Law Industry: Jobs Explained
- Advocate (Scotland) - Advocates in Scotland perform the same role as barristers in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. An advocate is more or less a self-employed independent lawyer. Most are based in Parliament House in Edinburgh and work as self-employed individuals, and are employed within industry or local government.
- Advocate’s clerk - An Advocate's clerk is responsible for running the business activities and administration of an advocate’s stables.. Barristers' clerks must be familiar with court procedures and etiquette.
- Company secretary - A company secretary manages the processes that ensure their organisation follows company legislation and regulation and keeps board members informed of their legal responsibilities. By law, every company must have a company secretary. The role of a company secretary is to provide a firm foundation on which companies can successfully operate.
- Legal Cashier - A legal cashier is responsible for carrying out accurately a number of cashroom tasks including preparation of payments using banking software, dealing appropriately and efficiently with client funds, dealing with enquiries and checking paperwork to ensure that at all times staff are complying with Law Society Accounts Rules and Best Practice Rules in addition to the firms internal procedure rules.
- Legal Executive - Legal executives are qualified lawyers, specialising in particular areas of law. They have their own client files and, as fee-earners in private practice, their work is charged directly to the client (this is an important difference between legal executives and other legal support staff).
- Legal Secretary - A legal secretary provides a full range of audio and copy typing, administration and general secretarial duties. They work in all legal areas, and must be familiar with legal terminology.
- Licensed conveyancer - A conveyancer is involved in the legal process that transfers the title of a property from a seller to a buyer. They are specialists in all aspects of property law and they handle contracts for the sale, and draw up all the legal documents that sellers and purchasers sign on exchanging contracts.
- Paralegal - Paralegals are employed not only in law, but in the public sector, business and industry. In general a Paralegal is someone who does legal work but who is not a qualified lawyer. Typical activities include administration, drafting and proofreading, legal research and taking witness statements.
- Solicitor (commercial) - A commercial solicitor deals with all sizes of businesses. They advise these businesses on specialist areas of law and represent clients where there is a business-related dispute. Some of the areas of law that they could specialise in are: property, tax, employment and finance.
- Solicitor (non-commercial) - A non-commercial solicitor provides a large range of legal support and advice to clients, individuals and small businesses. They take instruction and advise on legal issues.
