ADD ADVICE TO FAVLegal executive
Legal executives are qualified lawyers, handling their own caseloads and working alongside solicitors and barristers.
Typical duties for a legal executive include:
- advising clients in employment disputes or criminal proceedings
- drafting wills, acting as executors and administering estates
- issuing or defending proceedings in cases such as debt or personal injury
- carrying out legal and procedural work to transfer land between owners.
Key skills
- good communication
- ability to cope with pressure and solve problems
- attention to detail
- good interviewing technique.
Training to be a legal executive
To qualify, trainees must complete all examinations with the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) and have five years’ qualifying employment.
Working in the legal field while doing examinations counts towards the first three years, but a further two years’ qualifying employment is required after that.
Graduate salaries
Salaries vary across the UK. New trainees earn £8,000 to £12,000. After the Level 3 Professional Diploma in Law this can rise to £16,000 to £19,000.
Fellows earn between £20,000 and £24,000, experienced Fellows in excess of £25,000 per year, and in many cases upwards of £40,000.
