solicitor, lawyer, attorney, barrister or counsellor ?

LAWYER:  general term and can mean anyone who gives legal advice or believes himself learned in one or more areas of law.
There are no formal qualifications needed to be a lawyer. Working in a firm of solicitors and working on court files is often enough for the term to be used by employees


SOLICITORS: advise clients and represent them in civil and criminal courts and also deal with business advice wills conveyancing and every area of law. Some specialise in specific areas of law and others may be 'GENERAL PRACTIONERS'.
The term Solicitor is mainly used in UK, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and some parts of the US.

BARRISTER (often called counsel) may be junior counsel or Queens counsel (selected for special ability and experience). Their clients are the solicitors who "instruct" them. At one time barristers had sole rights to appear in the High Court and the court of appeal and the house of Lords.

Essentially barristers do three things:

• appear in court to represent others
• give specialised legal advice in person or in writing
• draft court documents

In the past, the solicitor appearing in open court wore a robe but the barrister wore a robe and a horsehair wig, but the wig is now being abolished.
   
ATTORNEY is American English word for a British English lawyer. The D.A. or District Attorney is a lawyer in the U.S. who works for the state and prosecutes people on behalf of it. There are also, of course, defense attorneys in America who act on behalf of their clients.

PROSECUTION COUNSEL or DEFENCE COUNSEL when referring to the team of lawyers who are operating on behalf of either the state or a client.