Lawyers study and interpret points of law to advise clients of their rights and legal obligations, and represent client interests in legal transactions and proceedings.

Lawyer advise clients on legal matters, represent clients before administration boards and draw up legal documents such as contracts and wills. They also plead cases, represent clients before tribunals and conduct prosecutions in courts of law.

Legal practice may be roughly divided into two types: court work and office work. In Canada, when lawyers have completed their training, they are called Barristers and Solicitors because they are eligible to do both. Most lawyers, particularly in small practices, do some court work.

Barristers (court work practitioners) act as advocates for their clients in both criminal and civil law suits. Criminal law involves breaches of the Criminal Code of Canada (for example, arson, theft, murder) or violations of other statutes (for example, the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, Young Offenders Act). Civil cases involve non-criminal actions and often are settled out of court. For example, civil cases include:

• personal injury law suits
• family and divorce actions
• contract law suits
• employment and labour disputes
• estates
• intellectual property disputes.

In general, barristers acting on behalf of clients:

• research legislation, legal precedents and case law
• gather evidence (interview witnesses, review documents)
• advise clients, initiate legal actions and draft pleadings
• present a client's case or defence in court or before a tribunal, board, mediator or arbitrator
• negotiate settlements
• may act as a mediator, conciliator or arbitrator.

Litigators are barristers engaged in civil work.

Prosecutors are barristers for the Crown who:

• research legislation, legal precedents and case law
• assemble and analyze evidence gathered by police
• advise police regarding charges and keep crime victims informed about legal procedings
• prosecute criminal cases in court.

Solicitors (office work lawyers) deal with those areas which generally do not require courtroom appearances such as real estate transactions, corporate law, commercial law, administrative law, patents, probate and administration of estates, international law and some aspects of family law.

In general, solicitors:

• act as advisors in legal transactions
• draft legal documents such as wills and business contracts
• handle the transfer of property
• administer estates
• incorporate companies
• negotiate deals
• act as executors, trustees or guardians in estate and family law matters
• act as trade-mark or patent agents.

Lawyers and articling students are notary publics under the Notaries Public Act (Alberta). A notary public may:

• administer oaths and take affidavits, affirmations and declarations
• draw, pass, keep and issue deeds, contracts, charter parties and other mercantile transactions in Alberta
• attest (show that something is true and valid) commercial instruments.

Lawyers and articling students also are commissioners of oaths under the Commissioner of Oaths Act (Alberta). They may administer oaths and take and receive affidavits, declarations and affirmations in Alberta.

Legal work can be very demanding and stressful. Lawyers may spend many hours outside the normal working day drafting briefs, researching cases and generally keeping informed about new developments in the legal profession. They usually work as partners or associates in law offices and employ one or more staff members to assist them with their work.

Other working conditions depend on factors such as size and type of law firm. For example:

• criminal lawyers may, if required, spend time conferring with clients who are being detained in remand centres or prisons.
• practitioners in international, corporation or taxation law work closely with government officials and professionals such as accountants, economists and business executives.
• family law lawyers meet with families in the course of adoption or child custody proceedings.
• labour lawyers sometimes visit work sites to investigate working conditions or labour disputes.

To practice law in Alberta, lawyers must have completed three stages of post-secondary education and training requiring a total of six to eight years of study.

The first stage is two to four years in an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree program. Undergraduate degree programs and university transfer programs are offered by post-secondary institutions throughout Alberta. In general, the admission requirement for undergraduate programs is a competitive average (ranging from 60 to 80 per cent depending on the program) in English Language Arts 30-1 and four other approved or specified 30 level courses (for example, social studies, math or a second language other than English, sciences).

For current information about programs, admission requirements and mature student admission policies, please check post-secondary calendars or websites.

Students seeking admission to law school must write the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), an aptitude test administered four times a year at a number of Canadian campuses.

