这两个术语均有律师协会的含义。其区别源于英国对于律师的分类。

在英国，律师分为“巴律师Barrister”（A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the philosophy, hypothesis and history of law, and giving expert legal opinions.）和“沙律师solicitor”（A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to practise there as such.）。

因此，Bar association则指英格兰和威尔士的“巴律师协会”，因为bar在此指的就是barrister。A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence.

而law society（也称为society of solicitors）则指英格兰和威尔士的“沙律师协会”。苏格兰的律师协会自成体系，其沙律师协会为Law Society of Scotland，而苏格兰的沙律师则被称为law agent；苏格兰的巴律师协会则是Faculty of Advocates。

美国律师的划分与英国不同，其没有沙、巴律师之分，因而在美国，律师协会只用bar association来表示。美国各州的律师协会被称为state bar association，全美律师协会则被称为American Bar Association（“ABA”）。因此，相对于law society，bar association的使用范围更加广泛。

我国的律师既不属于barrister体系，也不属于solicitor系列，因此，以上两种翻译均不适合。目前，可以查到我国的律师协会常常译为China Lawyers’ Society，如“中华全国律师协会”即为“All China Lawyers’ Society”。这种翻译还是相对来说比较贴切的。