- INTRODUCTION
The term ‘LAWYER’ and ‘ADVOCATE’ are used as synonyms of each other, but after doing small analysis it was concluded that both of the term are certainly different.
LAWYER
The person who is still pursuing law / LLB or is an undergraduate is called Lawyer. This person is not eligible or allowed to stand in the court to put the stand of his/her clients or submit his/her submission in front of the court.
Lawyer is a simple term to denote any person who has a law degree. There can be various different types of lawyers, such as advocates, attorneys, solicitors, etc. All of these are considered to be specialists in different fields of law that further includes criminal matter, civil matters arbitration, matrimonial disputes, and service matters etc.
ADVOCATE
An advocate is an individual within the legal profession who possess a law degree and goes further to represent clients in the court of law. An advocate presents the pleading of the party in an attempt to help him or her to win a case and avoid jail term or be compensated depending on whether he or she is a complainant or the accused.
Advocate is called Barrister in Scottish and South Africa. Likewise that Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa as a barrister.
The term advocate is used in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth Nations while the term lawyer is used in U.S.A. The Advocate is a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy. Advocate is eligible to put the points of his/her clients in front of the court but the lawyer can’t do so because he/she is still pursuing law/LL.B.
An advocate may be a lawyer but a lawyer may not be an advocate .An ‘Advocate’ is a step ahead of a’ lawyer’.
DIFFERENCE
Admission to the Bar
The first difference is that not all lawyers are eligible to be admitted to the bar to represent their clients in the court of law while all advocates are eligible for admission to the bar so that they can serve their clients in various situations. This is because the term lawyer is used to cover a wide range of category for all those individuals who are either studying or have graduated with a law degree. Therefore, even students are considered lawyers while it is in public domain that they are not qualified to represent clients in the court of law, which means that not all lawyers can be admitted to the bar. On the other hand, all advocates are qualified and are thus admissible to the bar to represent their clients.
Description of Lawyer and Advocate
The another difference between a lawyer and an advocate is through their description. It is clear that a lawyer is a person who is studying the law degree or who possesses a law degree. This means that any person who is studying law and those who have graduated can be considered to be lawyers. This means that the term lawyer is very general and is used to represent any person in the legal profession including attorneys, solicitors, and barristers among others. On the other hand, the term advocate is particular and is used to refer to an individual who represents the client in the court of law to plead for release or compensation depending on the prevailing circumstance.
Level of Experience for Lawyer and Advocate
An advocate has gone under rigorous training in the specialized schools of law where he or she has graduated with a law degree and gone further to be admitted in the bar, he or she is considered to be more skillful and experienced in legal aspects as compared to a lawyer. It is worth noting that advocates have not only graduated with a law degree but have also practiced the legal profession in the legal arenas. This is not the case to all lawyers because some of them have not even graduated from their respective law schools. Others have just graduated from various law schools but are to engage on legal matters, which make them less skilled while at the same time lacking in experience.
Charges and Compensation for Lawyer and Advocate
The charges and compensation involved when one hires an advocate are much higher because he or she is highly educated, knowledgeable, and experienced in handling legal matters. On the other hand, the charges and compensation methods involved when consulting a lawyer might be significantly lower because such a person may not have the necessary experience to litigate.
Duties and Responsibilities of Lawyer and Advocate
Advocate has vast experience and knowledge in legal matters, he or she is highly involved in representing clients in courtrooms and pleads the cases on behalf of the clients while at the same season trying to get the best verdict for his or her client. This not the same for the lawyers who mostly do not represent their clients in the court of law. Majority of the lawyers are involved in giving legal advice to their clients in matters concerning the law, but they do not have full responsibility of representing a client in the courtroom.
Also Read: Professional ethics in the Legal Profession
