Things you will learn in this article;

• Introduction

• Who is an Advocate?

• Difference between Lawyer, Advocate, and Legal Advisor

• Where can an Advocate practice?

• Entrance Exam for becoming an Advocate

• Specializations and Certification Courses

• Conclusions

Introduction:

“Every Advocate can be a Lawyer, But not every lawyer can be an Advocate”. There is a huge difference between a lawyer and an advocate, but it is an undeniable fact that for becoming an advocate one has to be a lawyer. The legal profession is one of the most popular professions in India as it is not affected by the economy of the country, and it has an immense number of employment opportunities. As law covers most of all sectors, including public and private organizations a career in law is the topmost choice for young people in India. There are a number of entrance exams for law aspirants which help them in landing at top law schools. But just having academic experience and a degree of law (whether 5 years or 3-year) is enough, no it is not, with these things an individual will be called a lawyer, who despite having complete knowledge of the law, the procedure of courtroom and experience through internships are inadequate of practising and fighting in a Court. For this purpose, one must have the title and profile of an Advocate.

Who is an Advocate?

An advocate is an individual(mainly a lawyer) who is authorised to represent their client in front of the court. An advocate should possess a law degree, and must be enrolled with the Bar Council of India after fulfilling the criteria given in Advocate Act, 1961. For a lawyer to become an advocate, first they have to enrol with their own State’s Bar Council, after getting an enrolment number, one can register themselves for the All India Bar Council Exam(AIBE), as this enrolment number is a basic requirement to prove their eligibility for becoming an advocate. Only the lawyer who qualifies for the All India Bar Council can get the “Certificate of Practice” from the Bar Council of India and can practise in the court as an Advocate. Thus, the AIBE exam is mandatory in order to get enrolled with the Bar Council of India. This is an important entrance exam for every lawyer, many of them opt for the best online law certification courses as these courses help them in preparation and also through self-assessment they can test themselves and can discover their weak and strong points.

Difference between Lawyer, Advocate, and Legal Advisor:   

A Lawyer is an individual who is either studying law or has completed a degree in law. The term lawyer is to denote any person in the legal profession. They are not allowed to practise in court and to defend or represent their client in any court. Whereas an Advocate is a qualified individual who can represent their client in the courtroom for any cause. An advocate after getting the certificate of practice has a diverse number of opportunities laid in front of them to choose from in the legal profession. And lastly, a Legal Advisor is a legal practitioner, who provides legal advice to the organization whether public or private. Many organizations hire legal professionals for this profile, they generally work in-house, internally or advising their business regarding legal matters. 

Where can an Advocate practice?

As mentioned above, advocates can practice in court but are there any limitations to them, and in which court they can practice? Well, According to Section 30 of the Advocate Act, 1961, “Every Advocate whose name is registered under the state roll has the statutory right to practise in any part or territory of India in which this act is applicable; including the Supreme Court of India, tribunals. There were certain amendments to this act, through which has the right to practise in any court of India. The objective behind is to decrease the number of pending cases in Indian courts. But the Bar Council of India has laid down some rules which need to be followed in order to practise law in India. Like there are certain years of experience that an advocate must have to practice in higher courts, such as for practising in the High Court one needs at least experience of 10 years of practice, and for the Supreme court at least two years. 

Entrance Exam for becoming an Advocate:

The First step of becoming an advocate is to complete a law degree from an accredited law school, one can have either a 5-year law degree or a 3-year law course. After this, they get the title of Lawyer, after enrolling themselves with the State Bar Council, one can easily apply for the AIBE. This entrance exam is conducted by the Committee which was enacted according to the Advocate Act, 1961, under which this committee oversees the whole process of the whole enrollment process. This exam decides whether a lawyer is qualified enough or not to practise in either High Court or lower court. This is an important step for all candidates and for some to clear this exam to choose online law certification courses, as these courses are designed by the top legal industry experts who act as guidance for them. According to the guidelines given by the Bar Council of India, after qualifying for this exam a Lawyer gets a certificate of practice.   

Specializations and Certification Courses:

Online legal certification courses play an important role in a legal professions life, these courses not only help them in qualifying for Law Entrance Exams such as AIBE, CLAT, etc but these courses also help legal professionals to choose which specialization they are interested in and after this, with the help of top legal experts they provide extensive knowledge and real-life applicable skills on a wide range of subjects. There are many specializations in the field of law, such as; Civil law, Criminal law, Corporate law, Intellectual Property law, Cyber law, and many more, various legal learning platforms provide courses on these specializations to help legal learners start their career or sometimes upskill their career. 

Conclusions:

The Bar Council of India has provided a platform in the form of the AIBE Exam which helps it to identify the number of active advocates in India, this also acts as a standard Bar which every lawyer has to meet in order to become a practising advocate. BCI has also regulated the guidelines which preserve the rights, privileges and interests of advocates. Also, the Bar Council of India has been Promoting legal education and is making people aware of laws that are being applied every day in their life. In the present scenario, there are very different fields in which an advocate can make a career, either in private practice or practising in the government sector. Having the title of Advocate brings so many advantages to an individual, along with the right to practice. The Roles and Responsibilities of an Advocate are quite interesting and thrilling, that’s why many young people are getting attracted to this field.