Warning
Info
Warning
Info
Simple English definitions for legal terms
prime serjeant
Read a random definition: internal-affairs doctrine
A quick definition of prime serjeant:
A Prime Serjeant is a type of lawyer in England who was very skilled and important. They used to have a special right to practice law in a certain court. They were also given the first chance to speak in front of the king or queen. However, this type of lawyer is not used anymore and has been replaced by a different type of lawyer called a Queen's Counsel. The Prime Serjeants used to work in a special building called Serjeants' Inn, but that building doesn't exist anymore.
A more thorough explanation:
A Prime Serjeant is a type of barrister in English law who has achieved the highest degree of the legal profession. They were given the primary right of preaudience by royal letters patent.
A Serjeant-at-Law is a barrister of superior grade who, until 1846, had the exclusive privilege of practicing in the Court of Common Pleas. Every judge of the common-law courts was required to be a Serjeant-at-Law until the Judicature Act of 1873. The rank was gradually superseded by that of Queen's Counsel.
Serjeants' Inn was a building on Chancery Lane, London, that housed the Order of Serjeants-at-Law. The building was sold and demolished in 1877.
John is a Prime Serjeant, which means he has achieved the highest degree of the legal profession and has the primary right of preaudience by royal letters patent.
Mary is a Serjeant-at-Law, which means she is a barrister of superior grade and has the exclusive privilege of practicing in the Court of Common Pleas.
The Serjeants' Inn was a building that housed the Order of Serjeants-at-Law until it was sold and demolished in 1877.
These examples illustrate the different types of Serjeants in English law and their roles and privileges.