Solicitors advise clients about the law, and act on behalf of their clients in legal matters. Their clients can be individual people, businesses of all sizes, or other organisations like government departments or charities.

They can work in:

• private practice – providing a range of legal services such as conveyancing (dealing with property sales), probate (wills and estates), civil law, family law, litigation, personal injury and criminal law
• commercial practice – advising and acting for business clients in contract law, tax, employment law, patents, competition law, and company sales and mergers
• in-house legal advice for companies or central or local government

Crown Prosecution Service (England and Wales) or Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (Scotland) – examining police evidence to decide whether to bring cases to court.

Solicitors can carry out a wide range of duties depending on their employer and the type of law they practice, but their work generally involves:

• advising clients about legal matters
• representing clients in court, or instructing barristers or advocates to act for their clients in court
• dealing with paperwork, drafting letters, contracts and documents, and keeping financial records
• researching similar cases to guide their current work
• attending meetings and negotiations
• preparing papers for court.

Many solicitors choose to specialise in a particular area of law.

Non-commercial solicitors provide a wide range of legal support and advice to clients, individuals and small businesses. They take instructions and advise on necessary courses of legal action.

Practices may vary considerably in the type of work they undertake, depending on their size and the market they serve. Some are referred to as 'high street firms' as they tend to deal with the needs of the local community and offer a wide range of services.

Typical services offered may relate to buying and selling property, landlord and tenant agreements, wills and probate, litigation, and matrimony. Non-commercial solicitors may also be involved in legal aid work.

A commercial solicitor acts for businesses of all sizes. Caseloads can range from general company/commercial work (such as advising small start-up businesses) to large complex corporate transactions (such as mergers and acquisitions). They advise on specialist areas of law and represent clients where there is a business-related dispute.

Most commercial solicitors specialise in particular areas of law, eg:

• property;
• tax;
• employment;
• finance;
• intellectual property;
• competition law.

Generally, commercial solicitors work as part of a team on highly complex and intellectually demanding work, which requires the ability to meet exacting deadlines and work under considerable pressure.