The Inns of Court were, as the name implies, public houses close to Justice Hall, or the Sessions House, now the Old Bailey but officially called the Central Criminal Courts and the Royal Courts of Justice. Up to the 18th century the Inns of Court were a cluster of 'finishing schools for gentlemen' and provided not just legal training but upper-class life skills and facilities to network and cultivate business contacts.

The number of the Inns have been reduced now to only four; Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. Today they are complex landmark buildings with chambers for barristers. From the Middle Ages the English legal profession comprised serjeants and barristers. Then came attorneys and in the 16th century the solicitor emerged.

Barristers argued cases and points of law on behalf of clients, attorneys were court officials and for a short time solicitors roles were somewhere in the middle. In 1729 solicitors and attorneys became subject to very tight regulations and those professionals were expected to join 'the Society of Gentlemen Practisers in the Courts of Law and Equity', then became The Law Society. By the 19th century, the term attorney been fallen into disrepute and subsequently abolished.

The barristers' status dates back to the 16th century and is conferred by the Inns of Court and recognised in the central law courts. Still today, the Inns of Court call qualified students to the bar; this is the first step that entitles them to practice the profession of barrister. If a barrister falls into disgrace, they are disbarred.

Solicitors form the largest part of the legal profession numbering about 93,000. The majority work in private practice whilst the remainder work in-house for companies, charities or within government.

Barristers number only 14,000 and are broken down into 80% independent barristers or self-employed barristers and 20% employed barristers, these work in-house for companies, charities and government organisations.

Barristers act on instruction from solicitors; they have little or no contact with members of the public.

Only 1530 students were called to the bar between 1660 and 1850.

112 barristers were called to the bench between 1660 and 1850.

Mediation is an alternative method used to resolve disputes, which is usually quick and non-confrontational. It means that cases can be settled without the time and expense of court proceedings.

Our team are experienced mediators and two members are accredited ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) Group mediators. Everyone in our large mediation team is able to represent clients at mediations and our ADR Group members are also able to sit as mediators. One of the ADR Group members particularly specialises in personal injury claims, and between these mediators they have resolved disputes in excess of £1 million.
Main services are

* Representing clients in mediation
* Acting as mediators in mediations
* We offer home visits to the elderly, infirm and disabled and can provide large print leaflets on request

Prettys is committed to Alternative Dispute Resolution in all its forms. The use of ADR, particularly mediation is central to our philosophy of seeking to achieve cost effective and creative solutions to disputes wherever possible.

We have two trained mediators amongst our dispute resolution solicitors and a larger number of solicitors who are experienced in advising clients on the use of ADR techniques and representing them in mediations.

We have successfully employed ADR in cases both before and after court proceedings or arbitration have or has been begun across a broad range of disputes of widely differing values. We have successfully resolved disputes involving: claims against professionals; civil engineering and construction contracts; carriage of goods by sea and land; corporate disputes, including shareholder issues and corporate finance; partnership disputes; IT and IP; supply of goods and services; and property rights.

Mediation can, in our experience, be particularly effective in multi party disputes, where total costs can quickly become disproportionate to even quite sizeable claims and it can be difficult to get all parties together in the same place at the same time. The process of mediation can prove a lot less acrimonious than litigation or arbitration and therefore help to preserve ongoing business relationships when a dispute arises. Also, because the range of solutions available through mediation is greater than is available to the courts or to arbitrators, mediation can be both more flexible and creative and sometimes better able to meet the parties’ interests.

The courts actively promote mediation. There are a number of court sponsored mediation schemes. It is important to have in mind that a refusal to consider mediation can have adverse consequences (usually in the form of disallowing or reducing costs) even for a party who is successful in litigation. There are an increasing number of reported cases in which the point has arisen.