Job Family: Legal and Political Services
Further Details
A legal adviser/court clerk is a qualified solicitor or barrister responsible for assisting magistrates in courts throughout England and Wales. Magistrates’ courts deal with over 95 per cent of all criminal cases, whether in the adult or youth court. The legal adviser ensures that the magistrates and defendants all follow the legal rules. They advise the magistrates on law, practice and procedure. Legal advisers do not get involved in the verdict of the case.
A legal adviser prepares for court sessions. This involves seeing which court they have been allocated and reading through the files and papers for that day. The court sessions may involve trials, sentencing, bail conditions, road traffic cases, private prosecutions and fine enforcement.
Legal advisers work 36 hours a week, normally 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. They are based in magistrates’ courts and may work out of several courts within a geographical area. Formal dress is required in court and offices.
Salaries range from £17,500 a year for a trainee legal adviser, to around £61,000 for senior legal advisers.
A legal adviser needs:
· a good understanding of the legal system
· to be self-confident, to think logically and clearly
· to be able to offer objective advice
· to be able to work under pressure and enjoy a challenge
· have excellent interpersonal skills.
In England and Wales, legal advisers are employed by Magistrates’ Court Committees, which are responsible for the courts in a geographical area. There are about 2,600 legal advisers in England and Wales working in about 430 magistrates’ courts. There are more applicants than there are positions for trainee roles.
Courts employ legal advisers and offer on-the-job training or they specifically recruit trainee legal advisers. All candidates are required to have at least a second class honours degree, plus the Legal Practice Course or Bar Vocational Course. There is no upper age limit.
Courts offer on-the-job training to new entrants, and each court is responsible for their own training structure. A trainee legal adviser undergoes one or two years of training. They work in a variety of courts, supervised or unsupervised before qualifying
The magistrates’ courts service has a well-organised career structure. Once qualified, legal advisers can concentrate on the legal or the managerial aspect of the job or specialise in various areas. To gain promotion it may be necessary to move to work at another court. Legal advisers can be promoted to justices’ clerks, who act as senior legal advisers to magistrates and are responsible for running a number of courts within an area.
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