take a day off for the kids' birthdays, and work in the evenings instead.

I love not having a boss.'Financially it is working out, too.

'I was £40,000 under, but that's nearly paid off now.

I'm earning more than I was.'Claire Skiffington jumped the fence in the opposite direction.

'I gave up for practical reasons,' says the 26-year-old.

As a barrister, not enough money was coming in, and it was arriving with long delays.At the end of last year she gave up the Bar for a job at Wright Hassall in Leamington Spa, and hopes to re-qualify as a solicitor over the next 18 months.

A few months earlier, Philip Heath did the same thing.Ms Skiffington says: 'You put up with the financial difficulties while you are qualifying, but there comes a time when you can't ignore them any more.

If I was still in London, I'd need to be finding £350 a month for my loan, then as much again for a mortgage or rent.' She says the debts built up qualifying as a barrister are like starting your career with a second mortgage.Ms Skiffington is not doing any advocacy now, and while she was taking mostly criminal cases at the Bar, she now specialises in housing.

'I like the contact with clients,' she says.

TAs a barrister , particularly doing crime, I wouldn't meet them until 10 minutes before the case started.

Now I build up relationships with them.

I'm really starting to enjoy that.'She is happier with the atmosphere and culture of a solicitors' office, rather than barristers' chambers, explaining that: 'I used to find I was being left to myself.

There was a lot of support and a good relationship with my contemporaries, but less support from further up.'Mr Kennedy, who switched from being a criminal barrister to a criminal solicitor with London firm Kaim Todner, says he made the move because 'I foresaw that -- with the changes in rights of advocacy -- there would be greater opportunities as a solicitor-advocate than at the Bar'.

He too wanted a regular income to pay off the debts incurred during pupillage.Ms Belcher says the attitude of judges to her as a solicitor-advocate has always been fine, 'probably because solicitor-advocates have had to prove they are good before they can get higher rights of audience', but she adds: 'Some barristers still assume solicitor-advocates don't know what they're doing.

I hope they change their view when I start my submissions.'Mr Ferguson says there was some teasing at first from barristers because he had trained on the other side of the fence, but mostly because he had joined the chambers from elsewhere, rather than being Tone of their own'.Outside chambers, he says:'Some young barristers straight out of college can be very arrogant about solicitors.'I sometimes say all barristers should have to train as a solicitor first.

As a solicitor you get on the rough-end of a barrister saying "why don't you have the right documents and statements?".

Because I've been there myself, I know it's not that easy.

I think solicitors appreciate that in me.'It seems that, whatever side of the fence a lawyer ends up, the experience of those crossing over is valuable for both professions.