For any legal job, you need to be careful, logical and accurate. You should have a good memory and be able to think quickly.

There are at least 25,000 legal services professionals in Scotland, including 12,737 practising solicitors and 595 accredited paralegals. The Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service employs around 1,800 people across 50 locations in Scotland, in roles that support the legal system, including court officers and administrative assistants and officers.

What areas can I work in?

Sectors in this career area include professional law, legal support services and patent work.

There is a range of jobs at different levels, from administrative posts such as court officer, through to professional roles such as solicitor or patent attorney.

Law degrees are also suitable for employment in other career areas, for example business management.

To see the routes to getting into each of these sectors, take a look at our Career Pathway.

What kind of companies can I work for?

Companies you may work for include:

• legal firms
• the Scottish Court Service
• the Civil Service
• local government
• Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS)
• Faculty of Advocates
• public bodies, such as the Citizens' Advice Bureau.

What’s the job market like?

According to Prospects and AGCAS, 49.5% of law graduates from the academic year 2019/20 went on to full time employment within 15 months of graduating. 41.9% of those found employment in legal, social or welfare roles. Of those graduating, 11.4% went on to further study. A further 15.8% continued to study whilst working. 

The numbers of practising solicitors are expected to remain stable between 2022 and 2027, according to EMSI UK data. This, coupled with the increasing use of paralegals, legal executives and technicians, indicate that the legal sector in Scotland is still thriving with possible growth in the future.

The number of trainee solicitors in Scotland in 2021/22 set a new record at 788. This was a 5.9% increase of the the previous record set the year before. Trainee numbers have been boosted by the Scottish Government’s legal aid traineeship sheme, providing up to 40 additional trainees over two years.

Facts and figures

• There are four criminal courts in Scotland - the High Court, Sheriff Court, Sheriff Appeal Court and the Justice of the Peace Court.
• 56% of practising solicitors are female. This is expected to reach 60% by 2027.
• As of end March 2022, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) employed 2,220 full time staff. They also had 60 trainee solicitors and 26 Modern Apprentices.
• There were 53,866 civil law cases initiated across the sheriff courts in Scotland in 2021/22 - a 23% increase from the previous year.

Want to find out more?

The Law Society of Scotland website has an Education and Careers section with lots of useful information.

The Scottish Paralegal Association website has information on qualifying in this area.

Sources

• What do graduates do? Prospects in association with AGCAS (2023)
• Law Society of Scotland Strategy report 2022-2027
• Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022, Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (September 2022)
• The Law Society of Scotland website
• Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) Annual Report 2021-2022 (March 2022)
• Civil Justice Statistics, Scottish Government (April 2023)

Video

Career Pathway