Bar

Bar, in law, originally, the rail in the English Inns of Court that separated the court officials from the suitors, their advocates, and friends. When an action was brought to trial, the suitors presented themselves at the bar, accompanied by their advocates, who addressed the court from there. The term has been extended to apply to those whose profession it is to appear at the bar on behalf of suitors. The advocates or counsel attached to a certain judicial circuit or practicing their profession in a certain county (in the United Kingdom) or state (in the U.S.) are known collectively as the bar of such circuit, county, or state. The term also designates all the lawyers of a country, as “the American bar” or “the English bar.”