Notary Public(specialism of Solicitor)

Do you want to become a Notary Public(specialism of Solicitor)? Here is some information to help point you in the right direction:

Job Description - Print Page

Notaries are members of the legal profession who carry out a range of specialist duties for commercial firms involved in international trade and for private individuals. Their main tasks include:

preparing and witnessing documents for use in foreign countries
dealing with the purchase or sale of land and property overseas
acting as legal advisers for people who either live abroad, or own property abroad
dealing with documents needed for immigration or emigration purposes
preparing documents for a variety of business purposes.

Notaries can also carry out the full range of legal duties, apart from conducting cases in courts.

Most notaries work normal office hours between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. There are opportunities to work on a part-time basis.

Notaries may earn from about £30,000 a year for new entrants, to over £100,000 a year for those with experience. Part-time notaries, who are also practising solicitors, may earn in the region of £12,000 to £15,000 a year from their notary work.

A notary should be:

able to take in and remember a large amount of complicated information
good at paying attention to detail
good at foreign languages
prepared to work independently and take responsibility
completely honest and reliable when dealing with financial matters
able to deal with people from a wide range of backgrounds
interested in the law in general, and in the legal systems of foreign countries.

There are about 1,000 notaries in England and Wales. The vast majority are also qualified solicitors - for more general information on entering this profession see Solicitor.

All candidates who wish to become notaries must either have a law degree or be qualified as solicitors or barristers. They must then complete the Postgraduate Diploma in Notarial Practice, which is offered by the Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education. In Scotland all notaries must be qualified solicitors.

Newly qualified notaries must practise for the first two years under the supervision of a qualified notary. It is possible to do further courses in languages and foreign laws to qualify as a Scrivener Notary, someone who has traditionally practised only in the City of London.

The work of notaries is regulated by an organisation called the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and all notaries must renew their practising certificates every year by showing they have followed the strict rules set down by this office.

Notaries may become partners in law firms, or set up their own companies.

Further information

Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge, Madingley Hall, Madingley, Cambridge CB3 8AQ. 01954 280280. Website: www.cont-ed.cam.ac.uk (opens in new window)