This is a brief guide to help you with your research. Many records of lawyers survive, especially in archives of the relevant court. The National Archives is not the best place to look for historic records relating to solicitors and attorneys (former name for solicitors practicing in the courts of equity including Court of Chancery). For records of barristers see below.
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What do I need to know before I start?
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Try to find out the dates your lawyer practiced as this will help to focus your search.
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What records can I see online?
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Search Articles of Clerkship (1756-1874) on Ancestry (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.).
These include affidavits of due execution (KB 105, KB 106, KB 107, CP 71) and registers of articles of clerkship (CP 71).
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What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?
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Clerkships in the Court of Common Pleas (c 1713-1867)
Search articles of clerkship using the name of the qualified solicitor or the person they were training. Use the Advanced search option in Discovery, our cataloguea search tool with descriptions of tens of millions of documents from the UK central government, law courts, and other national bodies and under 'search within' enter the departmental code CP 5 for articles of clerkshipan agreement binding a clerk to an attorney or solicitor which allowed him, after five years, to enter the profession in his own right.
Browse our catalogue for registers of articles in CP 71.
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Registers of affidavits from the Court of King's Bench (1749-1877)
Browse our catalogue in KB 170 for registers of affidavitsaffidavit - a sworn statement bound or used as evidence in law made by articled clerks prior to being admitted to serve as attorneys and solicitors on the Court of King's Bench. These are arranged by surname of clerk.
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Register of affidavits from the Exchequer of Pleas (1833-1855)
Consult the file E 4/3 for a register of affidavits of due execution of articles of clerkshipan agreement binding a clerk to an attorney or solicitor which allowed him, after five years, to enter the profession in his own right relating to the Exchequer and related organisations.
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To access these records you will either need to visit us, pay for research (£there will be a charge) or, where you can identify a specific record referencea unique set of letters and numbers identifying a document in The National Archives, order a copy (£there will be a charge).
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What records can I find in other archives and organisations?
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Records of the Registrar of Attorneys and Solicitors
Find out to which court the attorney was admitted to practise - they are likely to hold the records. The Law Society has records of the Registrar of Attorneys and Solicitors, set up in 1843, which might help you find the relevant court.
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Records of barristers
Find Barristers Rolls (1868-1986) in KB 4. There are earlier oath rolls in KB 24.
You might be able to find out more about a barrister by contacting the relevant Inns of Court:
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Records and resources of the Institute of Legal Studies
Search for records relating to a number of organisations concerned with legal education at the Institute of Legal Studies and consult the institute's directories of lawyers at Senate House Libraries.
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What other resources will help me find information?
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Websites
Search The Inner Temple Admissions Database for biographical information about past members of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, one of the four London-based Inns of Court.
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Books
Consult the Law Lists: a directory of lawyers published annually between 1775 and 1976.
The Law Society has a complete run of Law lists.
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Civil litigants
Criminals and convicts
Crime and punishment