What is a Legal Executive?

• Legal Executives are qualified lawyers specialising in a particular area of law.
• They will have passed the ILEX Professional Qualification in Law in an area of legal practice to the same level as that required of solicitors.
• They will have at least five years experience of working under the supervision of a solicitor in legal practice or the legal department of a private company or local/national government.

Fellows are issued with an annual practising certificate, and only Fellows of ILEX may describe themselves as 'Legal Executives'.

What do Legal Executives do?

Specialising in a particular area of law, their day-to-day work is similar to that of a solicitor:

• handle various legal aspects of a property transfer
• assist in the formation of a company,
• be involved in actions in the High Court or county courts, draft wills,
• advise clients accused of serious or petty crime or families with matrimonial problems
• many other matters affecting people in their domestic and business affairs.

Legal Executives are fee earners - in private practice their work is charged directly to clients - making a direct contribution to the income of a law firm. This is an important difference between Legal Executives and other types of legal support staff who tend to handle work of a more routine nature.