All lawyers dispense with advice to their clients, as this is one of their professional duties and their primary responsibility. They advise their clients based on their situation as well as the circumstances regarding the case and what are the possible consequences that the client will need to face for each course of action that is being contemplated by the client. The lawyers are bound by ethical rules when they inform the client of the different possibilities and when they are dispensing advice to their clients. However, there is more to just advice being given by lawyers, the term legal advisors refers to not only the above scenarios and situations but this term refers to specific lawyers who do not work in law firms but rather they are attached to and work with organizations, agencies, associations as well as corporations. These lawyers are approached as they are experts in the legal specialties of the field of work of the organization they have a tie up with or are employed by.
These receive the same training as all lawyers and they need to finish a bachelor’s degree post that they need to enroll for a three-year doctoral program, upon completion they obtain the degree known as Juris Doctor. They also need to pass the bar examination of the state and they need to bear good moral character in addition to being fit to practice law. Only upon fulfilling all these requirements do they obtain a state license. They can also undertake a further specialty training known as Legum Magister or L.L.M. This is a masters degree.
These lawyers give advice to their clients in a truthful manner, taking into account all the factors – political, social, moral as well as economic. These lawyers alert their clients when some other professional needs to be called upon or consulted. These professionals could be an accountant, psychiatrist or some other. They also assist their clients to find out different and cheaper options rather than going in for expensive lawsuits. They may suggest mediation or they may suggest out of court settlements as well.
These people are also referred to as in-house counsel and they work along with the legal department of the organization and the attorneys who are on the payroll of the organization.
These lawyers function as if the organization who has employed them are actually clients who have been obtained through a law firm. They also take up questions which are asked by people of different levels in the organization, they review contracts, they review legal documents as well as supervise the work of other paralegals and attorneys who are in the legal department of the organization. They also conduct lawsuits or they may undertake contracts with other law firms to fight lawsuits on behalf of the client. These are often even consulted by the government relating to international treaties and other important decisions.
These are all the duties, responsibilities and the work undertaken by legal advisors.
