barrister (redirected from barrister-at-law)

In English Law, an attorney who has an exclusive right of argument in all the superior courts.

A barrister is a counselor who is learned in law and who has been admitted to plead at the bar. A barrister drafts the pleadings in all cases, with the exception of the simplest ones. Distinguished from an attorney, which is an English lawyer who conducts matters out of court, a barrister engages in the actual argument of cases or the conduct of the trial.

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barrister n. in the United States a fancy name for a lawyer or attorney. In Great Britain, there is a two-tier bar made up of solicitors who perform all legal tasks except appearance in court and barristers, who try cases. Some solicitors will "take the silk" (quaint expression) and become barristers. (See: solicitor)

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barrister noun advocate, attorney, attorney-at-law, counsel, counselor, counselor-at-law, jurisconsult, jurisprudent, jurist, lawyer, learned counsel, legal adviser, legal practitioner, legist, member of the bar, procurator, publicist, solicitor

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See also: advocate, attorney, counsel, counselor, esquire, jurist, lawyer, proxy, representative

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BARRISTER, English law. A counsellor admitted to plead at the bar.
     2. Ouster barrister, is one who pleads ouster or without the bar.
     3. Inner barrister, a sergeant or king's counsel who pleads within the bar.
     4. Vacation barrister, a counsellor newly called to the bar, who is to attend for several long vacations the exercise of the house.
     5. Barristers are called apprentices, apprentitii ad legem, being looked upon as learners, and not qualified until they obtain the degree of sergeant. Edmund Plowden, the author of the Commentaries, a volume of elaborate reports in the reigns of Edward VI., Mary, Philip and Mary, and Elizabeth, describes himself as an apprentice of the common law.