Law

The legal system in Scotland is different from England and Wales, and from Northern Ireland. But in each country, you would deal with laws concerning criminal, family, civil, company and employment matters and with property conveyancing. Some staff are professional lawyers – solicitors or advocates. Others do legal support work – they do administration, interview clients, draw up legal documents and report what goes on in court. The patent office protects the rights of inventors, so that new ideas cannot be copied for 20 years.

It is often difficult to get a job in law, even with the right qualifications. Fortunately legal training is useful in many other areas of work such as business, finance, administration and various types of management. Here are a few workforce facts about the legal profession in Scotland:

• In the whole of Scotland there are around 10,700 practising solicitors and 460 advocates.
• Around one fifth of the number of advocates are Queen's Counsels (QCs) in Scotland. QCs are senior lawyers, usually advocates or solicitor advocates, appointed by the Crown. Being appointed as a QC is described as 'taking silk' because they wear silk gowns.
• About 48% of solicitors are women.
• Most solicitors work with private firms, but there is a growing trend towards working in-house in local or central government or with large companies.
• There are around 10,000 practising paralegals in Scotland.

For any legal job, you need to be careful, logical and accurate. You should have a good memory and be able to think quickly. The jobs and courses in this career area are divided into 3 sectors:

• Law (professional)
• Legal support services
• Patent work.

The qualifications you need depend on the job you want to do. To be a professional lawyer, you would usually complete a qualifying four-year LLB (Foundation Programme) law degree at a Scottish university. To get in, you need 5 good Highers, at one sitting. The next stage is to complete a Diploma in Legal Practice (DLP) - the PEAT (Professional Education and Training) Stage 1 qualification. For some legal support jobs – such as administrative assistant, court reporter or sheriff officer, you can start with subjects at Standard grade or National 4 or 5. Paralegals and advocates clerks often have a Higher National Certificate (HNC), Higher National Diploma (HND) or degree in Legal Studies. However, you might get a job with your school qualifications, perhaps as a legal secretary, and take part time courses to work your way up. Patent agents and patent examiners usually have a degree in science, engineering or technology.

Sources:

Equal Opportunities Committee - Occupational Segregation, The Law Society of Scotland, April 2013.

The Faculty of Advocates website, June 2014.

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