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The Work Of A Secretary - Legal & PA Training

There are no precisely defined routes into the role of Legal Secretary, but there are some key skills that many employers will be looking for. Let's first explore what legal secretarial work actually involves and then work backwards to look at the training you might need to get into the industry.

Legal secretaries must be highly proficient in touch typing, shorthand and audio in order to prepare official documents for lawyers. In many smaller offices, legal secretaries perform a host of general secretarial roles as well. 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. Law firms usually specialise, for example in criminal law, civil law or corporate law. So each of their work is different - Civil lawyers can deal with many legal matters concerning such things as divorce, property and the family.

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).

The majority of a legal secretary's work will be done on the computer in the office. There's often the chance for legal secretaries to work part-time, and in fact some companies encourage job-sharing. Most legal secretaries earn over 15,000pa after their first year in the industry, and many go on to receive excellent remuneration packages after several years.

Certification and Training

So, what does a legal secretary need on her/his CV? Predominantly you'll need to have extremely good English language skills and be able to demonstrate a typing speed of over sixty five words per minute. High emphasis will of course be placed on accuracy, so a patient and diligent approach will be expected.

Passes in English and Maths at GCSE level should be offered as a minimum. Clearly if you're unsure about how to spell or compose a letter you will struggle in this sort of job. As Microsoft Office products are the industry standard, you should be able to demonstrate advanced skills in Microsoft Word.

Most legal secretaries can also use PowerPoint, Outlook and Excel. 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.

You'll notice a selection of colleges on this page. If you hold down the ctrl button on your keyboard and type 'D', you can bookmark this site. That will allow you to refer back quickly if you want to visit any of their sites.

There are a considerable number of training courses covering general secretarial and office administration skills, and they can all offer you something. You must be able to present yourself well at interview to give yourself the best chance. When you apply for work, list everything you can contribute that's constructive and relevant to the job, but don't spend too long on unrelated issues. To get an interview in the first place you must ensure your CV presents the right image - any mistakes here would take you straight off the short-list!

I'm Interested - Tell Me More...

Because of the precise nature of some legal companies, it's not uncommon for legal secretaries to receive on the job training in certain areas. Some organisations offer in-house training programmes and others may encourage employees to work towards external professional qualifications.

Various Legal Secretarial training programmes are available, and they can be quite in-depth. For starters, you'll be taught about confidential ethics and practices, and be given an overview of the documents that legal secretaries deal with. The internet has become a very useful tool where legal matters are concerned, so that could also be covered.

More specific subjects looked at (from the legal secretary's perspective) might be Contract Law, Civil Litigation, Land Law, Conveyancing, Wills and Probate.

Prices for training vary - as will the standard of training - but you should expect to pay between five hundred and one thousand pounds. Certain PC skills may be included in the training, but for professional certifications refer to specialist IT Training Providers. Most training courses are predominantly home-based and can be done on a PC or laptop.

How To Go On To Become A Legal Executive

It's not uncommon for experienced Legal Secretaries to further their career by taking a Legal Executive certification. Legal Executives duties fall between the Legal Secretary and those of the full lawyer.

Under the Legal Services Act 2007, Legal Executives are 'authorised persons' undertaking 'reserved legal activities' (not in the High Court) alongside barristers and solicitors. Because of the Extended Rights of Audience that now exist though, many Legal Executives are successfully representing people in the Family Proceedings Courts, The County Courts and the Magistrates Courts. Any work they do will of course depend upon the subject matter they've trained in. As with other lawyers, legal execs can cover a wide range of disciplines.

Hopefully this has helped you to understand Legal Secretarial work and the training that you might need to do. Take the steps now to discover the right training choices for you.