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Legal Careers

What kinds of jobs can you do that involve the law? What does it take to have such a career? The most popular legal careers are listed below.

Lawyers

Lawyers are experts in the law. They are licensed by the state to advise clients on legal matters and represent them in court.

General Requirements:

Paralegals

Paralegals provide a wide range of legal services including: help with traffic tickets, uncontested divorces, small claims court, family court, real estate, landlord and tenant, disputes and incorporations.

General Requirements:

Law Clerks

In Ontario, a law clerk performs duties of an administrative or managerial nature, and/or substantive legal work. A law clerk is supervised by a lawyer.

General requirements:

Police Officers

Police officers are most often our first contact with the legal system. Through investigating crimes, protecting individuals and keeping the public peace and order, policing can offer diverse experiences in different areas of the community and different kinds of crime.

General requirements:

  • High school diploma
  • Higher education is not required but it’s preferred
  • No specific kind of higher education is required, however there are police foundations programs at the college level. Police Foundations programs can take about 2 years to complete.
  • For additional general information go to the RCMP website, the Ontario Provincial Police site or the Toronto Police Services.

Legal Secretaries

Legal secretaries, like other secretaries, assist, organize and coordinate communications with the senior staff at the office and others. However, a legal secretary often has the responsibility of some light legal research. Check out Ontario Job Futures for a detailed list of legal secretary tasks.

General requirements:

Justices of the Peace

Justices of the peace are judicial officers appointed by the Attorney General of the province. Justices of the peace work in the Ontario Court of Justice hearing matters that take place before an actual trial as wells as matters related to the Highway Traffic Act or Workplace Health and Safety Act among other provincial offenses. JOPs also issue subpoenas, issues search warrants and warrants over custody of children in need of protection, swears affidavits, and presides over bail hearings.

General requirements:

  • University degree or college diploma or equivalent education or experience
  • At least 10 years paid work or volunteer experience
  • For additional general information, see Information on Becoming a Justice of the Peace on the Ontario Court of Justice's website

Judges

Judges work in the courts of federal and of provincial jurisdiction. Depending on the case, a judge may hear a trial with or without a jury. Without a jury, a judge decides on the credibility of witnesses, the strength of the evidence and imposes punishment or the amount of damages awarded to the plaintiff. With a jury, the judge overseas the proceedings by making sure that they run smoothly and efficiently. At the appeals and the Supreme Court level, judges decide based on evidence given at the lower level, whether the lower court judge made the correct decision under the law.

Judges are appointed by a judicial appointments advisory committees made up of a diverse group of people from the community and from the legal profession.

General requirements:

  • At least 10 years membership at the Bar, meaning the applicant is a lawyer, though not necessarily a trial lawyer
  • Applicants must have a good credit rating (bills and debts paid), must have paid up any child support payments and must not have a criminal record
  • Applicants must show a good understanding of the law and understand the social values of the day
  • For additional general information about Ontari,and provincial appointments go to the Ontario Courts website; go to the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs website for information on the federal appointments

Court Reporters

Court reporters record and transcribe the proceedings in a court of law, tribunal, government hearing or anywhere else that an exact record of the proceedings is required. The skills of a court reporter are also useful for television captioning for the deaf.

General requirements:

  • A court reporting college course that can take up to six months to complete
  • Additional training and certification, which includes passing standardized tests with the Court Reporters’ Association of Ontario
  • For additional general information, see the Court Reporters’ Association of Ontario’s website
 
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