Legal
- Description
- Tasks
- Skills
- Useful Knowledge
- Entry Qualifications
- Professional Qualifications
- Trends
- Resources
Most financial firms will have an in-house legal department to prepare legal contracts or deal with disputes. Alternatively, they will appoint a legal partnership or team with specific expertise in resolving legal issues. The role is especially prevalent in credit control. Regardless of where you might work, legal people assume responsibility for researching legal information, handling disputes and debtor cases. They are not necessarily trained and qualified lawyer (barristers, solicitors or legal executives) but may be paralegals. But they do offer a substantial amount of legal support. Crucially, you will also ensure your company or client is meeting FSA regulatory requirements and other statutory laws, such as the Consumer Credit Act. Exact duties vary depending on training and the level of seniority. You are likely to undertake a number of administrative tasks, including drafting documentation, letters and business contracts, reviewing case files and advising customers and your organisation of their legal position with regard to claims, outstanding monies or contract disputes. You could also be a qualified barrister, solicitor or legal executive working on corporate finance and mergers and acquisition cases, or on insolvency.
Salary
Entry level positions, such as administrative and support roles, start at approximately £16,000 per annum. With the right experience, qualifications and skills you could progress to management roles and earn in excess of £60,000 per annum. If however you are a qualified lawyer the salary levels will be substantially more. This does not include bonuses and additional benefits. Salaries will vary considerably based on location and employer.
- Advising colleagues and explaining legal matters to them, including the progress of legal disputes
- Dealing with complaints and enforcing company and industry policies and procedures
- Researching and summarising legal information
- Preparing management summary reports
- Preparing legal documents
- Drafting contracts
- Liaising with other professionals, including solicitors, and in credit legal cases, third party debt recovery agencies.
Additionally, specific duties in credit control might involve:
- Issuing final credit demand letters and chasing final payments by telephone
- Reviewing credit control accounts and debt case files
- Deciding with the Credit Management team whether legal action should be taken
- Commencing legal action, starting with preparing legal cases for review by solicitors or other legal professionals
- Completing court paperwork and winding up petitions
- Where necessary, attending court hearings
- Recovering outstanding aged debts
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
- Discretion, as information is often confidential
- Attention to detail
- Good negotiators
- Proactive and forward thinking, with good initiative
- Organised and good at managing time effectively
- The ability to absorb and manage high volumes of information
- Articulate, with good writing skills
- Confident
- Work well under pressure
A new entrant will not always be required to have this knowledge. Employers usually provide training to acquire skills for:
- Regulation and legislation relevant to your Company’s business
- Integrity, fairness and consistency in decision making in line with FSA standards
- Credit policies and procedures
Experience in related professions such as legal clerical roles can be helpful. Legal support administrative posts can provide an opportunity for people to start a career in legal teams and then undertake relevant professional qualifications. Being able to convey information clearly in presentations and reports means an English qualification is nearly always required. There are many different courses that may be relevant to a career in law, with qualifications varying depending on the point of entry.
In order to gain an entry level position, employers will look for people who have:
- A Levels, Scottish Highers or equivalent qualifications such as Business, Administration and Finance (BAF) Diploma, BTEC National Diploma, Welsh Baccalaureate (BAC), SVQ Level 3 or Higher National Certificate (SCQF Level 7)
Many people with a degree will start at an entry level position as a trainee solicitor.
Before entering a legal support role or once in the job, you may undertake a generic legal or professional qualification relevant to your area of work
- Level 2 City & Guilds Award, Certificate or Diploma in Legal Studies
- ILEX/City & Guilds Level 2 Certificate in Vocational Paralegal Studies
To become a qualified legal executive lawyer, you must qualify as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX). For this, you would take a series of professional ILEX exams and gain practical experience meeting qualifying employment regulations in a legal environment. There are two levels:
- Level 3 Professional Diploma in Law and Practice – an introduction to the main areas of law and legal practice set at A Level standar
- Level 6 Professional Higher Diploma in Law (PHDL) – specialist study of law and practice set at honours degree standard.
People working specifically in credit management may undertake qualifications through the Institute of Credit Management. Their Level 3 Diploma covers business law and the Level 5 Diploma includes compulsory modules in risk management, and legal proceedings and insolvency.
All companies operating in financial services need a legal function, including insurers, insurance intermediaries, investment/asset management companies, independent financial advisers, life assurance and pension companies, credit management firms, stockbrokers, banks and accountancy firms. Sometimes the work is outsourced to legal and paralegal advisory firms, including specialist debt recovery legal partnerships, solicitors and third party debt recovery agencies, which specialise in financial cases. Opportunities exist nationwide. In-house legal teams are usually based within financial head offices.
