Lawyers

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

• Advise clients of their legal rights and all matters related to law

• Research legal precedents and gather evidence

• Plead clients' cases before courts of law, tribunals and boards

• Draw up legal documents such as real estate transactions, wills, divorces and contracts, and prepare statements of legal opinions

• Negotiate settlements of civil disputes

• Perform administrative and management functions related to the practice of law

• May act as mediator, conciliator or arbitrator

• May act as executor, trustee or guardian in estate and family law matters.

• Lawyers may specialize in specific areas of the law such as criminal law (lawyers only), corporate law, contract law, taxation law, administrative law, international law, commercial law, real estate law, family and estate law, intellectual property law and labour law.

• Two to three years of undergraduate studies, a bachelor's degree from a recognized law school, successful completion of the bar examination and completion of a period of articling are required.

• Licensing by the provincial or territorial law society is required.

• Be an active member of a law society in the province or territory of legal practice.

• Lawyers wishing to practise in another province or territory are required to pass examinations set by the provincial or territorial law society, except in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan where the National Mobility Agreement (2013) was implemented.