Legal executive

Jody Norris trained to become a legal executive while working in a law firm. Picture / Graeme Sedal

THE QUALIFICATION
Legal executive course
(designed and administered by the New Zealand Law Society)
Auckland University of Technology Business Faculty
Phone: 09 921 9999 or 0800 367 288
Email: AUT
Web: www.aut.ac.nz
Course costs: $680 per paper or $4,080 for a full time year
Starting Salary: $25,000 to $30,000 depending on prior experience.

Interested in working in the legal profession but don't want to do a four year law degree and/or become a solicitor or barrister? How about looking at the role of legal executive? A legal executive is involved with tasks such as assisting in the sale and purchase of land, administering a deceased person's estate and preparing documents on which court cases are to be based and filing them in court.

The New Zealand Law Society has designed a specialist course for legal executives that is offered by seven providers in New Zealand, including Auckland University of Technology which offers both full and part time options. The majority of AUT's legal executive students study one or two papers a year attending two-hour day or evening sessions while working for legal firms in the city. But a small number take advantage of the opportunity to study full time and complete the six papers in one year.

Each paper involves a two-hour weekly lecture backed up by a minimum of five to six hours study each week.

The first two papers provide an introduction to law practice and to the legal system. The other four papers cover property law and practice, estates law and practice, business law and practice and litigation, law and practice.

The papers, which run from February to October, conclude with national external examinations held late October or early November. Each paper's grade is based 100 per cent on the exams.

To be eligible to do the course you need to have at least four years of secondary education, preferably with Sixth Form Certificate or NCEA Level 2 English. Relevant work experience is also recommended.

Qualified legal executives are in high demand. As well as working in legal firms, legal executives also find work in areas such as banking, property, insurance and accountancy.

THE GRADUATE
Jody Norris
Legal executive for ASCO Agmen-Smith & Co
Completed course in October 2005

I started working in a law firm as an office junior when I was 16. After 18 months I moved to a legal secretarial role. Three years ago I took on the legal executive position because I wanted to step up and find new challenges. Legal executive work requires a different level of knowledge and understanding.

My job involves me in areas such as conveyancing, helping establish trusts and setting up franchising agreements. I sit in on initial discussions between the principal and client and then decide on the documentation required and prepare it for him to check.

I think training while in the job is a great learning approach and to be working in a law firm while studying certainly helped me.

One of my favourite papers was property and law which was about conveyancing. The lecturer was particularly good and had written one of our set texts.

I keep texts in the office so I can read up about a situation I am in, work out the answer and then go to my principal and ask if my ideas are okay.

Law is never just 'yes' or 'no' and I liked how the lecturers took the time to explain the 'why'. It makes a big difference to understand why you're doing something rather than doing it just because you're told that is the way to do it.

There was a lot of self study required but all the lecturers were readily available during the course, and ran weekend classes prior to the exams.

THE EMPLOYER
Miles Agmen-Smith
Principal of ASCO Agmen-Smith & Co

Jody was offered a legal executive role because she is bright, quick on uptake and competent.

Law is an environment in which people need to understand legal principles and be able to apply them to what they are doing and this is best learned through a structured programme.

By attending a course Jody gained the input of independent people on legal principles and the opportunity to share experiences that don't appear in her job.

The course provides a wide range of knowledge about why things are done in a particular way, how things work and how to progress things more quickly.