Solicitor

Responsible for:
As a solicitor it would be your job to advise clients about the law, and act on behalf of your clients in legal matters. Your clients could be individuals, groups of people, companies or public organisations.

You could work in a range of setting as such: private practice, where you would provide a range of legal services such as conveyancing, civil and family law litigation, personal injury and criminal law; commercial practice, advising and acting for businesses in areas including contract law, tax, employment law and company sales and mergers; in-house legal advice for companies, the government; or the Prosecution Service, examining evidence to decide whether to bring cases to court.
Average salary:
Starting salaries while training are around £30,000 to £40,000 a year. Once qualified, salaries can rise to between £60,000 and £100,000, depending on experience and the type of employer. Salaries for partners in large firms or heads of in-house legal departments can reach £150,000 a year or more.

Typical working hours:
You would normally be contracted to work 37 hours a week, but longer hours are common depending on the needs of your clients. In some jobs you may be on call at weekends and bank holidays.

Qualifications:
Qualification as a UK Solicitor -
To become a solicitor, you must first of all meet the necessary academic standards in one of the following three ways, and then you must complete vocational training:

• By gaining a qualifying law degree
• By gaining a degree in any other subject, then taking the Common Professional Examination (CPE) or Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)
• Or by qualifying as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) – see the Legal Executive profile for more information on this route.

To get onto a law degree you will generally need at least five GCSEs (A-C) and two A levels with good grades, or alternatives such as an Access to Higher Education qualification. Some universities may ask you to pass the National Admissions Test for Law (LNAT) before accepting you for a law degree. You should check exact entry requirements with course providers.

Once you have met the academic standards you must then pass the Legal Practice Course (LPC), which can be one year full-time or two years part-time.
See the Law Society’s website for more information, including details of approved law degrees, CPE/GDL and LPC courses.

Once you have met the academic standards and passed the Legal Practice Course, you must complete further vocational training by:

• Getting a two-year training contract with a firm of solicitors
• Passing the Professional Skills Course (PSC) during your training contract.

See the Law Society website for advice about finding a training contract. (If you are a qualified legal executive you do not usually need to complete a training contract, but you must still pass the Professional Skills Course).

Once you have fully qualified, you must also take a certain amount of further training and development each year throughout your career. The Law Societies run compulsory continuing professional development (CPD) schemes to help members achieve this.

Qualification as a Jersey Solicitor -
Relative to other jurisdictions, the route to qualification as a Jersey solicitor or advocate is still viewed as a relatively demanding process. As a result, many Jersey based lawyers holding professional qualifications gained in another jurisdiction choose not to qualify in Jersey. In addition, Jersey school leavers who may ultimately wish to pursue a career as a lawyer in Jersey will tend to gain their professional qualifications in the UK before coming back to the Island to practice.

It is the public examination process that makes qualification as a Jersey solicitor or advocate so difficult. This is largely as a result of there being a lack of printed source materials in relation to Jersey law and, until recently, the lack of a syllabus and an absence of organised learning opportunities in the form of lectures, seminars and tutorials. Studying for the examinations has proved to be difficult because students are reliant upon study notes passed down from former candidates.

But change is on the way, as the latter part of 2009 should see the launch in Jersey of the Institute of Law. The Institute is intended to oversee the teaching of core subjects through lectures and tutorials, and will also to assist the board of examiners in setting and marking examination papers. In addition, to facilitate teaching, the Institute intends to make a written guide available to students in relation to all core subjects. All in all, the work of the Institute of Law should help to reform the examination process such that, although no less intellectually demanding, it should become a less arduous process. This change may then result in a greater number of Jersey school leavers completing an undergraduate degree and specified professional legal studies abroad before returning to the island to study for their Jersey examinations

General requirements:

• Strong spoken and written communication skills
• Ability to take in and analyse large amounts of information
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail
• Ability to explain legal matters clearly to non-experts
• Confidence and a persuasive manner
• Able to work under pressure and manage several cases at once
• Tact and empathy
• Respect for confidentiality
• Ability with figures, if you deal with property and financial work

Career prospects:
Around three quarters of solicitors work in private practice, for firms ranging from small high street firms to large international and offshore law companies. Other employers include local government, the courts service, prosecution service, businesses and charities.

With experience, in private practice you could eventually become a partner in a firm of solicitors, or as a commercial solicitor you could manage an in-house legal department. Alternatively, you could choose to take further training to become a barrister or advocate.