A career in the
legal sector is always associated with black gowns and arguments. But, the legal and advocacy job sector has more to offer. Advocacy in fact, is a term that is new to many.
Advocacy comprises a huge range of skills. It is nothing but a lawyer persuading the court to come to a favourable decision. It can be either oral or written. Any lawyer should be adept in these skills. Using skeleton arguments, drafting, and case analysis, are a few of the key skills here. An advocate is also required to cross-examine and argue in the courtroom.
There are thousands of lucrative job opportunities in the advocacy and legal sector. There are different fields and different sub-fields within the sector as well that legal aspirants might find interesting to pursue.
Types of legal jobs:
When there are parties who do not want to go to court but settle amicably, then an arbitrator is the legal professional who helps here. Attorneys or lawyers represent their clients in the courts. They review contracts and take care of the legal proceedings. Some legal professionals work in the administrative job sector. They are often called case managers. They track the paperwork, track the dates, and also get all the information about a case. They are often assistants to the attorneys, and they help in getting all information about the case. They are responsible for coming up with strategies regarding the cases.
Another career option in the
advocacy and legal job sector is that of the trial consultant. They are professionals who help the lawyers to choose the juries, who will take care of the process of turning the verdict in their client’s favour. They take care of preparing witnesses, organize mock trials, and deposit transactions. In this job sector, there is also the need for all the day-to-day proceedings of the legal firm. He or she should take care of the smooth functioning of the firm, and also ensure the firm gets popular enough to attract many clients. A few firms also require lawyers who interact with the clients primarily, before assigning their cases to lawyers who work in the firm.
In a few organizations, the legal niche has to be taken care of in an organized manner. They hire law firms or outsource the tasks. In such cases, there are analysts, who are lawyers, and take care of gathering evidence, and conducting research.
When a lawyer works at senior management levels in a law firm it is his or her duty to ensure that the firm meets larger goals. He or she also should ensure the firm gains a strong reputation, and all clients are satisfied. This legal professional acts as a director of the firm, and takes care of the responsibilities of the professional, who would also help their clients reach goals.
A lawyer can also take up the career of a mediator. He or she is not biased and works to resolve the issue. They hear the case from both the parties and negotiate with all the parties who are involved in the dispute. These mediators can be experts in specific areas. For instance, a mediator can be an expert in dealing with cases in regards to divorce or custody or labour unions among other areas.
Apart from these choices, there are multiple options available for a legal professional in the courts as well.
A court advocate represents his or her client in court. They argue on behalf of their client. They also offer counselling to the clients along with providing them acess to all sorts of legal resources. A court messenger gets the files and documents required. A transcriptionist at the court converts all the oral testimony into a record. They do the job of a stenographer and use a special device to do the transcription. A voice recorder can also be used. Nowadays, voice recognition software is being used by transcriptionists. Organizing the litigation dock files is also another job opportunity in this sector. Their key job is to see that the calendar is updated promptly. The Docketing database is monitored by them.
Legal professionals are also hired by banks, to ensure that the property pledging is done as per the law. They oversee the documents to find if there are any encumbrances.
These were just a few of the thousands of opportunities available in the advocacy and legal job sector. One can surely something of their interest in such a vast field.
Skills required for law and advocacy professionals:
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Fluent verbal communication is a vital skill required for lawyers. Good command on the language is a must in the legal profession. He or she must have the conviction to convince the court, which means the gift of gab is mandatory.
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It is not only verbal communication skills that matter, but the written skills do matter as well. This helps in the proper drafting of the documents. Ruthless editing skills, keeping track of the drafts, identifying the right words, and understanding the client responses, and drafting precisely are significant.
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Logical and Analytical Thinking: analysing complex legal documents, and identifying points need the best analytical skills. Argumentative evaluation and problem-solving analysis are very important when it comes to practicing law. Thinking out of the box is also necessary for the people in the legal job sector.
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A legal aspirant must also have good research skills. It will help in gathering evidence to support their arguments and help their client’s case.
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They should also be familiar with technology to be able to use a computer, fill forms, research information, get information from government websites etc.
Other skills include:
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Organizational skills
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Time management
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Teamwork
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Client service
Job designations in the legal and advocacy sector: