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It would be fair enough to abolish the solicitor / barrister distinction. Criminal barristers have more in common with criminal solicitors than they do with the Chancery bar for example.

But we cannot then just have one vast category of "lawyer" which includes every specialisation. The work of a criminal practitioner has no overlap with that of a conveyancer, which in turn has no overlap with that of a investment funds lawyer or a family lawyer.

It is weird all these different occupations are lumped together in one profession, with the same training.

We need training that prepares people for what they will actually do in their professional lives. It is mind-boggling how under-trained lawyers currently are. And it is all because we have this incredibly broad but superficial training system.

It is impossible to cover everything, so we end up with solicitors having a monopoly right to practise things like family law, probate, immigration, Chancery litigation etc on which we have had no training (usually). How the Legal Services Board and the public let us get away with this is astonishing.

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