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Legal and political services

There are many different aspects to working in law - it isn't just about crime. As well as criminal law you could be dealing with family issues, house-buying, wills or commercial contracts. You may find yourself working for the government or for a private firm.

 

My Choice Notts logo

MyChoiceNotts

Are you interested in getting a qualification in this area? Look for a course at local sixth forms and FE colleges on My Choice Notts(Nottinghamshire and just over the border). For higher education courses go to UCAS

 

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Vacancies Online

Search for local job vacancies and Apprenticeship opportunities in the sector you're interested in.

 

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Find out more about the Diploma in Public Services course here

 

The job titles you might be most familiar with are solicitor, barrister, lawyer and legal executive. To do one of these jobs you'll need to be qualified to degree level but it's possible to train 'on the job' for a role such as legal executive or solicitor.

People in these work areas need a good understanding of the legal system and may represent people in court, draw up documents for people such as divorce papers, wills, house-buying or selling documents or may deal with legal matters for the government or commercial companies.

There are many other job roles within the legal services sector such as clerks, legal secretaries, registrars (people who register births, deaths and marriages) and other court services roles. Qualifications for these jobs will vary. And don't forget MPs (members of parliament) come under this job sector too - helping to run the country is a pretty important job!

You need to have good communication skills to work in this area as well as being able to pay attention to detail, and you must be well organised. For most of the jobs you'll need to keep on learning throughout your career as the law and its practice is constantly changing.

How can you get into this type of work? 

Your Personal Adviser will be able to discuss your options with you.

  • School or college - study for GCSEs, AS / A levels, a diploma, NVQs or other vocational qualifications that could lead to a job, an Apprenticeship, further qualifications or even a degree.

  • e2e (Entry to Employment) - if you’re not sure if you’re suited to this job you might be able to get some work experience through e2e. It can also give you extra support to gain the right qualifications, get onto a training programme or get a job.

  • Apprenticeship - train ‘on-the-job’ with a wage or allowance. For the latest Apprenticeship vacancies in Nottinghamshire go to Vacancies Online.

  • Work or work with training

What else can I do? 

  •  

As well as qualifications, employers also look for the skills
people have when they’re applying for jobs. Here are the
skills that legal and political service employers are looking for from you:

  • Communication
  • Team work  and working on own
  • Problem solving
  • Able to work under pressure
  • Trustworthy and reliable
  • Smart

 

 

Skills

Four one pound pieces

Wages will vary depending on where in the country you work and between different organisations.

Job title Average weekly salary* Average annual salary

Senior official in national government

 £1131.00 £58,812
Judge £1039.50 £54,054
Legal associate professional (other)  £784.80 £38,837 (approx)
Solicitor or lawyer £1039.50 £54,054
Legal secretary £348.30 £18,112

Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, ONS 2009

*Based on gross pay (before you have anything taken out) and not including overtime

Note: this does not include self-employed 

What's happening in the industry?

More businesses are needing legal services today due to globalisation which is leading to big international mergers. There are also more firms dealing in specialist areas and when there is an economic downturn, the services of legal teams are needed to deal with businesses that go bankrupt . Individuals are also calling on the services of lawyers as our society becomes more legally aware.

More students are studying law but the number of trainee solicitor positions has stayed the same so there's more competition.

ILEX (Institute of Legal Executives) qualifications are a way of becoming a lawyer without doing a fulltime degree. You can study while you're working for a law firm. You may start as an administrator or trainee legal secretary and then work your way up, or you might go straight into a job as a trainee legal executive. As you're already in work you don't need to compete for a trainee solicitor position. Some companies even pay for the cost of the training. Recent changes mean that with further training legal executives can now do the same work as solicitors.

See the 'Notts Info' section for what's happening locally.

It's hard to say how many people work in this job sector in Nottinghamshire. The number of men and women working in legal services is about the same and most people work full time. However, there tend to be more men than women working in the more senior positions in politics.

Nottingham Law School, based at Nottingham Trent University, is one of the largest full service law schools in the UK and the law school at the University of Nottingham is one of the leading law schools in the UK.

Within politics, Nottingham City Council has 55 councillors and three MPs (Members of Parliament) representing us. Nottinghamshire County Council has 62 councillors and eight MPs (Members of Parliament).

Key Employers

Crown Court in Nottingham

County and Magistrates Courts in Nottingham, Mansfield, Newark and Worksop. Magistrate court only in Retford

City and County Councils have legal and political departments. Some large organisations also have their own legal departments

The larger law firms and solicitors tend to be based in Nottingham and the surrounding area. These include:

Geldards

Freeth Cartwright

Berrymans

Shoosmiths

Cartwright King

Nelsons

Fraser Brown

Most towns in Nottinghamshire have firms of solicitors for example:

Hopkins solicitors (Mansfield and Nottingham)

Fidler and Petter (Mansfield, Kirkby and Sutton in Ashfield)

Jackson Quinn (Nottingham, Worksop, Retford and Newark

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Jobs 4 U

Jobs4U

Find out more about specific jobs in this sector:

  • what's it like?
  • getting in
  • pay and benefits
  • similar jobs
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