In some legal systems, including those of South Africa, Scandinavia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, the word barrister is also regarded as an honorific.

In some jurisdictions, a barrister receives additional training in evidence law, ethics, and court practice and procedure.

For example, in criminal courts in Ireland, England, and Wales, a barrister usually wears a horsehair wig, stiff collar, bands, and a gown.

Increasingly, law firms are keeping even the most advanced advisory and litigation work in-house for economic and client relationship reasons.

But, in practice, direct instruction is still a rarity in most jurisdictions, partly because barristers with narrow specialisations, or who are only really trained for advocacy, are not prepared to provide general advice to members of the public.

Historically, barristers have had a major role in trial preparation, including drafting pleadings and reviewing evidence.

In other areas, it is relatively common for the barrister to receive the brief from the instructing solicitor to represent a client at trial only a day or two before the proceeding.

Historically, call to and success at the bar, to a large degree, depended upon social connections made early in life.

In the common law tradition, the respective roles of a lawyer, as legal adviser and advocate, were formally split into two separate, regulated sub-professions.

Generally, counsel dress in the traditional English manner (wig, gown, bar jacket and jabot) before superior courts, although this is not usually done for interlocutory applications.

The Bar Council is the supreme statutory body that regulates the legal professions in Bangladesh and ensures educational standards and regulatory compliance of advocates.

In Canada (except Quebec), the professions of barrister and solicitor are fused, and many lawyers refer to themselves with both names, even if they do not practise in both areas.

However, a number of areas of non-contentious private law are not monopolized by notaries so that attorneys often specialize in handling either trials, cases, advising, or non-trial matters.

Intending Quebec attorneys must earn a bachelor's degree in civil law, pass the provincial bar examination, and successfully complete a legal internship to be admitted to practice.

The intending attorney then needs to pass the Certificat d'Aptitude à la Profession d'Avocat (CAPA), which is the last professional examination allowing them to join a court's bar (barreau).

A separate body of barristers exists called the avocats au Conseil d'Etat et à la Cour de Cassation.

Although their legal background, training and status is the same as the all-purpose avocats, these have a monopoly over litigation taken to the supreme courts, in civil, criminal or administrative matters.

The Bar Council of India prescribes rules of conduct to be observed by the Barristers in the courts, while interacting with clients and in non-professional settings.

Irish barristers are sole practitioners and may not form chambers or partnerships if they wish to remain members of the Bar of Ireland's Law Library.

Questions were raised on the necessity of the separation, given the fact that its main purpose – the preservation of the quality of the legal profession and observance of local court rules and customs – had become obsolete.

Any lawyer may apply to become a King's Counsel (KC) to recognize the long-standing contribution to the legal profession but this status is only conferred on those practicing as solicitors in exceptional circumstances.

The vast majority of Nigerian lawyers combine contentious and non-contentious work, although there is a growing tendency for practitioners in the bigger practices to specialize in one or the other.

Presently, legal advisors can also represent clients in criminal cases, making the historical differences between these professions largely obsolete.

Aspiring advocates currently spend one year in pupillage (formerly only six months) before being admitted to the bar in their respective provincial or judicial jurisdictions.

They perform both scholastic and social roles, and in all cases, provide financial aid to student barristers (subject to merit) through scholarships.

Law graduates wishing to work and be known as barristers must take a course of professional training (known as the "vocational component") at one of the institutions approved by the Bar Council.

Following successful completion of this stage, most barristers then join a set of Chambers, a group of counsel who share the costs of premises and support staff whilst remaining individually self-employed.

[20] In 2022, there were about 3,100 employed barristers working in companies as in-house counsel, or in local or national government, academic institutions, or the armed forces.

The ability of barristers to accept such instructions is a recent development; it results from a change in the rules set down by the General Council of the Bar in July 2004.

In the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey and on the Isle of Man, advocates perform the combined functions of both solicitors and barristers.