Legal executive

Your day-to-day duties will depend on your specialism. You could:

• advise clients and explain legal matters
•  contact mortgage lenders, planning officers or other professionals on behalf of clients
•  research and summarise legal information
•  prepare legal documents
•  write to clients
•  draw up wills
•  prepare contracts
•  represent clients in court
•  prepare bills for clients

• excellent verbal communication skills
• excellent written communication skills
• the ability to work well with others
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
• legal knowledge including court procedures and government regulations
• the ability to use your initiative
• the ability to think clearly using logic and reasoning
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

You can get into this job through:

• a university course
• a college course
• an apprenticeship
• working towards this role

With experience, you could take on more complex cases and build up a large client base. You could also progress to leading a team of legal executives and secretaries, or become a practice manager in a law firm.

With further study, you could qualify as a solicitor.