What Does a Solicitor Do?

Solicitor is the job title most people picture when they imagine working in law. It’s the largest branch of the legal profession in England and Wales, with more than 170,000 people on the roll, and this guide walks you through the role in plain English. You’ll learn what solicitors actually do, where they work, the areas of law they specialise in, the kind of person who thrives in the job, what they earn, and the four routes that qualify you to become one, including the two apprenticeship routes that let you qualify with no tuition debt.

Advising Clients

Taking detailed instructions from a client, understanding what they actually need (which is often different from what they say they need), and explaining the law in plain English. A good solicitor turns legal options into a practical plan the client can act on today, not a lecture on the statute.

Drafting Documents

Writing and reviewing contracts, wills, court papers, settlement agreements and advice letters. Drafting is the craft of the job. A well-drafted contract can head off a dispute three years before it starts, and a badly drafted one can cost a client a seven-figure sum over a single typo.

Legal Research

Checking statutes, case law and regulator guidance on databases like Westlaw, LexisNexis and Practical Law. Solicitors don't memorise the law. They know how to find it quickly, understand its limits, and write it up in a note the client or partner can actually use to make a decision.

Negotiation

Going back and forth with the solicitor on the other side about price, wording, deadlines and conditions. Most legal work never sees a courtroom; it's settled through days or weeks of careful negotiation, and this is where an experienced solicitor earns their fee.

Case Management

Running files from start to finish. That means tracking deadlines, keeping a diary of court dates, recording your time for billing, managing junior staff, and keeping the client updated without being prompted. The best solicitors are the ones clients never have to chase.

Instructing Barristers

When a case reaches a higher court or needs specialist advocacy, the solicitor briefs a barrister to argue it. The solicitor prepares the papers, attends the hearing, and remains the client's main point of contact throughout. The barrister is the specialist, the solicitor is the guide.

A Day in the Life of a Solicitor

No two days look identical, but a trainee or newly-qualified solicitor in a mid-sized firm usually splits their time across the same handful of activities. A typical day often starts with 30 minutes of emails and time-recording, then a client call, then a couple of hours of drafting a contract or advice letter, a break to research a point of law, a negotiation call with the other side in the afternoon, and file management at the end of the day.

The rhythm shifts as you get more senior. Partners spend more time on client relationships, business development and supervising juniors than on drafting themselves. In-house lawyers spend more time in meetings with the business. Litigators will have heavy disclosure weeks, then quiet weeks. These are the building blocks almost every solicitor’s working day is made of:

  • Client calls and meetings: taking instructions and giving updates
  • Drafting and reviewing: contracts, letters of advice and court papers
  • Legal research: checking statutes, case law and regulatory guidance
  • Negotiation: emails and calls with the other side's solicitors
  • Time recording and file management, which the SRA expects on every file
  • Compliance checks: anti-money-laundering, conflicts and identity verification

Where Do Solicitors Work?

The job title stays the same across every setting, but the environment shapes the work enormously. Most solicitors in England and Wales still work in private practice law firms, which range from a small high-street practice with three people advising local families, to the Magic Circle firms in London running cross-border deals with a thousand lawyers in one building.

The fastest-growing parts of the profession sit outside that classic model. In-house legal teams are embedded directly in businesses, and the alternative business structures that have opened legal services to banks, insurers and tech platforms since 2011 are a category of their own. The setting you choose shapes your pay, your hours, the kind of client you build a career around, and often your work-life balance over a career. Here are the five main places you’ll find a solicitor at work:

  • Private practice law firms: high street, regional, national and Magic Circle
  • In-house legal teams employed directly by a business, charity, sports club or university
  • Public sector and government: the Government Legal Department, CPS, local authorities and NHS
  • Alternative business structures: the legal arms of insurers, banks and legal-tech companies
  • Not-for-profit and legal aid: Citizens Advice, law centres and legal charities

Areas of Law Solicitors Practise

Most solicitors specialise. During training you’ll rotate through several ‘seats’ (short placements in different departments) and usually settle into one of them on qualification. The practice area you choose will shape the type of client you meet, whether you’re in court often, and how your pay grows.

Corporate and commercial work tends to pay the most and keep the longest hours. Family, private client and criminal work pay less but offer closer human contact and more immediate impact on people’s lives. Public-interest specialisms like immigration, human rights and charity law sit in the middle. Below are the areas you’re most likely to encounter.

  • Corporate and M&A: buying, selling and restructuring companies
  • Commercial and technology: contracts, GDPR, AI regulation and platform terms
  • Litigation and dispute resolution: court cases, arbitration and mediation
  • Employment: contracts, redundancies, tribunals and workplace disputes
  • Real estate and conveyancing: land, property, leases and landlord-tenant
  • Family: divorce, children, cohabitation and financial settlements
  • Private client: wills, trusts, inheritance tax and estate planning
  • Criminal, immigration and human rights work, defending or representing individuals

How Do You Qualify as a Solicitor?

There is no longer a single right way in. Since the SRA introduced the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) in September 2021, four distinct routes now lead to qualification, and the traditional Legal Practice Course (LPC) route will close fully on 31 December 2032. Which route suits you depends on your age, your finances and whether you want to earn a salary while you learn.

Every route ends with the same destination: admission to the Roll of Solicitors, which makes you a qualified solicitor in England and Wales with practice rights anywhere in the jurisdiction. The journey to get there looks like this:

  • Explore the role thoroughly. Read widely, shadow a solicitor if you can, and speak to people in different practice areas
  • Choose your route: Solicitor Apprenticeship, Graduate Solicitor Apprenticeship, the SQE route, or the closing LPC route
  • Meet the entry requirements: GCSEs 4-9 and A-levels for apprenticeships, or a degree in any subject for the SQE route
  • Apply during the main recruitment windows. Apprenticeships usually open September to December, and the SQE has two sittings a year
  • Complete two years of qualifying work experience (QWE) signed off by a solicitor, in up to four organisations
  • Pass SQE1: 360 multiple-choice questions across two days, testing the foundations of English and Welsh law
  • Pass SQE2: 16 practical skills assessments including client interviewing, advocacy, legal research and drafting
  • Pass the SRA's character and suitability checks, then be admitted to the Roll. You are now a qualified solicitor

Explore the Four Routes to Solicitor

Now you know what solicitors do, the next question is how to become one. Compare the four qualifying routes side by side, including the two apprenticeship routes that let you earn a salary and qualify without tuition debt, and see which fits your age, your finances and the life you want.

Compare the Routes