Legal officers assist judges and lawyers with various tasks in courts, law firms, and government offices. Legal interns are usually law students or recent graduates who gain apprentice-style experience in legal research and administrative tasks. Internships are temporary, competitive, and can lead to valuable connections. Legal officers’ work is not glamorous, but it provides depth of knowledge and experience in the legal world. Legal staff positions are available in courts, law firms, and government offices, and hiring policies and practices vary. Many law schools have special internship offices to help students and recent graduates interested in taking this path.
In general, a legal officer is a person who works in a court of law, law firm or government office and assists judges and lawyers with a variety of tasks. Most legal clerks are lawyers or are training to be, and this sets them apart from more general legal secretaries; a secretary may work with a clerk, but generally performs strictly administrative tasks. Meanwhile, employees may perform some of these more menial tasks, but they are usually also responsible for legal research, brief writing, and sometimes even the client interface. In most legal systems, internships are designed to be temporary jobs for new lawyers or law students, and most last from one to three years. They are usually very competitive and can be a great way for young professionals or people new to the field to prove their competence while making valuable connections. There are some circumstances where people can be hired as employees on a more or less permanent basis, but this is uncommon. It is much more common for an employee to be hired as a full-fledged attorney or practicing member of a firm after his appointment to the position expires.
basic concept
The main idea of a legal internship is to provide apprentice-style experience to trainee lawyers. There are a number of different settings that people with this title can find themselves in, but courts are generally the most common; particularly in the United States, judges often hold these positions for help with research and other legal tasks. State and national Supreme Court justices often also hire one or more staff, and these positions are often highly coveted.
Law firms, particularly those that are smaller or operate on limited budgets, sometimes hire staff as well, and the position is seen frequently in many government offices as well. Different offices have different hiring policies and practices, but the employees are often students, usually in their second or third year of legal studies; they may also be recent college graduates. Graduates are often more attractive for full-time or very intensive jobs, although many law schools credit students with internship experience, which may allow for a full-time schedule for a semester or year.
Legal work
The bulk of most legal employees’ work revolves around legal research. Officials are often tasked with combing case law for relevant precedents and often spend a lot of time analyzing how different courts have handled certain topics. At law firms, they often write summaries for attorneys who are preparing to litigate and help inform these attorneys of key issues. Those who work for judges can advise on how an opinion should be crafted and can usually identify key points that need to be made.
Most of this work is not glamorous, and the employee almost never gets credit. However, it is usually an excellent experience and can help train the trainee when it comes to seeing the workings of the legal world first-hand. Many employers value candidates with internship experience precisely because of the depth of knowledge many employees gain on the job.
Administrative tasks
On the administrative side, law enforcement officers do the same things other administrative assistants do – answering phones, filing documents, and answering questions from potential clients, to name a few. Much of this depends on the setup and whether or not there is a full-time legal secretary on staff. Employees typically need to have exceptional communication and computer skills. They also need to be trustworthy, as much of the practice of law is highly confidential, and they must also have meticulous attention to detail, as a clerical error can affect the outcome of a case.
Introduction and location of positions
Most courts and companies have a streamlined and systematic process for hiring legal staff, and in most cases it is cyclical; applications are accepted at the beginning of each term, once a year, or every two to three years, depending on need. Specifications can vary greatly when it comes to the type of education and training required. Some of the most competitive positions require applicants to be within a certain percentage point of the upper class, academically speaking, and many others require proof of grades at or beyond a certain threshold. Many law schools have special internship offices to help students and recent graduates interested in taking this path.
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