Law

=== Legal profession ===
{{main|Legal profession}}A corollary of the rule of law is the existence of a legal profession sufficiently autonomous to invoke the authority of the independent judiciary; the right to assistance of a [[barrister]] in a court proceeding emanates from this corollary—in England the function of barrister or advocate is distinguished from legal counselor.{{sfn|Hazard|Dondi|2004|p=1}} As the European Court of Human Rights has stated, the law should be adequately accessible to everyone and people should be able to foresee how the law affects them.<ref>''[[The Sunday Times v The United Kingdom]]'' [1979] [http://www.worldlii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/1979/1.html ECHR 1 at 49] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060916131454/http://worldlii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/1979/1.html|date=16 September 2006}} Case no. 6538/74</ref>

In order to maintain professionalism, the [[practice of law]] is typically overseen by either a government or independent regulating body such as a [[bar association]], [[bar council]] or [[law society]]. Modern lawyers achieve distinct professional identity through specified legal procedures (e.g. successfully passing a qualifying examination), are required by law to have a special qualification (a legal education earning the student a [[Bachelor of Laws]], a [[Bachelor of Civil Law]], or a [[Juris Doctor]] degree. Higher academic degrees may also be pursued. Examples include a [[Master of Laws]], a [[Master of Legal Studies]], a [[Bar Professional Training Course]] or a [[Doctor of Laws]].), and are constituted in office by legal forms of appointment ([[admission to the bar|being admitted to the bar]]). There are few titles of respect to signify famous lawyers, such as [[Esquire]], to indicate barristers of greater dignity,<ref>{{cite web|title=British English: Esquire|url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/esquire?showCookiePolicy=true|access-date=23 September 2014|date=n.d.|publisher=Collins Dictionary|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006092224/http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/esquire?showCookiePolicy=true|archive-date=6 October 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/american/esquire?showCookiePolicy=true|publisher=Collins Dictionary|title=American English: Esquire|access-date=23 September 2014|date=n.d.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006084621/http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/american/esquire?showCookiePolicy=true|archive-date=6 October 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Doctor of law]], to indicate a person who obtained a [[PhD]] in Law.

Many Muslim countries have developed similar rules about legal education and the legal profession, but some still allow lawyers with training in traditional Islamic law to practice law before personal status law courts.{{sfn|Ahmad|2009}} In China and other developing countries there are not sufficient professionally trained people to staff the existing judicial systems, and, accordingly, formal standards are more relaxed.{{sfn|Hazard|Dondi|2004|pp=22–23}}

Once accredited, a lawyer will often work in a [[law firm]], in a [[barristers' chambers|chambers]] as a sole practitioner, in a government post or in a private corporation as an internal [[counsel]]. In addition a lawyer may become a [[legal research]]er who provides on-demand legal research through a library, a commercial service or freelance work. Many people trained in law put their skills to use outside the legal field entirely.<ref name="Fine364">Fine, ''The Globalisation of Legal Education'', 364</ref>

Significant to the practice of law in the common law tradition is the legal research to determine the current state of the law. This usually entails exploring [[law report|case-law reports]], [[legal periodical]]s and legislation. Law practice also involves drafting documents such as court [[pleading]]s, persuasive [[brief (law)|briefs]], contracts, or [[will (law)|wills]] and trusts. Negotiation and [[dispute resolution]] skills (including [[Alternative dispute resolution|ADR]] techniques) are also important to legal practice, depending on the field.<ref name="Fine364" />