Legal executive jobs

Legal executives are licensed attorneys who work for a fee and do work that is comparable to that performed by solicitors. Legal executives often specialize in a single field of law, such as litigation or conveyancing.

What does a legal executive do? Common employers | Education and experience requirements | Essential skill sets

The work varies depending on the specialist, however some of the regular responsibilities are as follows:

litigation

aiding solicitors

providing guidance on legal matters

conducting investigations and putting together cases

drafting official papers for legal use

Work in either the High Court or local courts

dealing with legal concerns such as the creation of wills, the transfer of property, child custody disputes, and the negotiation of divorce settlements

Although the day-to-day responsibilities of a legal executive are comparable to those of a solicitor, the educational path to becoming a legal executive is more constrained than the one to becoming a solicitor. In order to become a solicitor, one must finish the legal practice course and demonstrate mastery of a range of topics that are essential to the profession. Chartered legal executives begin their careers by specializing early on and concentrating their education on a single area of legal practice.

In the same way that lawyers are obliged to remain current on changes and new advancements in the legal system, legal executives must also continue their education over the course of their employment. They are qualified to hold judicial positions and, according to the Legal Services Act of 2007, they have the ability to become partners or managers in specific firms.

The education required to become a solicitor is more expensive and more difficult than the education required to become a legal executive; nonetheless, it is feasible to move on to qualify as a solicitor after being chartered.

Employers often found in the legal executive profession

Firms that provide legal services on a private basis

Authorities at the local level

Legal departments

Organizations in the business and industrial sectors

Employment opportunities are often publicized in specialized journals such as the Law Society Gazette and the Journal of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx). Employment placement services may sometimes post open opportunities in the hope of finding appropriate candidates.

Qualifications and experience are expected of applicants.

You need to become a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives in order to work in the legal industry as an executive (CILEx). This may be accomplished by earning a passing grade on the CILEx professional qualification in law and by accumulating a minimum of three years' worth of supervised legal experience. You may be trained while you work by going to a nearby college during the day, working part-time while also going to school, or doing remote learning.

Both college graduates and high school dropouts have opportunities to work their way up into legal leadership roles. It takes an average of four years to fulfill the academic criteria for students who did not graduate from law school or who did not finish high school. The minimum academic criteria for admission are four GCSEs with a grade of C or above, at least one of which must be in English, or credentials that are similar.

You may become a chartered legal executive lawyer by completing the graduate 'fast-track' diploma offered by CILEx; the diploma requires about nine months of part-time study to complete. If you already hold a law degree, you are eligible to sit the exam.

CILEx fellows who are interested in becoming solicitors are often exempt from completing the two-year training contract and some of the academic qualifying stage. This paves the way for them to enter directly onto the legal practice course without having to first complete a CPE or GDL conversion course. It is highly recommended that you get in touch with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in order to determine whether or not you qualify for an exemption.

Competencies essential for legal executives

Independence

Teamworking

Organisation skills

Abilities in communication

Discretion

Investigative talents

Negotiating skills

Capacity to perform well under adverse conditions