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Getting Senior Secretarial Work With Legal Secretarial Courses
To become a Legal Secretary you will need to acquire a number of key skills, although there isn't one specific certification to get you there. Firstly we'll cover day to day aspects of the job, and then we'll take a look at the type of training that might be relevant.
The majority of the work will involve typing correspondence on behalf of the lawyers you work for, and preparing legal forms and documents. Other tasks will include keeping records of costs; controlling petty cash; organising diaries and making appointments; organising telephone calls and faxes; and sending, receiving and keeping an audit trail of e-mails. And of course sometimes solicitors will need you to attend court with them or visit a client in police custody.
General secretarial training may well get you into Legal Secretarial work, but a specialised skill-set will add to your employment opportunities. Lawyers most often have their own specialities, such as criminal law for example. So your knowledge will build depending on where you work - it could be you gain employment with a solicitor who handles wills and probate for instance.
As a rule though, the bigger the practice the more specialised the work is likely to be. Small local firms may only have one legal secretary who will handle everything.
Whichever type of law firm you work for, you will spend most of your time in the office. You can expect regular working hours - usually nine to five on a Monday to Friday, although some big companies offer flexi-time.
The expected starting salary is generally around 13-15k, but can go on to reach 30k plus, depending on your skill-set and experience.
Study Paths For Legal Secretaries
What skills do you need for legal secretarial work? First and foremost you'll need to prove that you have excellent keyboard skills and a very good understanding of certain computer user skills. In addition, you should have a genuine interest in legal matters, be well organised and scrupulously accurate. You should have English and Maths GCSE's at least, although there are no actual formally agreed certifications for legal secretaries. Without doubt the one thing you must be confident about is your spelling.
A working knowledge of Microsoft Word will be expected, and knowledge of other Microsoft applications a definite advantage. You should pass the ECDL in the first instance, to get you off to a good start. For more professional administrative skills, look into taking a certification such as MCAS.
Various training colleges are featured here, so why not Bookmark this page for easy reference? Then you can access any of them without wasting time.Any administrative or secretarial qualifications will stand you in good stead.
In some parts of the country competition for jobs can be high, so it's important to give yourself an advantage. When you get a chance to let an employer know what you can do, be sure to display the characteristics that they're looking for. (Watch your CV - in a job that places priority on accuracy of documentation, you don't want to drop a clanger here!)
What Do I Have To Do Next?
Many legal firms train their Legal Secretaries 'on-the-job', in order to precisely meet their exact requirements. Larger companies sometimes train their employees in house, but generally speaking most training is outsourced.
Training specifically for legal secretarial work features a diverse range of topics. You could begin by looking at the different types of legal documents and how they are prepared. Then there's the court system and structure and how laws are made. Finally you'll come onto the specialist areas. Your choice will reflect your company's expertise, so it could be anything from Family Law to Company Law, or Conveyancing to Criminal Law.
The cost of training depends on what you do, but most legal secretaries pay several hundred pounds to learn their skills. This would not include the ECDL/MOS/MCAS or other IT/Computer training program (which can run from 100-1000 pounds or more - depending on the certification level desired.) Many specialist secretarial colleges have been successfully training students for several decades. Their programmes have been proven over time.
Developing Into a Legal Executive
Many Legal Secretaries eventually go on to study a Legal Executive programme. This is a position midway between the Legal Secretary and the Lawyer.
Legal Executives are able to carry out most of the same tasks as solicitors, (with the exception of High Court work) but work under the supervision of a solicitor.
In the lower courts however, certain legal executives can represent their clients in the same way any other lawyer can. Clearly the level of training they've had will reflect the work they do. Most of the wide ranges of disciplines open to other lawyers are also open to legal execs.
In closing, if you study to gain the skills for work as a legal secretary, you could build a very promising and interesting career. Why not take a closer look now at some of the possible options open to you.
