Chinese Lawyer Classification System Research

With the rapid development of socialist market economy and comprehensive promotion of law-based governance, the lawyer team construction has been an issue we must study for higher-quality legal-service teams. It’s an objective request of the legal system and social development to classify the lawyer and discuss the legal professional scientific flow. According to the lawyer classification theory combined with the current situation of foreign lawyers’ classification system and classification of lawyers in China history and based on comprehensively analyze the internal problems in lawyer classification system and the politics, economy, culture and legal environment, this paper focuses on the establishment of lawyer classification system. Theoretically, classifying the lawyer can be from two aspects: horizontal and vertical. And the organic combination of both directions can establish a scientific classification system. Horizontally, as “providing legal service object” is the standard of classification, it can be divided into three types: social lawyer, public office lawyer and corporate lawyer. The social lawyer can also be divided into three types: civil and commercial lawyer, crown lawyer and administrative lawyer. The public office lawyer can be divided into party and government groups lawyer, government lawyer and military lawyer. The corporate lawyer can be divided into management lawyer and transaction lawyer. From the vertical point of view, “knowledge and ability of lawyer” is the standard. And it can be divided into three types: assistant lawyer, practice lawyer and trial lawyer, business lawyer and experts. In practice, classifying the lawyer must comprehensively consider the situations of the legal profession, adhere to the combination of marketization and legislation, the integration of professionalization and specialization and the principle of de-administration. Anymore,the classification of lawyer should be dominated by bar association, controlled by judicial administrative organs and interacted with the public power authority system.