A Comparative Study of British Barristers and American Legal Practice and Education

The conduct of a trial in England is undeniably an impressive undertaking. Costume alone transports the viewer to Elizabethan times. Counsel and judges, bewigged and gowned, appear in a cloistered, regal setting, strewn with leather-bound books. Brightly colored ribbons of red, green, yellow and white, rather than metal clips and staples fasten the legal papers.

After comparison with the volatile atmosphere and often unruly conduct of a trial in a United States courtroom it is natural to assume that the British model of courtroom advocacy provides an instructive model for its American counterpart.