What is a Legal Executive
Legal Executives are not lawyers. However most hold the New Zealand Law Society Legal Executive qualification.
They are over 900 registered Legal Executives working in New Zealand. Legal Executives mostly work in law firms although some Legal Executives can be found working in Government departments or financial institutions.
Legal Executives are skilled in one or two aspects of law and carry out a wide range of legal work usually in a supporting role for a lawyer. Most Legal Executives are registered which means they have some status either as an Affiliate, Associate or Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Legal Executives. Registration affords Legal Executives recognition on a national basis and means Legal Executives must abide by a code of ethics and rules much the same as lawyers have to abide by rules and regulations.
The work a Legal Executive does covers a wide range of activities. The New Zealand Law Society website says “the work covers a wide range of activities including searching public registers, preparing and filing documents, preparing estates, sale and purchase of real estate or a business, and debt recovery. A Legal Executive may interview clients on behalf of a lawyer but does not appear in Court”.
There are six papers to the New Zealand Executive Diploma which are:
• Introduction to the legal system.
• Introduction to law office practice.
• Property law and practice.
• Business law and practice.
• Estates law and practice.
• Litigation law and practice.
Legal Executives are a long established part of the legal services industry. Willis Toomey Robinson has four registered Legal Executives working alongside our lawyers who are registered with the New Zealand Institute of Legal Executives.
If you wish to know more about Legal Executives you can check out the New Zealand Institute of Legal Executives website on www.nzile.org.nz.