Legal aide or advisor gives formal opinion regarding legal documents and activities inside a firm. If someone is interested in considering law as a career, job of a legal advisor is a good option. The legal aides should find an opportunity to endorse business transactions of a business firm. They are employed by governments, big companies, small companies and also private companies. Typically, legal aides are lawyers specialized in a specific field of the law and are employed to prevent their clients from any legal implications or consequences.

Tasks:

1. Identify potential risks to clients and make recommendations to reduce or mitigate those risks
2. Provide advises to the head of the legal services of a particular company
3. Manage both the internal and external legal resources
4. Give legal support to the company during company policies, disputes, employment, contracts etc.
5. Read and review all the legal documents of a particular company and make sure they are properly made and drafted
6. Mediate disputes, oversee a contract signing or advise about corporate management
7. Research the necessary comparable legal procedures and laws, as well as comparable cases
8. Answer legal questions from people at many levels within the organization
9. Sometimes supervise the work of other attorneys and paralegals working in their organizations' legal department
10. Conduct lawsuits for their organization or contract out the lawsuits to a law firm, known as the "outside counsel”

Key skills for Legal Aid:

• Strong analytical skill is needed
• Good oral and written communication
• Intuition with a good decision making capability
• Strong knowledge of the law
• Discipline, objectivity and punctuality
• Time management

Average Salary (2013):

United Kingdom: £30,000 per year
United States of America: $99,620 per year
Australia: AU$109,500 per year

Qualifications and training required:

The educational requirements for legal aides and advisors are equal to those of lawyers and attorneys. They must earn a bachelor’s degree in law related field. Some legal aides may choose to go on to graduate school and receive a master's degree in a law-related discipline, such as a Master of Laws. On the other hand, some positions require a master’s degree for legal aides.

The required qualifications vary depending on country. In Unites States of America legal aides after receiving bachelor’s degree must pass the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and enrol in a law school. In total, legal aides there can expect to be in school for about seven years after high school.

In some countries, for example USA, legal advisors must pass the licensing exam and continue education to maintain the license.