what is a legal secretary?
As a legal secretary, you are a vital legal team member since you ensure the department runs smoothly. You perform administrative duties and support the lawyers with legal research and schedules. Most legal secretaries possess various skills since the role involves traditional administrative duties like answering phones, creating detailed reports, and conversing with expert witnesses. With the complexity of your duties, you need to be conversant with legal terms, procedures, and documentation. You must also be highly organized and attentive to details to perform various assignments and meet deadlines.
Your work involves a lot of writing, from transcribing meetings to correspondence, memos, and legal paperwork. You also proofread legal documents before mailing them and file clients' paperwork. You could work in a law firm or government agency as a legal secretary. Some legal secretaries work for judges and attorneys in the public sector. You can also work for companies with legal departments, like multinational corporations and media firms in the corporate sector.
Would working as a legal secretary suit your organizational skills and interest in law? Then, read on to discover what competencies and qualifications you need to thrive in a legal secretary role.
view jobs near youaverage legal secretary salary
Would you like to know what a legal secretary earns? Where the highest salaries are paid to a legal secretary? Check out this salary page and find out all about the salary of a legal secretary in the USA.
types of legal secretary
Some of the types of legal secretaries include:
- litigation assistant: As a litigation assistant, you provide support in various realms of law where legal action has been taken. That means you may work in bankruptcy, intellectual property, and personal injury cases. Your job is to gather facts relevant to the case by interviewing witnesses and finding evidence to support your client's claims. Sometimes, you have to write press releases to control the public perception of a case.
- judicial legal secretary: Your job is to assist judges with administrative work. You maintain their schedule and organize legal documents for various cases. The job also involves transcribing dictations and researching precedence and application of laws.
- corporate legal secretary: When you are a corporate legal secretary, you work for a specific company and ensure they don't break any laws. You assist the legal team with writing contracts and staying up-to-date with the changing regulations.
- criminal legal secretary: Your job as the criminal legal secretary is to help lawyers with criminal cases. You organize discovery files and search for loopholes in the prosecution case to assist your client. You also accompany lawyers to court to ensure they have the documents for the case.
working as a legal secretary
Working as a legal secretary involves providing administrative support to legal professionals. That means you carry out clerical, secretarial, and administrative tasks to ensure your department runs efficiently. Discover the work schedules and job prospects of a legal secretary below.
-
legal secretary job description
Legal secretaries perform clerical duties in law offices or large corporations. Their primary responsibilities include many of the following responsibilities:
- preparing correspondence and legal documents: As a legal secretary, you respond to emails and receive letters on behalf of lawyers. You also write down various legal documents and agreements used in litigation. For instance, you prepare deeds and agreements for land sales and sale contracts for property purchases. You also write affidavits, wills, and briefs, from dictation and handwritten notes. After writing the documents, you must proofread them for errors and ensure they comply with legal requirements.
- managing schedules and appointments: Your primary duty as a legal secretary is to support attorneys, lawyers, and other legal professionals. That means you organize their schedule and ensure they meet with all clients on time. You also attend appointments, client interviews, and hearings to write notes and later present reports to the lawyers.
- assisting in research: As a legal secretary, you collect all the relevant facts concerning a case and document findings from interviews. You find out previous court rulings and precedents related to a case. You also evaluate legal publications and materials to identify the best approach for the case.
- organizing legal documents: When the opposing counsel sends discovery documents of the complainant, your job is to sort them. You organize the files and ensure the lawyer goes through them. You must be conversant with every relevant document for easy retrieval during court procedures. Since you are in charge of the filling system, you should ensure the documents are in order.
- ttending court: As a legal secretary, part of your job is to write notes and witness statements in court sessions. You also provide relevant information for rebuttals and assist lawyers in finding the required documents during legal proceedings.
-
legal secretary work environment
As a legal secretary, you work in law firms, corporate settings, and government agencies. Regardless of your employer, your work setting is indoors in a well-ventilated office environment. You spend long periods standing or sitting when researching and completing your clerical duties. As a legal secretary, you meet with various people during interviews and meetings throughout the day. Sometimes, you have to work outdoors when researching cases. Legal secretaries also spend considerable time in courtrooms during hearings and at negotiation tables in corporate offices. As a legal secretary, you must maintain a professional dress code during work hours.
