Looking to work in local government? Information
for prospective employees and trainees.
Please select from the following:
• WHY CHOOSE TO TRAIN IN
LOCAL GOVERNMENT?
• WHAT DO
LOCAL AUTHORITIES DO?
. SERVING
THE COMMUNITY
• THE ROLE
OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAWYER
• TRAINING
• WHAT MAKES A GOOD LOCAL GOVERNMENT
LAWYER?
. WHAT AREAS OF LAW
WILL I WORK IN?
• WORK
EXPERIENCE
• VACANCIES
• SALARIES
• BENEFITS
• THE FUTURE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
• HOW TO APPLY
• CONTACT
ADDRESSES
• CAREERS BROCHURE - A CAREER AS A SOLICITOR WORKING IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT: WORKING FOR THE COMMUNITY
Local Authorities in England and Wales have over 400
offices serving a diverse range of people. They employ over
2 million workers and serve a client base of over 55 million.
They are responsible for spending billions of pounds a year
on the services they provide. A local authority legal department
will often be the largest in its geographical area. The work
required of its solicitors is wide-ranging and frequently
changing. This requires that solicitors are trained to a high
standard and have the necessary expertise plus the ability
to cover legal and managerial skills.
The size of local authorities ranges from small District and
Borough Councils to large Metropolitan authorities. Between
them they carry out a huge variety of functions. You will
need to know which functions the relevant local authority
in which you are interested discharges. London Boroughs, County
and Metropolitan Councils will mainly be responsible for education,
social services, consumer protection, libraries, highways,
police, fire and transport and Districts for the remainder.
There are also unitary authorities, which combine city and
rural functions.
Local Authorities are largely responsible for providing services
to the local community, any of which will be directly provided.
The other major role they will play is to enable, assist and
encourage others to provide services through the mediums of
contracts, financial assistance, joint ventures, and partnerships.
Local authorities also carry out regulatory functions, which
look after the interests of the community, such as environmental
health, developmental control, licensing and economic development.
As a trainee and a qualified solicitor, your clients will
be other local authority officers. You could be part of a
team with other professionals including architects, engineers,
planners, accountants, social workers, teachers and others
on the various matters you will be dealing with. You will
also be required to put the interests of the local authority
first and to be mindful that you will be required to provide
a value for money service as Local Authorities are funded
partly by Central Government and by Council Tax Payers.
Local Authorities have their powers and duties conferred on
them by statute and one of your roles will be to ensure that
officers and elected members comply with these. You will also
act as an advisor to elected council members and clients in
order to help them achieve their policies lawfully. Some local
authorities are able to make their own byelaws and you may
be involved in formulating these. Lawyers will also have the
opportunity to become involved in policy formulation, administration
and management. This is how working as a solicitor in Local
Authorities is fundamentally different from private practice
and other sectors.
The functions of Local Authorities carry with them the need
for a large amount of legal work including advice and support.
Standard areas of work you could be involved in will include
conveyancing/property work, litigation in all Courts and contract
work. On more complex matters you could be involved in highways,
planning, employment, education, social services and other
functions mentioned in this brochure.
As a trainee solicitor you will enjoy rights of audience before
a judge in chambers in the County and High Courts. This is
a great opportunity that is not offered to trainees in other
sectors.
Recent legislation has meant that local authorities can now
join in formal partnerships with private law firms and you
may get an opportunity to carry out some of your training
with the relevant partner to your training establishment.
Local Government takes the training of solicitors very seriously.
From day one you can expect to take personal responsibility.
The aim is to start off by shadowing qualified lawyers in
the team in which you are placed and to build up your own
caseload half way through.
Initially, your training principal will develop an individual
training programme with you and you will decide the areas
of law in which you wish to work. Your two-year training contact
is divided into four periods of six months (called seats)
but this can vary according to personal preferences.
Most local authority departments will reduce your training
period by any exemption that The Law Society awards towards
your training contract.
In addition to undertaking the Professional Skills Course,
you will be encouraged to supplement your training by a number
of internal and external courses and possibly secondments
to other departments. Thereafter you will have regular supervisions
with your training principal who will review your progress
and development, identifying those areas of work which you
need to focus upon. You will also have the opportunity to
address any concerns that you may have.
You will usually share an office and a clerk and/or secretary
with one or two qualified lawyers. You will work to the highest
of standards and many local authority legal departments apply
The Law Society’s Management Standards (LEXCEL) to their
legal practice and have:
• excellent case management
systems• up to date information technology and IT training.•
access to the Internet and e-mail• fully equipped law
libraries• In-house reprographics centres.
Wherever you are based, you can expect to receive high quality
training, the opportunity to work on a variety of areas and
excellent in-house support services.
Are you a team player? Do you have good communication and
interpersonal skills?
Are you able to interpret complex legal data to advise a lay
person?
Local authorities do not set strict minimum academic standards.
They place great importance on what an individual trainee
has to offer, not where he/she comes from. As well as a good
academic background, a training establishment will look at
the individual’s work experience, personality, enthusiasm,
outside interests and their willingness to work hard.
Local government lawyers come from a variety of cultures and
backgrounds and reflect the community to which they serve.
All departments operate equal opportunities policies and many
are accredited under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme for disabled
people.
Many authorities operate family friendly policies and sensible
working practices and usually posts are suitable for job sharing
and part time working.
