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Let us have a look at the notion of legal occupations and explain basic terms which refer to the people who work in these jobs.
The most general term is a (1 p.) who according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law."

In practice, legal jurisdictions exercise their right to determine who is recognized as being a lawyer; as a result, the meaning of the term "lawyer" may vary from place to place. Below we are going to discuss the basic differences across Anglophone countries.

In England and Wales the legal profession is (1 p.) between the solicitors’ and barristers’ professions and lawyers usually hold one title.

In the USA an individual licensed to practice law is referred to as an (1 p.) at law or, more often, simply an attorney - the terms barrister and solicitor are not typically used. Nonetheless, attorneys within the United States usually must be "admitted to the (1 p.) ", i.e. must be granted permission by a particular court system to practice law in that system. Then attorneys are permitted to conduct all aspects of litigation and appear before those (1 p.) where they have been admitted to the bar.

A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. In many Commonwealth jurisdictions, the "bar association" comprises lawyers who are qualified as barristers or advocates (collectively known as "the bar", or "members of the bar"), while the "law society" comprises (1 p.) .

The Inns of (1 p.) in London are the professional associations to one of which every barrister in England and Wales (and those judges who were formerly barristers) must belong. Today there are only four Inns remaining: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, The Inner Temple and The Middle Temple.

A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally offers legal services outside of the courts. They have more direct contact with (1 p.) whom now they also frequently represent in courts not only lower but more and more often higher courts (High Court, Court of Appeal), i.e. they act for a client (as an attorney – tu: pełnomocnik). Solicitors may conduct (1 p.) by making applications to the court, writing letters in litigation to the client's opponent. They may specialise in many areas of law but usually they choose one area of specialisation. To become a solicitor a law student must enroll with the Law Society as a student member and take a one-year course called the Legal Practice Course and then usually undertake two years' apprenticeship, known as a training (1 p.) .