Blogs -It’s wrong to use the two words Advocate and Lawyer interchangeably; they are not the same in meaning.
Going deep into their meaning, one would realize that most oftenly these two terms have been used wrongly for a longer time.
Anybody outside legal profession, even by legal scholars themselves, hardly realize that there is a difference between these two areas of legal profession. This is the reason this article is prepared so that it can expound more on this topic.
Therefore to begin with, a lawyer is someone who is still learning to become an advocate. Lawyer is used to describe any person pursuing a Degree in law, or a person who owns a law Degree. A lawyer therefore cannot represent a client in a court. He/she can however offer advice and can act as a teacher in any law school.
On the other hand, an Advocate is a step ahead of a lawyer. He/she is someone who has a bachelor Degree in law, a member of the Law Society of Kenya and has been admitted to the bar. Their roles includes representing client, speaking on behalf of a client and can plead their case.
How does one get admitted to the bar? After getting a law degree from a recognized University, one is required to attend the Kenya School of Law for Postgraduate Diploma in Legal practice (PGDLP). The next thing is to complete a compulsory articles of pupillage.
After that, one petitions the Chief Justice of the judiciary for admission to the bar by filling necessary documents.
The petition is addressed to the registrar of High Court on behalf of the Chief Justice and the secretary of the Law society of Kenya LSK after which one is called to the bar.
Usually, several lawyers are admitted to the bar at the same occasion.
In conclusion, an Advocate may be a lawyer but a Lawyer may not be an Advocate. Being an Advocate takes one a total determination, hard work, patience and perseverance. Again, while in the law profession, honestly is a virtue of great significance.
It goes without mentioning that the main reason why people refer to advocates as lawyers is because this term is usually used to generalise anyone who has studied law.
Story/Courtesy
