role of legal executives Model Answer

• A Legal Executive is a Qualified Lawyer who can provide Advice and Representation to clients, a role developed under the Legal Services Act 2007. There are about 20,000 legal executives and they specialize in a particular area of the law (such as Personal Injury law).
• Their day to day work is mainly done in private practice and is similar to that of a solicitor, in terms of interviewing clients and drafting documents, negotiating for clients and settling claims although they may deal with the more straight-forward cases in comparison to a Solicitor.
• Legal Executives also have some rights of audience in the County and Magistrates Courts. However, since 2007, Legal Executives have needed extra qualifications to obtain wider rights of audience.
• This can be through; a Civil Proceedings Certificate, which allows them to present Civil Cases in the County; a Criminal Proceedings Certificate, which allows them to present applications for bail or deal with Youth Court matters; and a Family Proceedings Certificate, allowing them to present cases in the Family Court of the Magistrates Court. This certificates would allow them to make bail applications and deal with cases in the Youth Court, Family Court or Magistrates Court.
• Legal executives (like solicitors) are fee-earners and their time is usually charged directly to clients on an hourly rate. Like solicitors, legal executives are employed so receive a wage. They generate income for their firm through their work. Legal executives can become partners of legal firms and so take a share of the profit made by the business.

  Although many work in private practice, they may also work for organisation such as the CPS and in-house for businesses.