Life as an Advocate

Independence

Because LPC Law covers every County Court in England and Wales, you can work from home, attending the courts in your region. 

You will have the responsibility of your own caseload and will need to be self-motivated and able to think on your feet during pressured situations. 

Achieve Success

LPC Law will give you a unique exposure to the law. You will put all your vocational skills into practice: preparing your cases, liaising with instructing solicitors, negotiating with defendants and arguing your case in court. 

You may also undertake outdoor clerking, including sitting behind counsel, attending conferences with counsel, gathering witness statements, and issuing and lodging documents.
 
Each year many advocates who have been instructed by LPC Law secure pupillage or training contracts. In the past, advocates have used their experience to obtain a three-month reduction in pupillage or up to six months Time to Count against their training contract.

Broaden Your Horizons

We have a system of monitoring and assessing you as you undertake advocacy work for LPC Law. You must prove yourself in order to take on more complex hearings such as Small Claims trials. 

Advocates that hold a current practicing certificate as solicitors or barristers may also be instructed to attend hearings in open court such as Fast Track trials,  Appeals and Winding Up petitions. 

Role Summary

You will typically be able to see your diary of allocated cases 5 days in advance of the hearing date. Briefs are available to be downloaded via the advocate network, however we may occasionally send you a hard copy bundle. This gives you sufficient time to prepare the case and conduct any legal research as necessary.
 
On arriving at court (or attending the case remotely) on the day of the hearing(s) you will be acting on behalf of an instructing solicitor. You will often be the only representative at court (or attending the remote hearing) and you must liaise with any defendants that attend and where appropriate, negotiate a settlement on your client's behalf. You must liaise with your instructing solicitors throughout this process.
 
You will represent your client in court before a District Judge. You must put forward their case and make the necessary submissions to obtain the most favourable order possible.
 
Finally, you are required to submit an attendance note for each hearing, accurately stating the order obtained from the Judge, summarising the submissions made by each party and the reasoning behind the Judge's decision.

Rights of Audience

Your rights of audience are derived from the Legal Services Act 2007, which states that you can only represent someone in court if you are authorised or exempt. Typically, an authorised individual would be a solicitor or barrister.
 
Advocates instructed by LPC Law are exempt by virtue of the exemption set out in paragraph 1(7) of Schedule 3 which states that you are exempt if you are instructed and supervised by a solicitor and the hearing takes place in chambers.
 
As an advocate working with LPC Law, you would receive instructions from and be supervised by a solicitor from our Advocacy Team and the hearings that you would be instructed to undertake would take place in chambers, so you would have a right of audience for those hearings.
 
For further information regarding rights of audience, please follow the links below:

• Rights of Audience Judgment Update 2022
• Law Gazette Article 21 March 2017
  
• Rights of Audience Update - Updated June 2019
• What does In Chambers Mean? November 2019