A split legal profession may be unheard of in the United States, but this is hardly the case in continental Europe. On the contrary, this is very much a part of legal tradition, or at least legal history, of several countries this side of the Channel.
In France, conseils juridiques used to belong to a fully distinct profession until they were merged by statute in 1991 with avocats; and even today avoués are still in existence, operate independently of law firms, and retain their exclusive right of audience in the French courts of appeal, as do the avocats à la Cour de Cassation.
Whenever one needs to file an appeal in France, the party involved needs to instruct one of those lawyers; while it is normal that a foreign company rely blindly on the judgment and choice of its trial lawyer, their role is not all but perfunctory or formal, and especially before the Court of Cassation the counsel appointed may really make the difference.
