Legal executives are lawyers who do much the same work as regular solicitors, but tend to focus on specialist areas of law, including:

l Personal injury claims: Had an accident? Give them a call.

l Crime: defence or prosecution work.

l Family law: divorces and related issues.

l Conveyancing: legal aspects of property deals.

l Company and business law – dealing with legal matters relating to businesses, i.e. employment law, contracts, tax, etc.

l Litigation: legal disputes.

l Probate: wills, trusts, inheritance tax, etc.

They liaise with solicitors, The Crown Prosecution Service, local government, Civil Service and with private sector business with their day to day activities depending on their chosen specialist field:

l Speaking on behalf of clients in civil or criminal courts.

l Simplifying legal issues for clients and providing advice on how the law relates to a specific case or transaction.

l Preparing, studying and writing wills, contracts and other legal documents.

The working week for a legal executive, mostly follows the standard Monday to Friday 9am till 5pm office hours pattern, but evening, weekend or shift work can be required.

Starting salaries for Legal Executives begin around £15000 and go up to around the £20000 range, and there are excellent prospects for promotion for those who are willing to work hard.

Their main working environment is in offices, but can also work off site at courts, police stations, other organisations, etc. Their high profile requires a smart dress code. They also need to be mobile and in possession of a valid driving licence.

Lawyers can use the title Legal Executives after joining the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX), something they will be eligible to do after working for at least five years in qualifying legal employment.

Trainee legal executives are usually supervised by a senior legal executive or barrister or solicitor during training and study while on the job, or via day release on external courses or through the tutorial college of ILEX.

Vacancies are advertised in specialist publications (e.g. The Law Society Gazette and The Lawyer) as well as in newspapers and online.