BARRISTER

BARRISTER, English law. A counsellor admitted to plead at the bar.

2. Ouster barrister, is one who pleads ouster or without the bar.

3. Inner barrister, a serjeant or king's counsel who pleads within the bar.

4. Vacation barrister, a counsellor newly called to the bar, who is to attend for several long vacations the exercise of the house.

5. Barristers are called apprentices, apprentitii ad legem, being looked upon as learners, and not qualified until they obtain the degree of serjeant. Edmund Plowden, the author of the Commentaries, a volume of elaborate reports in the reigns of Edward VI., Mary, Philip and Mary, and Elizabeth, describes himself as an apprentice of the common law.