Career as Legal Advisor

Legal advisor jobs usually consist of working in law firms or act as a part of a legal counsel team hired by companies and enterprises for their expertise on legalities. In the career as legal adviser, the company leaders and CEOs usually ask advice from them in the aspect of legalities before the company takes a step further. In other words, a company legal advisor helps their clients arrive at the right decision.

To know more about the legal expert career, scroll and keep reading. 

Overseeing contracts

Legal advisor jobs consist of overseeing all client and vendor contracts. Legal advisors help companies in providing guidance about laws. They help their clients with contracts, legal drafts, and documents, and resolve disputes. Legal advisor jobs in banks and financial sectors require the individual to do so.

Cost effective legal advice

Legal advisor jobs consist of providing commercially sensible and cost-effective legal advice for construction contracts management.

Drafting

Legal advisor is responsible for creating new documents and reviewing the existing contracts of their clients. They must be familiar about the terms and conditions of different contracts. Legal advisor jobs include drafting basic legal documents for construction projects.

Damage claims

Damage claims are also known as claims of damage to a company which can result in financial loss. . Damage claims usually come in the form of monetary payment. Legal advisor jobs consist of preparing contracts and damage claims.

Resolving disputes

Resolving disputes is sorting out the conflicts between two parties. There are different types of disputes in the field of law. Disputes can be resolved going to court also and without going to court also. Legal advisor jobs include resolving buy-sell disputes and property infringements.

Overseeing claims

Legal advisor jobs consist of overseeing health and safety and injury claims and offering advice on court cases.

Meeting and interviewing clients

Legal advisors conduct meetings and sometimes interview clients to know more about their case. This includes asking questions and scenarios. They organise meetings and interviews so that they can collect proofs with their help.

When it comes to a legal advisor in India, there are several career opportunities available. Not just in the corporate sector but there are legal advisor jobs in banks as well. Some opportunities in the career as legal advisor are mentioned below:

Legal Advisor: Individuals who specialize in the field of law are called legal advisors. Their job is to protect their clients from any sort of legal implications. A legal advisor works with a company or an organization, wherein he or she does work like documentation of contracts or providing legal advice and many other legal situations.

Senior Counsel: The job of a senior counsel is to take care of several legal matters that a law firm goes through. Their job is to provide legal advice. Their specific responsibilities may vary depending on the firm they work in. 

Attorney: An attorney-at-law is a lawyer who practices in court and is responsible for defending his or her client from a legal matter. An attorney who is a fresher in the market generally begins legal practice either in an organization, a legal firm or under a senior attorney.

Senior Attorney: A senior attorney is responsible for the efficient functioning of the team of junior attorneys under him or her. In some cases, a senior attorney can be a partner in a firm or even a high ranking specialist retained by one. The job of a senior attorney typically is to direct the preparations of the team in representing a client in the court or outside for negotiation. 

Also read: Career as an international arbitrator

In the career as legal advisor, individuals generally work in the legal departments of large corporations. They work in an office set up. They might have to go to the court if required. But most of their time is spent in the office.

Does Legal Advisor require travelling?

Likely

Legal advisor jobs are mainly office limited but they may have to travel to courts. It is not a full time travelling job but there might be occasions when a legal advisor has to travel from one place to another.

Employment Shifts

Full Time

In a career as legal advisor one has to work for a minimum of eight hours a day. Legal experts usually work full time. A legal counsellor may have to work for extra hours depending on the workload or the number of clients being handled. The job of a legal advisor is generally 9 to 5 but they may have to work for extra hours depending on the workload.

Employment Nature

Contractual, Permanent

If an individual fresh out of college is hired as a legal advisor in some law firm then his/her job is permanent in nature. But, small firms or start-ups if hire a legal advisor in order to make some contract or any drafting work for instance then that job may be contractual in nature. Therefore, legal advisor jobs can be both contractual as well as permanent in nature.

Work Place

Office

In the career as legal advisor, one works in an office environment.

Presence in Geographical Area

Semi-urban, Urban

In the career as legal advisor, an individual has to work in urban as well as semi-urban areas.  The kind of industries or organization a legal advisor works for are located mainly in urban areas. A few might be located in semi-urban areas.

Time Pressure

Likely

Time pressure is quite high in the career as legal advisor. A legal counsellor work hours usually exceed 8 hours per day. The nature of work is full time. A legal advisor may have to work for extra hours depending on the workload or the number of clients being handled.

Overtime Details

Generally, the legal advisors are required to work on usual timings i.e. 9 am to 5 pm. But depending on the work assigned to them and deadlines approaching, they are required to work overtime. On average, legal advisors are required to work for 50-55 hours. Also, they are required to work overtime if the work demands.

If you want to know how to become a legal expert, then scroll and read.

Weekly Hours of Work

Min 40 Hours

In the career as legal advisor, individuals are required to work for about 40 hours a week. A legal advisor may have to work for extra hours depending on the workload.

If you are wondering how to become a legal advisor, then apart from the required law courses one should possess some skill sets. We have mentioned below major legal counsellor skills. 

