Court legal adviser
Court legal advisers are lawyers who advise magistrates and judges about the law in criminal, civil and family courts.
Also known as: Court clerk, assistant to justices' clerk
- Starter salary£32,000 a year
- Experienced£53,000 a year
- Typical hours37 to 40 a week
What you'll do
As a court legal adviser, you could:
- organise court hearings
- make sure evidence is ready for the start of court proceedings
- give advice to magistrates and judges on points of law
- make sure people in court understand what's happening
- research legal issues
- help magistrates to daft the reasons behind judgements
- conduct case management hearings
- train admin staff and magistrates
Working environment
You could work in a court or in an office.
Skills and knowledge you'll need
You'll need:
- legal knowledge including court procedures and government regulations
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- persistence and determination
- analytical thinking skills
- excellent verbal communication skills
- the ability to think clearly using logic and reasoning
- concentration skills
- the ability to learn through your work
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently
How to become a court legal adviser
You can get into this job through:
- working towards this role
- applying directly
Work
You can apply to start as a trainee legal adviser. To do this, you need to have passed the academic stages of solicitor training or barrister training .
As a trainee, you'll complete a legal adviser training programme that takes around 2 years.
You can find out how to become a trainee legal adviser from HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
Direct application
You can apply directly for jobs if you're a fully qualified solicitor.
You'll be expected to have good customer service, communication and administration skills.
Restrictions and requirements
You'll need to:
- pass enhanced background checks
Career path and progression
After qualifying, you'll work as a Tier 1 legal adviser. With more experience, you can move on to be a Tier 2 adviser, working on more complex cases and with more responsibility. For instance, reviewing casework and mentoring trainees.
As your career develops and with further training, you can move up in stages to become:
- a legal adviser team manager in a court
- an area or regional manager
- a justices' clerk, if you have over 5 years' experience
- a barrister , crown prosecutor or judge
Career tips
It will be useful when applying for training, if you've spent some time in a magistrates' court. For example, this might be from observing the judicial process and the part played by the court's legal adviser.
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