Day-to-day operating brief
What Legal Executive work looks like in practice
A Legal Executive manages legal matters within a practice area, advising clients, drafting documents and, where authorised, conducting advocacy or reserved work. Titles, practising rights and supervision must match the employee's actual professional status. Terms should define specialism, caseload, client ownership, practising certificate, signing and settlement authority, court travel, CPD, complaints, conflicts, undertakings and confidential records. Matter plans should identify limitation or court deadlines independently of the client's preferred timetable. Advice records need the facts assumed and options explained. Where supervision is required, evidence of review should precede commitment, filing or an undertaking rather than being added retrospectively. Client advice should state available options, material risk, likely next step and any deadline without guaranteeing outcome. Where instructions change, the matter record should show that the consequences were explained before irreversible action. Supervision notes must identify what was reviewed rather than a generic approval mark. Costs information should be refreshed when scope, hearing length or transaction complexity changes, allowing clients to make informed decisions rather than discover material variation only with the final bill. File reviews should identify supervision, client-care and substantive legal actions separately, ensuring administrative completeness does not mask an unresolved advice issue.
Individually written and reviewed against the maintained role record.