The legal profession in England and Wales is divided into two branches: solicitors and barristers. Solicitors provide the great bulk of 'first line' legal advice, undertaking detailed investigative work and dealing with substantial amounts of paperwork on behalf of their clients. Barristers, on the other hand, a far smaller group, provide a specialist service in advocacy and advice and are experts in particular areas of law. There are about 75,000 solicitors licensed to practise and nearly 10,000 barristers.

The principal service offered by barristers can be divided into two main kinds: litigation and advocacy, and advisory work.

Litigation and advocacy

Specialists in court work, barristers act as advocates in the courts and in all kinds of arbitration and other tribunals, as well as advising on and supervising the conduct of litigation generally. In the High Court and other tribunals, in the great majority of cases, and particularly those of importance or difficulty, one or more barristers are usually consulted and instructed to appear as advocates.

Advisory work

Barristers provide an independent specialist advisory service on legal disputes or problems of all kinds. 'Counsel's Opinion' is generally regarded as the most authoritative form of advice either on a pure point of law or in a commercial situation presenting legal, factual or technical difficulties. Barristers are accustomed both to producing formal written opinions and to advising more flexibly, at a meeting, on the telephone or by fax or e-mail, as the client's needs dictate.

Barristers' chambers

Barristers are organised into sets of chambers and the chambers of COMBAR members are mostly situated in or around the Inns of Court in the City of London. Barristers in a set of chambers are not partners. They share expenses such as premises, facilities and the services of chambers' Managers or Clerks, but each barrister retains his own earnings and all barristers are self-employed. They are individual practitioners and totally independent of each other to the extent that it is not unusual for members of the same chambers to be retained by opposing sides in the same case. Thus a set of chambers will be made up of barristers of different seniority and therefore different charging rates and frequently also different specialisations within the field of commercial law. Since barristers do not employ a staff of legal assistants, when a barrister is instructed to advise, or to act as an advocate, he/she does so personally. As sole practitioners providing a specialist service, barristers do not provide major administrative services such as the organisation of witnesses and their evidence. By the specialist nature of their work barristers have no incentive in attempting to acquire the clients of those who consult them.

The senior judges in England and Wales are drawn almost exclusively from the Bar. Many senior and experienced barristers in England are 'Queen's Counsel' (QC), an appointment accorded to them by the Crown in recognition of their experience and ability to handle the most complex cases as advocates and advisers.

Until 1971 a barrister could only be instructed by an overseas lawyer or lay client through an English solicitor. However, barristers are now able to accept instructions directly from overseas lawyers, including in-house counsel, acting on behalf of their clients and also in certain cases from lay clients themselves. The only exception to this rule is where litigation (not including international arbitration) has already been started by or against the client in the English courts. The Bar is in the course of extending the opportunities for lay clients to use the Bar directly in advisory situations and even in some aspects of litigation. Direct access by professional advisers such as accountants, architects, surveyors and other professionals in the UK is now also permitted.