Legal Secretary is the first person you meet as you enter a lawyer’s office. They provide administrative and clerical support, and their duties range from scheduling meetings, filing documents, researching, proofreading, and transcribing legal documents. It is common for legal secretaries to assist other legal professionals like paralegals, solicitors, barristers in their everyday tasks and support them throughout their daily calendar activities.
How to Become a Legal Secretary?
The pathway to becoming a legal secretary is not complex, as the requirements are minimal for entry-level positions. These requirements range from a high school diploma or A-Levels to a legal secretary certificate from a recognized institution. It all depends on the firm that is recruiting. However, for high-paying legal secretary positions, employers prefer to hire individuals with several years of legal work experience and knowledge of a specific legal field.
Some firms offer legal secretary apprenticeships. It involves managing data and records, drafting legal documents and client correspondence, and communicating with internal and external clients. It enables you to carry out paid employment while obtaining a professional qualification in the field.
Sometimes firms hire legal secretaries with the intent to then offer them training contracts, which is great for aspiring solicitors. Firms will generally you right away if that is their intent, however, it is not uncommon for firms to offer training contracts based on your performance as a legal secretary.
How to Become a Legal Secretary with Office and or Administrator Experience?
Office or administrator experience plays a big role for anyone that is aiming at securing a legal secretary position. Job descriptions for these positions are quite similar. If you already have office or administrator work experience and want to work in the legal field, then a position as a legal secretary may be just for you. Or if you are striving to secure a legal secretary position, then perhaps make your office experience stand out, or try to gain some office or administrator experience to enhance your employability.
Courses and Certificates for Legal Secretaries
You can also qualify as a legal secretary by completing a one or two-year associate degree program which reviews court procedures, legal terminology with a hint of contract and criminal law. Also, you can obtain a legal certificate from a vocational or community college where you learn standard office skills such as filing, word processing, and answering the telephone. Institutions that offer the legal secretary programs are CILEx, the Institute of Legal Secretaries, and the National Association of Legal Secretaries.
If you are looking at CILEx, they tailor your legal learning to fit your career goals. The programs offered are on a full-time or part-time basis. There are no entry requirements.
The Institute of Legal Secretaries diploma course can be completed by live online classes or via distance online learning. For the National Association of Legal Secretaries, the candidate must complete a legal training course and then pass a four-part test to obtain a certificate.
Search for Legal Secretary Positions
You can search for legal secretary jobs via LinkedIn, Reed, and Indeed.com. You can register your profile on their site. Set a reminder to get an alert whenever a legal secretary job becomes available.
By Josanne Montague
