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In some civil law countries, there has been a tradition of giving many legal tasks to a variety of civil law notaries, clerks, and scriveners. These countries do not have "lawyers" in the American sense, insofar as that term refers to a single type of general-purpose legal services provider, rather, their legal professions consist of a large number of law-trained persons, known as jurists, of which only some are advocates who are licensed to practice in the courts.

In contrast, several other countries that began with a divided profession have since fused or united their legal profession into a single type of lawyer. In such countries, a lawyer is usually permitted to carry out all or almost all the responsibilities listed below.

Oral argument in the courts

The classic public image of a lawyer is of a polished, well-dressed advocate who smoothly argues a client's case before a judge or jury in a court of law. This is the traditional province of the barrister.

However, the boundary between barristers and solicitors has gradually evolved over time. For example, in England, the barrister monopoly covers only appellate courts, and barristers must compete directly with solicitors in many trial courts.

In some countries, litigants have the option (though not recommended) of arguing pro se, or on their own behalf, and it is common for litigants to appear unrepresented before certain courts like small claims courts. In others, like Venezuela, no one may appear before a judge unless represented by a lawyer.

Research and drafting of court papers

In most legal systems, lawyers are expected to brief a court in writing on the issue in a case before the issue can be orally argued. They may have to perform extensive research into relevant facts and law.

In England, a solicitor gets the facts of the case from the client and briefs a barrister in writing. The barrister then researches, drafts, and files the necessary court pleadings, and orally argues the case.

In Spain, the procurator merely signs and presents the papers to the court, but it is the advocate who drafts the papers and argues the case.

In some countries, like Japan, a scrivener or clerk may fill out court forms and draft simple papers for laypersons who cannot afford or do not need attorneys, and advise them on how to manage and argue their own cases.

Practice before administrative courts

In most countries, administrative courts are informal bodies. In a few countries, there is a special category of jurists with a monopoly over this form of advocacy; thus, France has its conseil juridiques. In other countries, like the United States, lawyers have actually been barred by statute from certain types of administrative hearings in order to preserve their informality.

Client intake and counseling (with regard to pending litigation)

Before a lawyer can accept a client's case, he or she must interview the client and determine whether it is worth taking. The lawyer must also stay in regular contact with the client and advise them about the case's status and possible outcome.

In England, only solicitors were traditionally in direct contact with the client. The solicitor retained a barrister if one was necessary and acted as an intermediary between the barrister and the client.

Legal advice (with regard to all legal matters)

Legal advice is the application of abstract principles of law to the concrete facts of the client's case in order to advise the client about what they should do next. In many countries, only a properly licensed lawyer may provide legal advice to clients for good consideration, even if no lawsuit is contemplated or is in progress. Therefore, even conveyances and corporate in-house counsel must first get a license to practice, though they may actually spend very little of their careers in court.

In other countries, jurists who hold law degrees are allowed to provide legal advice to individuals or to corporations, and it is irrelevant if they lack a license and cannot appear in court. Sometimes civil law notaries are allowed to give legal advice, as in Belgium. In many countries, non-jurist accountants may provide what is technically legal advice in tax and accounting matters.

Protecting intellectual property

In virtually all countries, patents, trademarks, copyrights and other forms of intellectual property must be formally registered with a government agency in order to be protected by the law. The division of such work among lawyers, licensed non-lawyer jurists/agents, and ordinary clerks or scriveners varies greatly from one country to the next.

Negotiating and drafting contracts

In some countries, the negotiating and drafting of contracts is considered to be similar to the provision of legal advice, so that it is subject to the licensing requirement explained above. In others, jurists or notaries may negotiate or draft contracts.

Conveyancing

Conveyancing is the drafting of the documents necessary for the transfer of real property, such as deeds and mortgages. In some jurisdictions, all real estate transactions must be carried out by a lawyer (or a solicitor where that distinction still exists). Such a monopoly is quite valuable from the lawyer's point of view; historically, conveyancing accounted for about half of English solicitors' income (though this has since changed), and a 1978 study showed that conveyancing "accounts for as much as 80 percent of solicitor-client contact in New South Wales." In others, the use of a lawyer is optional and banks, title companies, or realtors may be used instead. In some civil law jurisdictions, real estate transactions are handled by civil law notaries.

Carrying out the intent of the deceased

In many countries, lawyers have a monopoly on the drafting of wills, trusts, and any other documents that ensure the efficient disposition of a person's property after death. In some civil law countries this responsibility is handled by civil law notaries.

In the United States, the estates of the deceased must be administered by a court through probate, and American lawyers have a profitable monopoly over probate law.

Pro bono or legal aid services

Lawyers are generally subject to some kind of official recommendation that they voluntarily provide a certain number of hours of free pro bono services to the poor each year.

In some countries, there are legal aid lawyers who specialize in providing legal services to the poor, disadvantaged, and indigent. France and Spain even have formal fee structures by which lawyers are compensated by the government for legal aid cases on a per-case basis. In others, legal aid specialists are practically nonexistent. This may be because nonlawyers are allowed to provide such services, as in Norway, or because mandatory fee structures have enabled widespread implementation of affordable legal expense insurance, as in Germany. In Italy, trade unions and political parties provide what can be characterized as legal aid services.

Prosecution of criminal suspects

In many civil law countries, prosecutors are trained and employed as part of the judiciary; they are law-trained jurists, but may not necessarily be lawyers in the sense that the word is used in the common law world. In common law countries, prosecutors are usually lawyers holding regular licenses who simply happen to work for the government office that files criminal charges against suspects.

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