Trials of strength: The reconfiguration of litigation as a contested terrain

The past 15 years have seen a significant attempt by governments in the Uni ted Kingdom to restructure the market for legal services. As a part of this program, in 1992 the English bar finally lost its exclusive jurisdiction o ver advocacy. Although solicitors could qualify to appear as advocates in t he higher courts, few have so done. We explore the perceptions of legal pro fessionals, solicitors, and barristers through a qualitative study. By exam ining the legal profession as a set of connected but differentiated and com peting fields of practice, we show how change resonates with the legal mark er. We find that institutional coherence and client service vie with the de sire to become complete lawyers in the rationale for solicitor advocacy. Th e identification of institutional constraints on the pursuit of professiona l hegemony leads us to qualify the proposition that professionals are motiv ated purely by economic returns or market dominance.