-
who are your colleagues?
Depending on your employer and your industry, your colleagues include paralegals, law clerks, and attorneys. Most times, you get guidance from paralegals and instructions from lawyers. You may also work with contract managers, accountants, and other specialists including judges, magistrates, and barristers.
-
work schedule
Most legal secretaries work between 36 and 38 hours a week with the regular 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. office hours. Sometimes, you have to work overtime, and your duties may extend to weekends and evenings. While most jobs are full-time, a legal secretary looking for flexible work can find a part-time job. Some legal secretaries also work temporary positions on short-term contracts.
-
job outlook for legal secretary
As a legal secretary, your job falls between traditional administrative duties and paralegal responsibilities. You can improve your educational qualifications and skills to become a paralegal or lawyer.
Alternatively, branch out to land an executive assistant or office manager role and work in a corporate environment.
You can also specialize in specific aspects of law like corporate or criminal cases.
-
benefits of working for randstad as a legal secretary
Working through Randstad offers you a range of benefits:
- being paid weekly
- flexibility
- always a contact person you can fall back on and ask for help from
- many training opportunities
- a range of jobs in your area
Want a permanent contract? But you wonder why it would be interesting for you to work with a staffing company? A temporary job as a legal secretary is often a stepping stone to an attractive permanent job. Every year, thousands of people earn a permanent contract with great employers thanks to a temporary job found through Randstad. What's more, many companies recruit their permanent employees through Randstad too!
legal secretary skills and education
This profession relies more on experience than formal education. At the very least, a legal secretary should have a high school diploma along with practical experience. For instance, employers might seek two to three years of experience in various intricate legal secretarial tasks. In some cases, employers may consider substituting some college coursework or completion of secretarial school for practical experience.
Nevertheless, having a formal education in legal administration, coupled with experience and certification, can enhance your competitiveness. Given that a significant part of a legal secretary's responsibilities involves typing, transcribing, and writing, taking classes in speech, communication, English composition, and computer software could be highly beneficial.
skills and competencies
As a legal secretary, the following skills help you excel:
- technology skills: Lawyers and attorneys rely on tech-savvy legal secretaries to organize computer files, prepare presentations, audit timesheets, write spreadsheets, and type documents. You also manage the software applications used to manage a law office.
- interpersonal skills: You interact daily with paralegals, clients, and opposing counsel. Hence, communication and interpersonal skills are vital. Interpersonal skills help you listen to others and collaborate with them. The skills also promote emotional intelligence and improve formality.
- organization skills: As a legal secretary, you are the right-hand person of an attorney or lawyer. You need organizational skills to run a law office smoothly. For instance, you need to manage electronic files, maintain calendars, schedule meetings, and organize events.
- transcription skills: As a legal secretary, you need transcription skills to excel in your role. You require fast typing speed and active listening skills to comprehend voice dictation.
FAQs about working as a legal secretary
Here, you will find answers to the most frequently asked questions about legal secretaries.
-
what does a legal secretary do?
Legal secretaries handle vital secretarial and admin tasks, including arranging meetings, taking calls, and managing office supplies. You also bring in-depth legal knowledge to tackle case-related duties for litigation support.
-
how much should a legal secretary be paid?
Legal secretaries earn annual salaries ranging from $48,280 to $175,501. Your pay scale varies based on the employer and the individual's level of experience.
-
is a legal secretary a promising career?
A legal secretary is a promising career with minimal entry requirements and educational skills. You also have a good career progression.
-
what is the difference between a legal secretary and a paralegal?
A paralegal is a legal practitioner working under an attorney. A legal secretary focuses on administrative duties and running an office or legal department.
-
do legal secretaries make good money?
You can earn a decent income as a legal secretary, with salaries varying based on your experience, location, and the size of the law firm. Your role in supporting legal professionals is crucial, and your compensation is often competitive, increasing with your experience.
-
how do I find a job as a legal secretary?
Applying for a legal secretary job is easy: create a Randstad profile and search our legal secretary jobs for vacancies in your area. Then simply send us your CV. If you do not have a resume, no worries. Just check out our resume builder. This state of the art tool will help you to create your own resume. Need help with your application? Check out all our job-hunting tips!
