In Ireland and Britain, the legal system has two "Lawyers" per se. One, a solicitor, gets work from a client etc... and if it is
required to go to court, he would find two Barristers (One Senior Counsel and one Junior Counsel - but sometimes only one is needed if the case is small, then it is only a Junior Counsel, but could be a Senior, but that rarely happens).
The Barrister is the one who goes into court. He speaks, the solicitor also goes into court, but NEVER speaks. If he has to inform the Barrister of something, he would
write it down on a
piece of paper, and slide it accross, or whisper.
In Ireland, there are two places in the Four Courts that only Barristers may go: The Law Library, and the Barristers Restaurant. Now I always wonder, why would anyone want to become a solicitor if they cannot enter those two places...
Barristers are not allowed to advertise. And a lot of the time cases are settled before they enter court.
Solicitors usually earn more money, but it is more likely for a Barrister to "rise up the ranks" to judge etc...