Law - whats a "PSL"?

[RachLeighmum]

Hi fellow lawyers,

Sorry to sound thick here but what is this role I keep hearing mentioned "PSL" - professional support lawyer, i presume from what I have googled, but what exactly is it? I know i have been out of the game for 5 years (looking to go back next Sept/Oct) but I had never heard this term before. Is it similar to a paralegal role and is it more likely that you would find part-time role as a psl rather than normal fee-earning role? I am a legal exec and will be looking for p/t work in litigation.
Thanks,
Rachel

It's nothing like paralegal, the exact nature varies from dept to dept and firm to firm but it's a knowledge-based role including current awareness, training, precedents, dealing with queries (internal and client), business development (e.g. how to sell the firm's knowledge externally to clients) and knowledge management.

I think you'd need to be a qualified solicitor rather than legal exec to do it. Also if you've been out of practice for 5 years you might struggle to convince potential employers that you could fulfil the current awareness role, unless you can demonstrate that you've kept up to speed with developments during that time.

Re: part time work, because it's not generally a client-facing/transactional role the hours are generally better and it often is possible to work part time.

In my firm PSLs have dedicated assistants - it's a role with paralegal status so generally they are youngsters starting out but sure experience would be a bonus and PT would be possible perhaps. This could be an option?