All the information quoted after Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary:
Lawyer is a general term for a person who is qualified to advise people about the law, to prepare legal documents for them and/or to represent them in a court of law. In England and Wales, a lawyer who is qualified to speak in the higher courts of law is called a barrister. In Scotland a barrister is called an advocate. In AmE attorney is a more formal word used for a lawyer and is used especially in job titles: district attorney . . . Solicitor is the BrE term for a lawyer who gives legal advice and prepares documents, for example when you are buying a house, and sometimes has the right to speak in a court of law. Im AmE solicitor is only used in the titles of some lawyers who work for the government: Solicitor General.
