The difference between an attorney and an advocate.
I am sure you have frequently come into contact with the law whether this is for the drawing up of a contract, getting married or divorced, buying a house, or appearing in a civil or a criminal court.
Because you are probably not trained in law you will need the assistance of the legal profession who are there to assist you. There are two types of legal practitioners, an attorney, and an advocate under the new Legal Practice Act No 28 of 2014.
You may ask what is the difference between attorneys and advocates? Although most attorneys specialize in an area of practice, in general, they provide a wide range of legal services, such as property transactions, legal advice, contracts, litigation in numerous fields. Attorneys are the general public’s first and main contact with the law. It is the attorney’s job to look after this relationship and to ensure that the services rendered are appropriate to your needs. Attorneys very often work together in a partnership or firm.
An advocate is a more focused and specialized practitioner. Advocates become involved when your case needs to be litigated in court or for a specialist opinion on your legal issue. Your attorney’s job is to appoint an advocate who specialises in your specific legal problem, and to ensure that all of the necessary arrangements, logistics, information and documentation is provided to the advocate in order to obtain the best result. Advocates practice exclusively for their own accounts; in other words, they do not form partnerships with attorneys or other advocates. In general, the public do not deal directly with advocates – an attorney will instruct and advocate and not the public.
Why the distinction?
In the past attorneys never had a right to appear in the high court; only advocates did. This meant that any matter which had to be litigated in the high court had to be referred to an advocate and argued by them after they were briefed by the attorneys.
This is not the case anymore and an attorney may represent their client in court provided that such an attorney has a right of appearance. In practice, however, most attorneys will still brief the advocates as they are considered litigation specialists.
Costs
There may be additional legal expenses incurred as a result of such a distinction between attorneys and advocates. You should always be aware that in any legal proceedings both the attorney and advocate must be paid. Dealing with a matter quickly and efficiently may avoid incurring hefty additional expenses.
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Sources: Theophilopoulos, C; et al; Fundamental Principles of Civil Procedure Second Edition (2012).