Legal Executives
The value of legal executives is recognised by most law firms, in-house legal teams & public sector organisations. A legal executive is a qualified fee earner who specialises in a particular area of law. Their professional body ILEX (Institute of Legal Executives) now represents close to 25,000 executives and trainees across the country and is seen as another branch of the legal profession, equally as important as barristers or solicitors. Qualifying as a legal executive can be the first step down a lucrative career path.
Legal executives often have responsibility for their own caseloads and clients, and day to day will carry out a similar role to that of a solicitor. There is a significant level of responsibility associated with the role, and legal executives can often be given responsibility for a team or even a department within a law firm.
Opportunities exist in a wide range of legal disciplines in both the public and private sector; many national companies recognise the value of this alternative qualification and are keen to employ legal executives. Local authorities are also attracted to them and can sometimes offer sponsorship and on-the-job training to legal executives while they are qualifying.
The opportunity to train and qualify is open to all. Minimum requirements are 4 GCSEs at grade C or above, and mature students are able to enrol without any formal qualification. Law graduates can join the course and are usually exempted from the academic element, only having to complete the practical element. 3 stages of the course must be completed in order to qualify: student, membership and fellowship. Most students will be in full time employment and study through day release schemes or evening classes to satisfy the academic element of the course; this will take on average 4-5 years of part time study, and once completed students may apply to become members of ILEX.
In order to fully qualify as fellows of ILEX members must also complete 5 years of qualifying employment with the supervision of a solicitor, including 2 years after all exams have been completed. Fellows of ILEX receive a full practicing certificate, and are required to participate in continuing professional development in the same way as a solicitor. It is possible to progress your career whilst still training thanks to the nature of the course — students / members can often be in fee earning legal positions as their knowledge and experience of their chosen area develops. Fellows of ILEX are often given further responsibilities, such as the running of a department or handling of specific accounts within a law firm.