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The Work Of A Legal Secretary & Secretarial Training

You won't find any hard and fast rules for getting a position as a legal secretary, though clearly the role demands a number of key competencies. 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.

Essentially you will be expected to have excellent typing skills as the bulk of the work involves preparing legal documents. Some legal secretaries deal with a whole host of office administration as well - from email monitoring to petty cash. Finally, there are tasks that will require some legal understanding, for example when taking calls from clients.

It is possible to get into legal secretarial work with just regular office training and experience, but that's becoming less and less the case. The legal profession is split into civil law and criminal law, and most lawyers will focus on just one. So each of their work is different - Civil lawyers can deal with many legal matters concerning such things as divorce, property and the family. If you're the only legal secretary working in a small office, the diversity of your work is likely to be greater than if you work with many others in a big office.

So to re-cap - most of the work will be done sitting at your desk in the office. There's often the chance for legal secretaries to work part-time, and in fact some companies encourage job-sharing. A well-trained legal secretary entering the industry might expect to start on around fifteen thousand a year, with increments to over twenty five thousand with experience.

Legal Secretarial Training Options

OK - so which skills and competencies does an employer seek the most? Touch typing, audio and shorthand skills are essential, plus a good knowledge of how to use basic computer software.

In addition, you should have a genuine interest in legal matters, be well organised and scrupulously accurate.

Some employers will ask for academic qualifications, but there isn't a set standard across the board. Clearly if you're unsure about how to spell or compose a letter you will struggle in this sort of job. Just about all law firms will use Microsoft Office, so be sure you have strong user skills for Word, Excel and Outlook at the very least.

A good place to start would be with the ECDL, which teaches all user skills to an elementary level. Microsoft MOS or MCAS will take you to Proficient and Expert in all the relevant applications.

As you'll find a number of trainers featured here, you might like to Bookmark this reference page - a handy shortcut for this is to simply type in 'Ctrl D'. That will allow you to refer back quickly if you want to visit any of their sites.

There are quite a number of well established secretarial colleges promoting their services on the internet - see what information they have that's useful. As the work is so interesting it's a popular choice for many candidates coming from other secretarial fields. Employers are looking for people who can bring benefits to their organisation so don't be afraid to blow your own trumpet - if you excel at something let them know how that skill could make their life easier. Having said that, always be honest. People appreciate honesty, and claiming to be something you're not usually ends up causing you more problems.

I'm Interested - Tell Me More...

Many legal secretaries carry on with further training as they pursue their careers. They can then become experts in their company's specialism. Some organisations offer in-house training programmes and others may encourage employees to work towards external professional qualifications.

Legal secretarial training covers many areas. To begin with you'll probably cover aspects of working in a legal office - such as documentation and privacy issues. Other modules might deal with the legal system itself, or how a court is structured. But the specialist area you're employed in will be where most attention is focused - and so you will most likely choose from family law, company law, criminal law, civil litigation, wills and probate or conveyancing.

Prices for training vary - as will the standard of training - but you should expect to pay between five hundred and one thousand pounds. That figure is exclusive of any computer software skills training you might need - add in another 100 pounds or so for an ECDL, or considerably more for MOS/MCAS. Most training courses are predominantly home-based and can be done on a PC or laptop.

What Goes into Becoming a Legal Executive?

If your ambitions go beyond the remit of Legal Secretary, you could progress onto becoming a Legal Executive in time. This would provide for a more senior legal position with great prospects. Outside of the High Court, fully qualified and experienced Legal Executives can undertake many of the legal activities that solicitors do. Nevertheless, many Legal Executives now work in the lower courts on certain applications and arbitrations. This depends though upon the field of expertise in which they're trained. Just like solicitors, legal execs can focus on civil litigation, criminal law etc.

Building a fascinating and valuable career as a Legal Secretary will take you right to the heart of UK law. It's down to you now to explore how you can turn your dreams and goals into reality.