The second stage is a three year Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from an accredited law school. Admission to law school is based on the Faculty of Law's assessment of the applicant's academic record, LSAT score and general qualifications. The minimum academic requirement is completion of at least two years of a program leading to a bachelor's degree or equivalent, but admission after two or three years of undergraduate study is very unusual. A bachelor's degree is generally required to gain admission.

The University of Alberta in Edmonton offers:

• an LLB degree program. This is a quota program in which a number of places are reserved for mature and indigenous students.
• a combined Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Laws (MBA/ LLB) degree program. In addition to the entrance requirements described above, admission to these programs requires successful completion of the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).
• a Master of Laws (LLM) program and a PhD program. The entrance requirement for the course or thesis-based master's program is a law degree from a recognized university. See the University of Alberta calendar for information about additional entrance requirements.

The University of Calgary offers:

• an LLB degree program. In addition to the entrance requirements described above, the applicant's maturity, work experience and community involvement are considered.
• a combined Bachelor of Laws and Master of Business Administration (LLB/MBA) degree and a combined Bachelor of Laws and Master of Environmental Design (LLB/MEDes) degree. Students wishing to obtain a combined degree must be admitted to each relevant Faculty through the ordinary process and then apply to the combined program.
• a thesis-based LLM and a course based LLM program in natural resources, energy and environmental law. Applicants must have a degree in law.

The University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon offers a special law program for Aboriginal people. For more information, contact the Legal Studies for Native People program, located at the Native Law Centre, University of Saskatchewan.

The third stage of education and training for lawyers is called articling. After prospective lawyers graduate from an LLB or combined degree program, they must work for one full year as a student-at-law. This is a form of apprenticeship in which the student enters into an agreement (articles of clerkship) with a practitioner of the Alberta Bar, to provide the graduate with practical training in both barrister's and solicitor's work. Most articling students are paid a modest salary.

It is the responsibility of the law graduate to obtain an articling position. A graduate's ability to secure an articling position depends on a number of factors including the level of economic activity in the province and the graduate's grades and related experience.

Articling students must attend and successfully complete the CPLED program (Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education) which is offered twice a year and covers many practical aspects of the law. This eight month bar admission program includes classroom sessions and online learning. 

Under Alberta's Legal Profession Act, you must be registered member of the Law Society of Alberta (LSA) to practice law in Alberta or call yourself a Lawyer.

Lawyers may be self-employed, or employed by businesses or federal, provincial or municipal governments. In the past, most lawyers started their careers in private practice, either as members of firms or on their own. Today, a growing number of graduates are pursuing alternate careers working for government, business, industry, nonprofit groups or post-secondary institutions.

Lawyers in private practice sometimes become senior partners in their firms. A few are appointed to the Bench or to administrative tribunals. Government legal advisors may advance to positions as department heads or diplomats, and corporate lawyers may become company executives. Lawyers also may combine their training in law with other professional training (for example, in arbitration, mediation, medicine, business, library studies or political science).

Lawyers are part of the larger National Occupational Classification 4112: Lawyers and Quebec Notaries. In Alberta, 79 per cent of people employed in this classification work in the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services industry.

The employment outlook in this occupation will be influenced by a wide variety of factors including:

• trends and events affecting overall employment (especially in the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services industry)
• location in Alberta
• employment turnover (work opportunities generated by people leaving existing positions)
• occupational growth (work opportunities resulting from the creation of new positions that never existed before)
• size of the occupation.

Employment turnover is expected to increase as members of the baby boom generation retire over the next ten years.

Incomes in private practice vary tremendously depending on the firm's ability to attract and maintain clients.

According to the 2007 Alberta Wage and Salary Survey, Albertans with three years of experience working part-time or full-time in the Lawyers and Quebec Notaries occupational group earned from $27,400 to $186,300 a year. The average salary was $110,100 a year.

Post-secondary institution calendars and websites (see Educational Requirements above)

EDinfo website: www.alis.alberta.ca/edinfo

Law Society of Alberta website: www.lawsocietyalberta.com

Legal Education Society of Alberta website: www.lesa.org/CPLED