The following article has been engineered to give you a brief outline of civil law. It is a wide topic, covering various areas of law. This article will provide you with some examples of civil law, explain to you how civil law differs from criminal law and explain what civil lawyers do on a day-to-day basis.

What is Civil Law?

Civil law encapsulates a plethora of different smaller areas of law. These range from torts to medical negligence, to commercial and contractual disputes. Essentially, any area of law which does not involve the state is a form of civil law. A helpful reminder is that civil law is law between civilians. It is private law.

Civil law is the type of law which a layperson is most likely to deal with. If somebody is the victim of a negligent driver, and suffers whiplash as a result, then they may need to interact with civil law, in the form of a claim of negligence against the other driver.

In criminal law, the prosecution brings a case against the defendant whereas in civil law, anyone can bring a claim. They are called a claimant, though you may see them referred to as the ‘plaintiff’. If when you study law, you will see that this is reflected in the names of cases. Criminal cases are, the vast majority of the time, stated as ‘R v Jones’, whereas civil cases will be ‘Smith v Jones’. This is because in criminal cases, the defendant is against the state, which is written as ‘R’, which stands for Regina.

What Does a Civil Lawyer Do?

There is no straightforward answer to this question. A civil lawyer may be in the lower-level County Courts, dealing with personal injury claims arising out of negligence, or, a civil lawyer may be in the Royal Courts of Justice in London, arguing in a multi-million-pound business dispute. There is a tremendous breadth of work in civil law.

With that being said, a civil lawyer’s work can be boiled down to some key elements.

  1. They will be meeting with lay-clients, collecting information for claims/ defences, and curating that information so it can be used as effective evidence for legal argumentation.
  2. They will be engaging in legal correspondence with the opposing legal counsel.
  3. They will be dealing with ‘damages’, which mainly takes the form of money. Most civil claims will involve the claimant suing the defendant for money.
  4. They will be dealing with often sensitive issues. People who are bringing civil claims will have often experienced some form of physical or mental trauma, and it is a civil lawyer’s job to ensure that they are at ease with the often-intimidating legal processes.

Civil Law Firms

There are, again, a tremendous amount of civil law firms. Technically speaking, magic circle firms in London are civil law firms, as they will, in the vast majority of cases, be dealing with civil law issues. This could range from a multi-million-pound business dispute to their client being sued by another.

The larger firms in London will typically offer a larger amount of money to their employees. A training contract at a magic circle law firm is normally £45,000 in the first year, £65,000 in the second year, and then up to £125,000 once qualified. The ‘magic circle’ firms are:

  • Clifford Chance
  • Allen & Overy
  • Linklaters
  • Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
  • Slaughter and May

Smaller civil firms also enumerate their employees very well. Some will match their magic circle counterparts’ pay packages, whereas some will be slightly lower. Examples of some smaller, yet still large firms include:

  • DLA Piper
  • DWF
  • Hogan Lovells
  • Eversheds Sutherland
  • CMS
  • Pinsent Masons
  • Baker and McKenzie
  • Ashurst

There are many smaller law firms that operate in civil law. It is up to you to find the right firm for you. Your choice may depend on many factors: location, pay, specialties, and more.

By Joshua Parsons

Study Law in the UK

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