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Non-commercial solicitor: Job description and activities

Job description

Non-commercial solicitors provide a wide range of legal support and advice to clients, who may be individuals or organisations. They take instructions and advise on necessary courses of legal action in matters other than business affairs.

Solicitors’ practices vary considerably in the type of work they undertake, depending on their size and the market they serve. Some are referred to as 'high street firms' as they tend to deal with the needs of the local community and offer a wide range of services. Others specialise in a particular area of legal expertise.

Non-commercial solicitors work in areas of the law in which some of their clients may be eligible for government legal aid funding.

Typical work activities

Non-commercial solicitors are often expected to specialise in a particular area of law at an early stage in their career. Typical specialist areas include residential conveyancing (i.e. buying and selling residential property), landlord and tenant agreements, wills and probate, matrimonial and family matters, personal injury claims, and criminal litigation. 

Whatever your specialist area, or type of employer, tasks will typically include:

• meeting and interviewing clients to establish the firm's suitability to provide the necessary advice and services;
• explaining the firm’s fees to clients;
• advising clients on legal issues;
• taking the clients’ instructions;
• researching and analysing information, including statements, medical reports, legal documents and case histories, and police and local authority reports, as relevant to the matter in hand;
• corresponding with clients and opposing solicitors;
• instructing and meeting with barristers;
• attending meetings with opposing parties;
• dealing with administration relating to legal aid funding, e.g. following the processes required by Legal Services Commission  contracts;
• preparing papers for court;
• calculating claims for damages, compensation, maintenance, etc.;
• attending court, to sit behind counsel or to represent a client in the lower courts;
• working in a team within the firm, sometimes referring files to the head of department;
• delegating work to trainee solicitors, paralegals and legal secretaries as appropriate;
• making cross referrals to colleagues – for example, a matrimonial solicitor will work with a conveyancing solicitor on the sale of a matrimonial home in the case of a divorce;
• liaising with outside agencies;
• undertaking necessary administration, e.g., completing time sheets so that charges for work can be calculated, billing clients for work done on their behalf;
• taking referrals from NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and public bodies, e.g., Citizens Advice Bureaux, women's aid organisations, the police;
• taking referrals from other firms of solicitors when a conflict of interest arises, or if they have no specialist practitioner available.

AGCAS

Written by David Williams, AGCAS

Last updated:

March 2009

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