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Secretarial Work & Legal Secretary Courses

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. We'll discuss here what the job involves, and cover possible training paths into the industry.

Legal secretaries must be highly proficient in touch typing, shorthand and audio in order to prepare official documents for lawyers. 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. The work becomes more specialist when, for example, you have to attend the magistrate's court or a police cell with one of the company's solicitors.

A lot of legal secretaries started their careers in a more general secretarial role, but employment chances are always better for those who've had some legal training. Lawyers most often have their own specialities, such as criminal law for example. Consequently a legal secretary's work could range from Conveyancing to Probate to Divorce settlements. Legal secretaries working in a small local company will usually gain a wider range of experiences than those in larger companies (who are more likely to focus on one area).

Although the work varies between companies, the majority of it will be office and PC based. 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.

Training 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. Moreover employers place a high emphasis on loyalty and trust, so client confidentiality must be honoured at all times.

Passes in English and Maths at GCSE level should be offered as a minimum. As you would expect, a good working knowledge of English grammar, spelling and punctuation is fairly essential to the whole process. 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? 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. With many Legal Secretaries coming into the industry from other secretarial roles, it's fair to say that the competition has increased. Always present yourself in your best light - show how you can contribute to the business as a whole. Your CV must obviously be presented flawlessly - that document will tell an employer a lot about the standard of your work!

Where Do I Go From Here?

Many legal firms train their Legal Secretaries 'on-the-job', in order to precisely meet their exact requirements. This could mean being mentored from within the company, or (more usually) it could mean studying for external exams.

Training courses for legal secretaries cover a broad range of disciplines. Elementary courses will introduce you to legal paperwork and deal with legal working practices.

Then there's the court system and structure and how laws are made. More specific subjects looked at (from the legal secretary's perspective) might be Contract Law, Civil Litigation, Land Law, Conveyancing, Wills and Probate.

Training prices range from a few hundred pounds to around a thousand pounds, but of course that depends on how much you need to learn. On top of that you should budget for Microsoft Office skills training if you need that as well. Training usually involves some type of distance or blended learning facilities and students require access to a computer.

Training as a Legal Executive

Many Legal Secretaries eventually go on to study a Legal Executive programme. There are great career opportunities for Legal Executives. Under the Legal Services Act 2007, Legal Executives are 'authorised persons' undertaking 'reserved legal activities' (not in the High Court) alongside barristers and solicitors. That said, due to the County Courts (Rights of Audience) Direction being extended, many senior Legal Executives now work on behalf of clients in the Magistrates Courts and County Courts.

Their subject training and experience will determine which courts they have access to. Legal Executives often become the main point of contact for clients seeking professional advice on legal matters.

Hopefully this has helped you to understand Legal Secretarial work and the training that you might need to do. Make a decision today to find out more about how this might work for you.