"Help, I need somebody" said the Beatles in their world-famous song but if your problems are practical rather than emotional, you'll be amazed at how many ways a qualified lawyer can help sort out all kinds of difficulties.
The UK's professional supervisory body for solicitors, The Law Society, is using Help, I Need Somebody as its slogan to encourage people to contact a qualified solicitor.
If you have the right legal information usually it can help you save cash, effort and emotional trauma - and often all three.
Because of the widespread use of the internet, many people in need of legal services have forgotten about the traditional way to find answers by consulting a high street solicitor and, instead, are seeking advice from unqualified, unregulated so-called legal advisors who could well cause far more trouble than they're worth.
Will writing and employment services are among the sectors where unregulated individuals have the opportunity to cause the most problems for consumers.
Among the services offered by qualified solicitors are all the legal work and advice involved in buying a home, making a will, setting up in business, renting a home, renting out your property, getting a divorce, making a personal injury claim, probate, claiming asylum, financial matters for elderly people, setting up home with your partner, money laundering procedures and civil partnerships.
For anyone with the intention of making a career in the law, there are a number of paths which can be followed but the most usual is for an academic degree course at a further education institution to be followed by practical training under the guidance of an experienced solicitor.
Once this training contract is complete, a newly-qualified lawyer will not have finished learning but will continue to take short specialist courses to maintain knowledge and keep up with the latest changes in the law throughout their working life.
Although most solicitors have studied law at university, it is not essential because a one-year post-graduate law conversion course can be taken to bring the potential lawyer up to speed if they have completed a degree in a different subject.
After a one-year legal practice course (LPC) at an academic institution, a two-year training contract with a firm of solicitors is the next step before final qualification.
Fully-qualified solicitors in England and Wales all have to be registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Once a solicitor is qualified, he or she can then look for a legal job in whatever field and area of the country appeals to them.
Solicitors can choose from a wide variety of disciplines in which to work, as well as the most usual choice of private practice.
Local and central government are major employers of legal practitioners, as are many large companies and non-commercial organizations which need to ensure all their activities stay within the law.
The Law Society has a lot of helpful advice for would-be and newly-qualified lawyers and there are a number of avenues to search for positions, including specialist legal recruitment agencies.
Solicitors' private practices can vary in size from a one-man band dealing with whoever comes through the door to large national firms with hundreds of employees, specialising in various branches of the law. Developing experience as well as knowledge is an important part of a solicitor's career development and many of the best ones will have had a variety of legal jobs until they decide to specialise.
There are qualified solicitors all over the UK in towns large and small, waiting to help you with your problems.
