Job Descriptions: Legal

 

The following is a list of job descriptions for our Legal positions listed in the Robert Half Salary Guide UAE 2013.

In-House

Legal Secretary / Legal Assistant

A legal secretary manages administrative activities for the legal department. Secretaries have a variety of duties focused around assisting the legal Counsels and General Legal Counsel. They may do factual or legal research at all levels of a case and will often organise meetings, appointments and dates for attorneys

Para Legal

A corporate paralegal's duties can include maintaining minute books, drafting corporate documents for subsidiaries, helping with formation of corporations and LLCs, maintaining a database of global subsidiary information, assisting with annual meeting of stockholders, completing annual filings for domestic subsidiaries, supporting attorneys in mergers and acquisitions, assisting attorneys with preparation for board and committee meetings, working with various business groups in the company, assisting in the implementation and documentation of local and intercompany transactions, preparing draft correspondence and assisting with the administration of the company's ethics and compliance program.

Legal Counsel

The typical duties of an in house legal counsel are to advise their company on their legal rights and obligations. They also review internal and external contracts and documentation to ensure compliance with the laws within the concerned jurisdictions, and take the lead on negotiating terms of engagement with vendors, suppliers, purchasers etc, in order protect the interest of their company. Additionally they will select and coordinate the external lawyers that they will outsource to and liaise with regarding various transactions and company activities.

Head of Legal / Chief Legal 

A general counsel is the senior attorney acting in the sole capacity, or head of a legal department within a corporate or government office. The professional brings years of experience and knowledge to the position and usually oversees a number of other lawyers and associate general counsels who are responsible for providing legal advice and counsel for specific areas of business or government. In a corporate setting, the general counsel reports to the chief executive officer and sometimes to the board of directors as well. In addition they may assume company secretarial and transaction advisory roles.

 

Private Practice

Legal Secretary – Legal Assistant

A legal secretary manages administrative activities for attorneys, including scheduling hearings, drafting correspondences, maintaining court dockets and preparing legal documents.

Para Legal

A paralegal performs a variety of administrative and transactional duties which are aimed at assisting lawyers in carrying out their responsibilities. Also referred to as legal assistants, they are prohibited by law from performing tasks considered “within the scope of practice of law.” These include giving legal advice, presenting cases in a court of law and determining legal fees.

Associates / Attorneys

These are the titles that refer to Lawyers in private practice. These are professionals who have acquired a legal academic degree and completed their legal practice qualification or admission within their respective jurisdictions. Depending on level of experience, they can be referred to in job descriptions as Junior Associate, Mid Level Associate (or simply, Associate), and Senior Associate.

Lawyers work in a variety of fields, including government, business, education, law enforcement and finance. They help individuals to understand their rights under the law, protect the interests of businesses and other groups and assist all of the aforementioned parties in court cases, depositions and other legal matters. Because the field of law is so vast, many lawyers specialise in one or two areas, such as environmental law, criminal law, family law, bankruptcy, social security and disability, medical malpractice, international law or intellectual property. Lawyers work in an office environment, but they also may spend time in libraries, clients' homes, government offices, police stations and prisons. It is common for lawyers to work 50 or more hours per week.

Senior Associate

Associates with senior level experience who in addition to the above duties will assume some team managerial and business development responsibilities. In some firms, there is a level between Senior Associate and Partner known as Legal Director or Managing Associate.

Junior Associate

Represent clients in criminal and civil litigation and other legal proceedings, draw up legal documents, and manage or advise clients on legal transactions. May specialise in a single area or may practice broadly in many areas of law.

Mid Associate

These are the titles that refer to Lawyers in private practice. Lawyers work in a variety of fields, including government, business, education, law enforcement and finance. They help individuals to understand their rights under the law, protect the interests of businesses and other groups and assist all of the aforementioned parties in court cases, depositions and other legal matters. 

Partner

Law firms are typically organised around partners, who are joint owners and business directors of the legal operation. Partners possesses comparable managerial authority in a law firm, shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the firm has in effect measures giving reasonable assurance that all lawyers in the firm conform to the Rules of Professional Conduct. Additionally Partners would manage and develop the firm’s relationships with its clients.

 

The Robert Half UAE Salary Guide 2013. Next Page: Human Resources (HR) Job Descriptions.