Commercial Awareness: Legal advisor jobs require an individual to have commercial awareness as one of the most important attributes a candidate can have. It basically means possessing knowledge of current developments in local, national, and world business, particularly any issues that may impact a law firm and its clients. Firms expect their legal advisors to market their services to prospective clients, as well as develop trusting relationships with existing ones. Ultimately, law firms are businesses, so lawyers must appreciate the commercial importance of meeting deadlines, keeping costs low, and handling information confidentially. 

People Skills: In the career as a legal advisor in India one will have to work alongside a variety of people and more often than not winning a case will be a team effort.  Legal advisors do not work alone, they need to collaborate with colleagues and partners in their firm, as well as liaise with clients. Legal advisors need to foster a close working relationship with their clerks and will often work high-profile cases alongside other legal advisors, as workloads on such cases are too heavy for one representative. The ability to work as part of a team is therefore essential and you'll need the skills to deal with people from all levels of the legal hierarchy.

Communication Skills: Communication in the workplace is essential to businesses as it helps organisations to be competitive and function efficiently therefore, it is an important skill in the career a legal counsellor. Workers will experience an increase in performance, efficiency, and engagement if they can collaborate inside an entity. Strong oral and written communication skills are vital and without them, one will struggle to do well as a legal advisor. Excellent listening ability is also important when working with clients, as a legal advisor needs to be able to build relationships and engender confidence. 

Attention to Detail: A sharp eye for accuracy is crucial to the success of an individual’s career as a legal advisor. A single word out of place can change the meaning of a clause or contract, while misspelt or ungrammatical emails, letters, or documents can give clients a bad impression, costing the firm the legal advisor works for a heavy price.

Research Skill: Reading large amounts of information, absorbing facts and figures, analysing material, and distilling it into something manageable is a feature of any law career including legal advisor jobs. 

Problem Solving Ability: Some may think that the legal profession provides a little outlet for an individual's creative talent but this simply isn't the case. No matter which legal career an individual chooses they will frequently have to think outside the box to get the job done. 

We have mentioned below certifications that individuals may opt who want to establish a career as Legal Advisors.

When it comes to a career as legal advisor, there are several job opportunities available. Some of the legal advisor jobs are mentioned below:

Attorney: The name attorney often explains the chief officer of law enforcement in the government, either on the state, federal or local level. The attorney acts as the representative of the country in the legal issues and as the lead of the legal counsel of the government. A degree of law is a must for the job of an attorney.

Senior Attorney: In the career as legal advisor, senior attorney holds the highest level. Senior attorneys should have 8 to 10 years of experience in the legal sector. They should have a wide knowledge of all aspects of laws. They provide advice to the appellate and the trial courts.

Advisor:   An advisor helps the top leaders to ensure that the employees are in accordance with the laws when performing their tasks. A legal advisor works for reperusing corporate policies and their workings and making sure that these policies stick to the regulations of the government and the industry practices.

Senior Legal Advisor: It is the immediately higher level of Legal advisor. A senior legal counsel should have an experience of six to eight years in the law firm. They should have good written and verbal communication skills and should be fluent in English. They should have excellent negotiation skills. They should work accurately and in a planned manner.

Legal Counsel: In the legal advisor hierarchy, legal counsel holds the lowest level.  Legal counsel researches local, federal, and state laws either in education, accounting in or financial services. Their duties start from developing the legal procedures that put into effect the corporate governance to reperusing legal contracts, publications, and leases of real estates. In addition to this, legal counsels present applications of the copyright for products, services, and trademarks, mediate labor disputes, closely work with different lawyers, and look over the tax payments. Legal counsels also collect evidence and other legal information for various court cases, during trials representing the client.

Senior Counsel: The senior counsel name is given to the senior advocates in some countries which are similar to the title ‘Queen’s Counsel’. This is the senior level of the counsel. They are having many years of experience in becoming senior counsel.

In the career as legal advisor, individuals generally work in the legal departments of large corporations. According to research their employment category of lawyers will realize six per cent job growth through 2024. Legal advisors work in teamwork with members of the legal services department of a corporation on matters connecting to commercial power, authoritarian issues, and profit-making contracts and several other things. Legal advisors often have the same training as lawyers, rather than legal consultants generally only offer advice outside of the courtroom. The legal advisor can be employed in both the government as well as the private sector. There are huge opportunities for contenders after completing their bachelor's degree in law. There is a great possibility for high remuneration in the legal field. Only some physical demands in this career, though legal consultants can work more than 40 hours per week. They search for traditions to approve the most recent company transactions of their corporation to make sure that they collapse within acceptable legal parameters

The job market scenario for the career as legal advisor is bright in India. It is a country with many pending cases therefore the demand for lawyers is likely to go up in the coming time. As far as legal advisor jobs are concerned they are growing rapidly as well. Legal advisor jobs are not just limited to MNCs or government bodies anymore. Even start-ups, banks, insurance companies, and other organisations are also hiring legal advisors.