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Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a legal officer. Feel free to use our job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a legal officer.

 

Who is a Legal Officer?

What comes to mind when the word “legal” is mentioned? Do you consider having highly trained professionals to help advise you on legal matters important? Can an organization’s legal issues be handled by just anybody? Are there benefits attached to recruiting specialized legal officers? Nowadays, everything is governed by rules, laws, and regulations; from business contracts, employees’ codes of conduct, workers’ terms and conditions of appointment, inter-organizational agreements, and trade agreements to mention but a few. These regulations and laws must be interpreted and drafted by individuals with the ability, skills, knowledge, and experience to do so. Such individuals are called legal officers. To become a legal officer, certain criteria must be met and fulfilled; this will be discussed later on.

Simply, a legal officer is an individual or group of individuals responsible for monitoring, examining, and handling the legal affairs in a company. They work primarily in the legal unit or department of the company but cooperate with other units as well. Also, they are supervised and led by the chief legal officer of the firm. Legal officers handle both external and internal legal issues and concerns; they are responsible for keeping the company out of legal trouble. Thus, the legal officers must be willing to use every weapon in their arsenal to ensure that the company conforms to laid down rules and regulations. Several types of industries and sectors hire legal officers to handle their legal affairs; examples include educational institutions, government agencies, law firms, non-governmental organizations, and business ventures amongst others. While reporting to the upper-level member of staff (chief legal officer), a legal officer simultaneously leads and supervises a team of lower-level legal staff.

The legal officers assist the CLO to carry out many tasks which include identifying the inter-relationship between the legal issues and fallouts in departments of the organization. They also examine the business policy of an organization and have an understanding of the company’s services. In most organizations, the legal officer helps to peruse workers’ employment contracts to ensure that no discrepancies exist. Naturally, legal officers are expected to be unambiguous; their written and oral utterances must be clear, understandable, and devoid of errors. Over time, the position of a legal officer has become more prominent since conflicts abound. Also, companies and businesses are striving harder than before to avoid fines, lawsuits, or conflicts with the authorities. Since the demand for legal officers has increased rapidly, they are now often among the most highly paid and prominent professionals in the world.

In broader terms, the legal officers’ tasks go beyond ensuring the company adheres to laws and regulations; it encompasses crisis management, public policy advocacy, and compliance reporting management. Similarly, legal officers are hired to serve as in-house counsel in some organizations that strive to build in-house practice groups that rival the practices of major law firms. They handle specialized tasks like tax work, labor law, merger and acquisition, and intellectual property. Legal officers are also hired by some individuals including celebrities, athletes, cooperative societies, or pressure groups to handle their legal issues. Although there are different regulations and laws based on the industry or field, all legal officers regardless of the field must ensure that their employers remain in compliance with such regulations synonymous with their industry. As a legal officer, you will review all documents, contracts, and changes to the legal landscape and decipher how these changes affect the policies of the company.

Furthermore, a legal officer assesses liability and risks and recommends courses of action to the chief legal officer. Invariably, legal officers can help in internal investigations sometimes since irregularities are bound to occur in businesses and organizations. Using their specialized knowledge of local, state, national, and business law, the legal officers work in tandem with the legal team to ensure that their employer or client receives fair representation when lawsuits arise. In such cases, they meet with the client and the team to determine their needs and compile documents in that regard. The legal officers might be required to travel as part of their duties especially when the organization is going for a merger or acquisition for instance. Therefore, it can be adduced that no organization, business, or enterprise can function in premium without legal officers.

                                           

Legal Officer Job Description

Below are the legal officer job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a legal officer job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.

