Sally Kenney`s article on civil servants or legal secretaries on the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) provides a detailed point of comparison (2000). There are big differences between CJEU officials and their US counterparts, mainly due to the structure of the CJEU. [14] A key difference is that CJEU employees, while hired by individual judges, serve long sentences, as opposed to the one-year standard of legal internship at the U.S. Supreme Court. This gives CJEU staff considerable expertise and power. As the term of office of CJEU judges can be extended by six years and does not give individual opinions, the most important role of CJEU staff is to ensure consistency and continuity across chambers, Member States and over time. Since 1991,[36] law graduates from the National University of Singapore, Singapore Management University, and prestigious foreign universities, only those receiving first-class awards or equivalent awards,[37] have been invited to join the Supreme Court as judicial clerks. The Supreme Court consists of the High Court and the Court of Appeal, Singapore`s final court of appeal. Upon acceptance of the appointment, the judges` law clerks will be appointed for a term of one and a half years, with a possible extension of 6 months. During their tenure, trainee lawyers have the opportunity to work with both High Court and Court of Appeal judges and the Chief Justice. After their tenure, trainee lawyers have the opportunity to join the permanent establishment of the Singapore Legal Service. If they make use of this possibility, they will be transferred to other departments of the Singapore Legal Service, for example as Deputy Prosecutors to the Attorneys General or Deputy Registrars at the Registry of the Supreme Court. Many judicial law clerks choose to join private companies after their tenure (and some have recently earned the title of senior counsel), while others have chosen a path in academia.
In the High Court, clerks are assigned to two or three judges (including associate judges). In the Court of Appeal of New Zealand and the Supreme Court of New Zealand, each judge has his or her own secretary. [21] The Chief Justice is the exception and has two employees. Legal internships are highly sought after and the competition is extremely competitive. Judges often have class ranks that place them at or near the top of their graduating class. And because these jobs are very intensive in writing and research, trainee lawyers must have excellent written communication skills and have a thorough understanding of many areas of law, court procedures, judicial systems, and judicial rules. In addition, some federal district courts are frequent locations for certain types of cases that can provide social workers with specialized experience in the following areas: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has an extensive and competitive program for the appointment of law clerks/research associates. Applications are being solicited across Pakistan encouraging new law graduates, lawyers and lawyers to submit their resumes, transcripts, three letters of recommendation and a legal writing sample. Candidates are then shortlisted on a purely merit-based basis and finally questioned by the selection board, composed of senior judges and trainee lawyers from the Court of Justice, before their final appointment. In recent years, all appointed trainee lawyers have been chartered lawyers who have been placed at the top of their class with excellent research evidence. Clerks sit on the court during hearings.
In private practice, he assists the judge in making legal decisions, carrying out searches, critically reviewing court decisions and preparing briefs, etc. Trainee lawyers are paid employees of the court for a renewable term of one year. The Supreme Court has 17 trainee lawyers for the year 2017-2018. There are different opinions on the influence of assistants on the Polish judicial system. Some scholars criticize the profession because, in their view, judges themselves should write their own opinions, as this would have a positive impact on the quality and length of these documents. [31] However, prominent judges note that “a good assistant is a treasure” (Justice Krystian Markiewicz), while others complain that they do not need assistants who “do not make any unsubstantiated decisions” (Justice Barbara Piwnik, former Minister of Justice). [32] Unlike many Western legal systems, the profession of judicial assistant in Poland is sometimes described as “poorly paid” and “unattractive.” [33] Legal internships with federal or state appellate judges tend to be more competitive than those with state judges. [39] However, since there are many more law graduates with high academic qualifications than there are legal internships available at each level, competition for legal internships is always intense.
Each job requires different skills such as “high volume”, “computer system”, “office supplies” and “word processor”, which may appear on a legal trainee`s resume. While contractors` paralegal skills such as “ensure compliance”, “contract database”, “contract paralegal” and “due diligence” may include. At the Federal Supreme Court (see Justice) and the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, the tasks of trainee lawyers are carried out by academic staff. With few exceptions, they are judges or public servants assigned to the relevant Federal Court for a period of three years, and their articling periods serve as a qualification for a senior judicial function. However, some judges of the Federal Constitutional Court (who have the right to personally choose their academic staff) prefer clerks or civil servants, especially those who are or have been law professors and often hire people from academia (sometimes even young law professors). The clerks of the Federal Constitutional Court are considered very influential and are therefore called the third (unofficial) Senate, unlike the two official “Senates” of 8 judges each, which form the Court. In addition, law school students across the country have the opportunity to work as “articling students” under Supreme Court judges during their vacation periods. The institution of trainee lawyers is still a recent development in the context of the Indian judicial system. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some judges are reluctant to rely on “law clerks” because of concerns about confidentiality, particularly in politically sensitive disputes. However, its services rely heavily on the review of pleadings in order to prepare for preliminary hearings to decide whether a case should be admitted to a regular hearing on the merits.
In recent years, the contributions of trainee lawyers seeking legal advice have become increasingly evident due to increasing references to foreign precedents and scientific writings. In India, law graduates from the National Law University go through a competitive appointment and interview process to be accepted as a trainee lawyer. The Supreme Court of India and several high courts of India offer paid legal internships, which are considered very prestigious. These internships generally last one year (the session starts from July to mid-May) and may be extended at the discretion of each judge. Preparation of legal documents * Answering incoming calls / Responding to client inquiries * Multi-account claims control * Scheduled and maintained schedule for lawyers State and federal judges in the United States employ assistants called trainee attorneys to help them manage paperwork and shape and articulate the decisions they make in cases before their court. Typically, the second most sought-after federal clerk position is that of a judge of the U.S. District Court. Some U.S. district courts are more desirable than others because of the district`s popular location. There are also federal internships with other federal judges such as U.S.
judges. magistrates judges; judges of the United States Tax Court, senior judges, and special judges; judge of the Insolvency Appeal Board; and U.S. bankruptcy judges. “In the legal system, employees and paralegals are seen as agents of their employers,” says Ard Ardalan, a former paralegal and lawyer currently practicing at Ardalan Law Firm. “A paralegal or employee may bind the law firm for which he or she works by being represented on behalf of the lawyer.” The work of trainee lawyer mainly consists of assisting judges in drafting judgments and decisions, keeping records at hearings and conducting judicial investigations. After about six months, the court registrar is responsible for deciding simpler and non-contentious matters (e.g. registration of marriages or granting of adoptions). After about a year, the registrar is responsible for evaluating simpler criminal and civil cases (before ordinary courts) such as petty theft or civil proceedings involving small sums of money.
“Paralegals often help with the preparation of briefs and correspondence, the follow-up of files to ensure reasonable progress and timeliness, and the day-to-day communication with clients and third parties in their cases where personal intervention by a lawyer is not required,” says Fulk.