Week 6: The legal profession in Scotland

There are two types of lawyers generally practising day to day in Scotland. Those are solicitors and advocates. There are many more solicitors than there are advocates, and they have slightly different functions. Advocates, however, are charged with representing clients in the Supreme Court of Scotland and have a right of audience at every level in the Scottish court system, whereas solicitors-- unless they've sat additional exams, which a few of them do-- have only rights of audience in the lower courts.

Advocates, when they're appearing in court, dress differently from solicitors. Advocates, when we appear in court, have to wear a wig. This is my wig here, which I keep in this tin with my name on it. And we have to wear a white bow tie when we're in court and a white stuff collar. We have to wear black tailcoat and a black gown. And if we don't wear those things, we're not dressed appropriately. And they are called our badges of office, and that is how people are able to distinguish between an advocate and a solicitor.