Legal officers perform a series or variety of crucial tasks to ensure that the best legal action is taken for their company or employer. While ensuring the organization complies with the statutory and corporate governance guidelines and practices as observed in their industry, the legal officer also;

• Provide legal advice: The legal officer must use written or oral platforms to brief staff members on legal issues, and the implication of potential liabilities, and suggest possible courses of action. Legal statements can be complicated sometimes; the legal officer must translate such complicated legal jargon into simple and understandable languages. Also, they must consider every possible legal problem before making any suggestions and recommendations. When making recommendations, the legal officer must make sure that whatever course of action they recommend is in complete compliance with the law. Legal officers must work hard to minimize risk for their employers.
• Perform research: Undoubtedly, laws and regulations are constantly being modified and always changing; hence, the legal officer must continuously research legal resources such as codes, judicial decisions, articles, statutes, and more to remain appraised with the current trends in the practice. This will enable them to make educated legal recommendations.
• Process documents: Paperwork is an integral component of any sort of legal work. The legal officer will need to regularly review and write contracts, settlement documents, stock certificates, agreements, and so on.
• Direct staff: when a legal matter is underway, it is up to the legal officer to direct all claim adjusters, liability attorneys, and other members of the legal team. With good leadership, the legal staff can proceed with clarity, efficiency, and confidence and hopefully resolve the issue swiftly.
• Identify risks: Arguably, legal issues should be nipped in the bud before they even begin. Therefore, the legal officer will regularly analyze the decisions and actions of their organizations to identify problem areas, suggest alternative courses of action, and mitigate risk as much as possible.
• Provide commercial legal support to all departmental projects and job functions.
• Monitor the sustenance of the registers and other records required to be maintained by the company under the companies and allies act.
• Ensure the development of service level agreements for service support and delivery.
• Assist in the development of guidelines, procedures, and policies.
• Provide administrative and other secretarial duties as directed by the chief legal officer and company secretary.
• Review and advice management on legal implications of internal policies and procedures.
• Investigate issues of non-compliance to laid down guidelines and laws internally.
• Review and analyze legal agreements and documents for the board.
• Specify internal governance policies and regularly monitor them.
• Communicate and negotiate with external parties, regulators, public authority, or auditors to create trust and build relationships.
• Ensure the company’s full legal rights by solidifying agreements with all parties.
• Handle complex issues and affairs with multiple forces and stakeholders.
• Work with efficiency, responsibility, and integrity.
• Develop and participate in internal audit and corporate compliance programs.
• Assist the chief legal officer in overseeing the delivery of legal services and resources to accomplish corporate strategies, priorities, and goals.
• Maintain proper corporate interactions with the relevant federal, state, business, and local bodies, legislatures, and the community at large.
• Advice the chief legal officer, chief executive officer, and other senior management staff on several issues.
• Schedule and conduct depositions of experts and witnesses when necessary.

 

Qualifications

Legal positions vary considerably in scope and responsibility. However, certain core qualifications are required for most of them. An individual will need to tick some boxes to be qualified for the role of a legal officer. Aside from physical stamina and energy, certainly emotional, educational, and industry checks need to be passed. Nobody wants a legal officer just to add to the collection of legal practitioners in the organization. Instead, every employer prefers that individual that is educationally competent, extremely or relatively experienced, and well trained to adapt and handle whatever might come their way. Thus, the qualifications for a legal officer include;

• A graduate degree in law is mandatory for the role of a legal officer. Most employers favor candidates with high grades. An MA or BSc in Business Administration is considered an advantage especially for company or business legal officer roles. The ideal candidate must enroll for and pass law school as well. In some countries, most legal officers are mandated to be members of legal associations; for example, in Nigeria, a legal officer must be a registered member of the Nigerian Bar Association. Some employers accept a J.D degree as well. Employers prefer candidates that passed law school because the content in such schools prepares the candidate with in-depth knowledge of local, state, and federal laws, the legal system, and the responsibilities and limitations of a legal officer.
• Experience is key for the position of legal officer. Although entry-level candidates must have gained relative experience during law school and internship, most employers prefer candidates with 2-3 years of experience working in a law firm or similar role.  Also, experience garnered while working as a legal assistant or paralegal can suffice so also roles in specialized areas like tax law, finance, healthcare, or corporate law. Individuals with proven experience as a legal officer in a business environment are at an advantage
• Excellent knowledge and understanding of the influences of the external environment on a previous corporation are desirable as well as full comprehension of the steps in creating legal defensive or proactive strategies.
• Additionally, proficiency and sound knowledge of Microsoft Office Word, PowerPoint, and Excel are required as well as the ability to exercise sound judgment and discretion. Some employers favor candidates that have worked as part of a legal team to ensure the smooth operation of the legal department.