Depending on the type of establishment, you can expect to
work in a variety of areas including:
• Commercial/Contracts
• Conveyancing/Property
• Litigation/Prosecution
• Social Services
• Childcare
•
Consumer Protection
• Corporate Services
•
Personal Injury
• Environmental
• Highways
and Planning
• Education
• Employment
• Housing
• Administrative
• Democratic
Services
Some local authorities have in-house Advocacy teams and encourage
their solicitors to take higher rights of audience training
to become solicitor advocates and be able to conduct their
own advocacy in the High Court, Magistrates and County Courts.
It is always useful to see what goes on in local authority
legal departments and this will be of assistance to you if
you are looking for a local government training contract.
Some authorities offer 4-12 week summer placements with pay.
Others will arrange an informal unpaid attachment during vacations.
Some local authorities have in-house paralegal teams and may
offer the opportunity of doing some outdoor clerking for them.
This may indeed lead to a training contract if you demonstrate
the required skills.
If you are interested in vacation work in any particular local
authority, contact them direct. It may also be worth making
contact with the Head of Legal Services in local authorities
within travelling distance from where you are based.
As in private practice and elsewhere, training contracts in
local government are in fewer numbers than previously and
competition for any vacancy can be substantial. Vacancies
are available but you will need to put some effort into finding
them and then selling yourself to the training principal.
Local authorities recognise the great responsibility it places
on trainees and therefore pays competitive rates and complies
with The Law Society minimum salary requirement. National
pay awards are due on 1 April each year. One increment on
the salary scale would normally be awarded to trainees during
their contract. Salaries after training depend on each individual
establishment but you can ensure they will be highly competitive.
Local authorities will usually have some or all of the following
benefits:
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• 25 days annual holiday entitlement
• Season
ticket loan
• Flexible working schemes
•
Car leasing scheme
• Subsidised restaurant
•
Free car park/parking/permits
• Sports and social
club
• Opportunities for part-time and job-share
working
• In-house medical centre
• Dry
cleaning discount card
• Team away days
•
Annual events
• Local Annual Government Group Weekend
School
• Many departments organise outings, theatre
trips, sporting events etc. throughout the year.
Sponsorship for CPE and or LPC from local authorities is difficult
to obtain. Only a few councils are able to offer sponsorship.
It is, however, worth making enquiries to local education
authorities and to any councils offering training contracts.
Local government has been subject to constant change over
the last 25 years. The fact that it has survived and improved
its services is in no small part due to the people who work
for local government and believe in its future. Central government
is now committed to working in partnership with local government.
It requires local authorities to prove that they are capable
of providing services to the best possible value, and duties
to that effect are being imposed.
New forms of local democracy are also being tested and new
requirements to secure probity are being proposed. All of
this brings in new roles for the lawyer.
It is for each individual establishment to decide their policy
on the retention of trainees. However, Solicitors in Local
Government hope that when you qualify you will stay in local
government as a solicitor. There is a clear path from Assistant
Solicitor to Head of Legal Services or to Director with responsibilities
for other areas of local authority work as well as legal services.
Many Chief Executives of local authorities are solicitors.
There is continued need for some local authority services
to test their value against private sector competition and
many local authorities work to a Best Value initiative and
are constantly reviewing their ways of practice to ensure
cost effectiveness while maintaining high quality standards.
So far, a large majority of in-house legal services have managed
to prove themselves more efficient and cost effective than
their competitors. Many councils now operate in-house legal
practices along commercial lines. However, whatever happens
to local authorities there will always be a need for good
lawyers with local government experience. Change is a challenge,
not a threat. Nevertheless, training in local government opens
the doors to many sectors of the profession – private
practice, Crown Prosecution Service, Government Legal Service
and commerce and industry. Your experience and skills will
be appreciated in whichever sector of the profession you choose
to work and many private practice firms are actively recruiting
local authority solicitors. An advantage of being a local
government lawyer is that local authorities are based in every
town and city. Hence, your skills can be used in whatever
part of the country you wish to live.
There is no national recruitment scheme or a list of local
authority training contract vacancies. Each local authority
is a separate employer and will advertise and recruit according
to their own personnel policy. Vacancies are usually advertised
in the national press or in relevant journals so it is worth
keeping your eyes open. Most authorities advertise in The
Law Society's Gazette and The Lawyer. You should make a point
of looking at the Law and Public Service job advertisements
in The Times, Guardian and The Independent. Applications will
usually be required on the local authority's standard form
to comply with equal opportunities and recruitment policies.
Where this is the case, simply referring on the form to your
CV will not be acceptable.
You might also try approaching local authorities direct to
see if there are likely to be any vacancies. You may get a
positive result.
Listings of all authorities and other organisations with legal
departments can be found under the chapters "Employed
Solicitors" in The Law Society's Solicitors and Barristers
Directory. This information is also available on The Law Society’s
website www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor.law
Alternatively, a list of local authorities and their addresses
can be found in the Municipal YearBook, which is available
in any main library. This also gives the name and telephone
number of the Head of Legal Services or Solicitor of each
local authority (sometimes known as the Secretary or Director
of Law/Administration).
For further information please contact
the group’s Policy Executive at The Law Society.
A Lawyer in Local Government – more than just a career. Download and read a guide from Solicitors in Local Government Limited.
 A guide from Solicitors in Local Government Limited (243kb)
Trainee Welcome Pack (182kb)
Welcome to SLG (1513kb)
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