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Useful experience for legal executives includes:

• work as a legal secretary, law clerk or other work in a law office
• working for the courts
• customer service experience
• research work.

Legal executives may do some or all of the following:

• help lawyers with research and legal documents
• act for clients buying, selling and developing property
• administer estates and trusts and prepare wills
• help with the legal aspects of running a business
• help clients with debt collection
• prepare, analyse and interpret legal documents
• prepare and file court documents
• help prepare court cases.

Steady demand for legal executives

Demand for legal executives is expected to remain steady because:

• the strong property market creates regular legal work
• our ageing population creates property sales, power of attorney and will administration work.

According to the Census, 2,031 legal executives worked in New Zealand in 2019.

Artificial intelligence may affect legal executive jobs

Artificial intelligence software has been created that can find evidence for cases, prepare contracts and research legal information. These tasks are a large part of a legal executive's work. In the short term, technology may help legal executives with their work but in the long term it may replace some of the paperwork they do.

Types of employers varied

Legal executives may work for:

• general legal firms
• government departments and community agencies
• boutique law firms, which specialise in a particular area of law
• real estate agencies
• companies.

New Zealand Institute of Legal Executives

(09) 250 1630 - enquiries@nzile.org.nz - www.nzile.org.nz

New Zealand Law Society

(04) 472 7837 - inquiries@lawsociety.org.nz - www.lawsociety.org.nz

Legal executives may specialise in conveyancer roles.

Conveyancer

Conveyancers specialise in property transactions and settlements.

Legal executives need to be:

• accurate
• reliable and able to keep information confidential
• well organised
• able to work well under pressure
• friendly, patient and helpful.