 

Essential Skills

Employers and organizations look for a mix of legal competencies and skills when selecting candidates to fill legal officers’ roles. These core skills enable the legal officer to perform their duties diligently and include;

Analytical and logical reasoning skills: The legal officers must review and assimilate large volumes of complex information and be able to do so efficiently and effectively; hence the need for analytical and logical reasoning skills. These skills include reviewing complex written documents, making inferences, and drawing connections between legal authorities. Also, analytical and logical reasoning enables the legal officer to develop organizational and problem-solving abilities which are essential in structuring and evaluating arguments. The importance of using deductive and inductive reasoning to make inferences and reach conclusions cannot be overstated.

Commercial awareness: One of the essential expertise and skill required for legal officers is commercial awareness. They must be able to possess knowledge of current developments in local, state, national, and global business particularly any issues that can impact the organization or client. Firms expect legal officers to protect their businesses legally and prevent lawsuits as best as possible. Therefore, knowledge of such business and awareness laws can help minimize risks and enable the company to adhere to or comply with regulations.

Legal research skills: Researching legal concepts, case law, judicial opinions, statutes, regulations, and other information require important legal research skills. Legal officers must master research techniques and learn how to locate and synthesize legal authority. They must be proficient at statutory interpretation and learn proper legal citation. In addition, legal officers must develop proficiency with legal research software applications and the concept of internet research.

Client service skills: Relatively, legal officers must imbibe and develop excellent client service skills. Servicing a client capably, honestly, and responsibly is crucial to success in the client-focused legal industry. Legal officers must embrace rainmaking and client development skills to succeed in the role.

Similar essential skills for legal officers are attention to detail, written and oral communication, teamwork, knowledge of substantive law and legal procedure, time management, and creative thinking.

                                               

How to Become a Legal Officer

Just like other professions, the journey to becoming a legal officer is exciting but demands hard work, commitment, doggedness, self-discipline, resilience, and tact amongst others. Follow the steps below to launch your career as a legal officer in no distinct order;

1. While in high or secondary school, focus on commercial, arts, and business subjects and modules.
2. Enroll for a bachelor’s degree in law in a good university or citadel of learning.
3. During your school, look for an internship opportunity to practice, gain experience and harness your skills.
4. Depending on your location, study the federal, state, and local law to get acquainted with the regulations governing the legal and business world.
5. Register for law school and pass the law exam
6. Apply for an entry-level legal position to develop important and relevant experience. This can be in a law firm, business entity, or non-governmental organization.
7. Get a postgraduate degree in law, business law, or other related fields to stand above your competition.
8. After garnering relative years of experience, apply for legal officer roles and enjoy your journey henceforth.

                                            

Where to Work

Legal officers are employed by several corporations, industries, and sectors such as;

• Schools, colleges, and other citadels of learning.
• Law firms.
• Insurance companies.
• Government and government agencies.
• Non-governmental and charity organizations.
• Business ventures and private practice
• Banks and financial institutions
• Technological industry

                                               

Legal Officer Salary Scale

The average salary for a legal officer in Nigeria is 148000NGN per month including benefits. The highest threshold is 372000NGN while the lowest threshold is 96000NGN respectively. In the United States of America, a legal officer makes 76,695USD per annum. However, salaries may vary depending on the level of education, geographical location, and experience.

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