How to Become a Senior Advocate?

Aspiring about becoming a Senior Advocate? But don’t have much idea about the job? Well relax, we are here. This blog covers all you need to know about a Senior Advocate! So keep reading till the end to understand every concept and give a kickstart to your career! 

Who is a Senior Advocate?

Senior Advocate is basically a designation available to the lawyers in the High Courts or the Supreme Court. It is merely a recognition given to the lawyers as their superiority and their standing at the bar.

Must Read – Difference Between Lawyer and Advocate

Role and Responsibilities of a Senior Advocate

The basic responsibilities of a senior advocate includes looking after the works of the junior advocates and also tackle the complex legal transactions, identifying the legal issues, offering the business and its consumers’ optimum solutions. 

A Senior Advocate also ensures that the business responds appropriately to any legislative changes in the nation. The specializations also include regulatory work of corporate legal services and their licensing. 

They also specialize in corporate governance work which is inclusive of legal services processes, contracts, complaints, and so on. 

Also Read: How to Become a Judge Advocate General?

Objectives of a Senior Advocate

Legal Advice:- As a senior advocate, he has to analyse the situations in the business organisations, and provide legal solutions and consequences and all possible legal solutions. 

Management:- The senior lawyer along with the legal consequences and solutions also looks after determining the legal direction and strategy for the business organisation.

Legal Drafting:- The senior advocate guides and directs the junior advocates in  handling various drafting tasks, inclusive of quarterly/annual report drafting, proxy statement development, etc. Additionally, the Senior Lawyer prepares complex contracts and develops and documents standards terminologies and conditions for the smooth functioning of the business organisation. 

Knowledge:- The senior advocate is held responsible for keeping the departments of the business organisation and also the organisation at large informed on new laws, regulations, and industry trends market trends, that affect the business as well as assisting with the development of policies and training as necessary.

Other Responsibilities:- The senior advocate also performs other responsibilities which deems fit for the perfect execution of his duties and objectives as delegated by the Head of Legal, Chief Finance Officer, or the Client or Employer. 

Also Read: How to Become A Sports Lawyer?

Qualifications to Become a Senior Advocate 

As the responsibilities of a Senior Advocate are complex, the job requires candidates to have a strong educational as well as professional background.  

Educational Qualification

The Senior Advocate must have had a master’s degree (preferably PhD) in Law from an accredited law school or institution as recognised by the law and at least five years of working experience in a legal corporate environment.

Work Experience Required for a Senior Advocate 

A lawyer for this position must have at least 5 years of working experience in any corporate legal environment. If working as a Junior Lawyer, that would be the best. The candidate must have also had some experience in legal practice both at a law firm and as an in-house legal consultant within a corporate setting.

Furthermore, the lawyer will be required to have experience working in a legal corporate capacity providing legal advice on a huge set of general corporate matters like mergers and acquisitions, finance, taxation, contracts, and many more. A desired applicant will further have worked on corporate governance issues as well as having experience working at all levels of management consulting with senior business leadership and stakeholders.

Skills Required for a Senior Advocate

Communication Skills: The Senior Lawyer, like the junior Lawyer, should have exceptionally good communication skills both in written and verbal form. The Senior Lawyer will further need exceptional communication skills in his legal drafting capacity since legal documentation needs to be clear, concise, unambiguous, and conclusive, leaving no room for subsequent misinterpretation or exploitation.

Legal Skills: The Senior advocate must also possess certain legal skills that will make him a more suitable candidate. The candidate must similarly be familiar with the state’s copyright and privacy laws. They must also be highly knowledgeable of legal principles specifically on financial matters such as taxation and be up to date with the existing and emerging company law legislation and practices.

Interpersonal Skills: You must be a strategic and creative thinker, he must be result-oriented as well as detail-oriented.

People Skills: The Senior Lawyer must be a people person and be capable of forming strong, lasting, and meaningful relationships with others while maintaining firm adherence to legal standards. 

Ms Office: The Senior Lawyer must be technically adept and have excellent computer skills. He must display exceptionally good Ms Office, Ms Excel, and PowerPoint skills that will be necessary for the drafting of various legal documents as necessary and for the creation of engaging presentations as necessary.

Certifications to Become a Senior Advocate 

Advocates must be duly registered with a Bar Council constituted under the Advocates Act, 1961 and is ordinarily practicing in the Punjab and Haryana High Court or in a court subordinate to it for a period of not less than 10 years to become a Senior Advocate. 

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Best Universities for Law in India

The following are the top law colleges in India:

Name	Location	Annual Fees
National Law University (NLU)	Jodhpur	INR 2,00,000
Hidayatullah National Law University	Raipur	INR 79,000
Chandigarh University	Chandigarh	INR 80,000
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)	Kharagpur	INR 1,63, 000
Mahatma Gandhi Law College- [MGLC]	Hyderabad	INR 24,000
Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies (VIPS)	New Delhi	INR 92.500
SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies	Mumbai	INR 1,25,000

Salary of Senior Advocate in Different Countries

The following is the salary of a senior advocate in different countries:

Country Avg. Salary/ year
India 7.2 Lakh
USA $62,850 (52 Lakh)
UK 81,220 GBP (80.9 Lakh)
Canada CAD 150,639 (91.7 Lakh)

Hope you understood the job profile and responsibilities of a Senior Advocate. Still have a doubt? Comment down below and we will be happy to help! Want to study Law at the best universities across the world? Reach out to our Leverage Edu experts and get started with your application TODAY!