UK Legal System - Barristers, Solicitors, Judges from rosemarykaye

Sending children away was endemic amongst the upper/upper middle classes in the first part of the 20th century - it was not just parents abroad who did it. It was considered "what one did" to ensure ones children not only had a good education but also remained part of the ruling classes, learned their ways, developed their attitudes, etc. People like this would never even have considered the local state schools - they would not even have considered the private day schools.

Nowadays the practice is still common amongst the rich and the aspiring. They see it as buying a place for their children in the country's elite - and unfortunately they are probably right, as one newspaper recently did a survey that showed that vast numbers of our Members of Parliament (esp the men) came from a small number of top boarding schools - Cameron himself was at Eton (the poshest of them all), and Tony Blair was at Fettes (Eton's equivalent in Edinburgh). You would find the same backgrounds in top businessmen, bankers, etc - the Old School Tie is still immensely important, and can open many doors for its members. I heard recently that one of the Edinburgh merchant banks only recruits from certain Edinburgh public (ie top private) schools - although of course they would never be able to admit that.

In England, the legal profession is split into two branches - barristers appear in court and cannot contact clients directly, everything been done through the solicitor, who is more of the front man/woman. Solicitors see clients in their offices and offer a broad range of services, from litigation (court matters, civil and criminal) to wills, probate, employment advice, licensing, commercial work, conveyancing (house buying/selling), etc. Nowadays solicitors do have "rights of audience" in some of the lower courts, but only barristers can appear in the higher courts, and they would also still be instructed to appear in the lower courts sometimes. The barristers are the ones who wear the wigs and gowns. Barristers work in what are called chambers, - in London they are mostly situated around the Inns of Court, off the Strand.

Each Chambers will be serviced by several clerks - these are often "East End boys" (or girls), who have a sharp eye for cutting the deals and agreeing the fees with the instructing solicitors. The barristers are still largely upper class people who went to the right schools (see above!), especially as the training for the job is very long and expensive, and you then need to know people to get into one of the Inns of Court. (There are, however, a few high profile "left wing" chambers who would be more likely to sponsor applicants from less exalted backgrounds). There is, however, a great interdependence between the barristers and the clerks, as without the clerks (who get a cut of the barrister's fee for each job) the barristers wouldn't have any work. Incidentally, only barristers can apply to become judges - hence the further perpetuation of the class system, and the reason we have so many judges who are completely out of touch with the real world.