Law firms often employ staff who they call Legal Executives ("Legal Exec" is the shortened jargon most commonly used.)
The actual roles and the levels of technical skills which they have vary. The most common role of a Legal Exec is the looking after of residential property transactions. These Legal Execs are able do all the work involved in the sale or purchase of your home. Other Legal Execs do some commercial work, litigation work, estates and will drafting.
Legal Execs normally have extensive work experience within a legal environment - legal secretary for example. It is becoming increasingly common for Legal Execs to also have some form of official legal training. Polytechnics offer Legal Executive diploma courses which take three to four years part-time to complete.
All work conducted by Legal Execs is monitored by lawyers but they are fee earners in their own right with full client responsibilities.
Lower cost to the client is one consideration, but efficiency, client service, and risk management are also important issues. Residential Conveyancing (the legal term for the process of buying or selling a house), can become intricate and requires attention to detail, and an ability to juggle a large array of information.
It takes a special set of skills to create a smooth and straight forward transaction for the client. Many good Lawyers do not necessarily have the skills or aptitude to be good "conveyancers". Even if they do have the skills, its difficult to fit in enough conveyancing to remain proficient. Our Legal Execs are well experienced and trained to be aware of the quirks, ins and outs, and risks involved in getting a conveyancing transaction complete. They know the pitfalls and they know when to seek the input of a lawyer, whether a Partner, Associate or Senior Solicitors.
When your Parry Field Lawyer refers you to a Parry Field Legal Exec, they are looking after your best interests by recognising that someone else in our firm has skills to perform the task more efficiently and more cost effectively for your benefit
Again confusing. Historically a legal secretary was someone who could type with speed and exceptional "first time" accuracy. Computers with electronic word processing and electronic precedent documents has reduced the need for typing accuracy. The skills of legal secretaries are therefore broadening. They are increasingly computer and system literate, increasingly responsible for customer service, and increasingly aware of the technical aspects of law. In other words, a legal secretary is now a secretary who knows a lot about law.
