Solicitor
What the work is
Provides legal advice, prepares legal documents, conducts negotiations on behalf of clients on matters associated with the law, and pleads cases before civil, criminal and industrial courts and tribunals.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Interviews clients to determine the nature of cases and recommends appropriate legal action
- Prepares cases by conducting investigations, undertaking research, arranging witness preparation and attendance, and giving notice of court actions
- Represents clients in civil, criminal and industrial courts and tribunals
- Prepares and critically reviews legal documents between parties
- Prepares wills
- Provides advice on family, company, commercial and property law, as well as partnerships and trusts
- May act as trustee or guardian
- May act as executor of clients' wills
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a small suburban law firm acting for local families and small businesses. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A client finally understands their position and stops lying awake worrying
- A deal you negotiated is signed, and both sides leave reasonably satisfied
- You spot a problem in a contract before it becomes a dispute
Hard days
- A client wants a result the law will not give them
- A deadline you cannot move, a pile of documents and an email you should have answered yesterday
- A mistake in your own work, and the call you must make to admit it
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 281331, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.