Legal Careers
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Legal Careers: Legal Secretary
A legal secretary is a secretary who provides administrative support in a law firm. This support can be to lawyers and legal executives or to the paralegals. Legal secretaries also help with the day-to-day office tasks that are required to run a law firm.
Depending on the size of the law firm that you work for, you will either gain experience in a wide range of legal fields if it is a small firm or you will gain more in depth legal skills and knowledge if you work for a large legal firm. This is because the smaller the firm the more you will be involved in their entire caseload, however if you are working for a larger law firm your work areas will be more focused.
The duties of a legal secretary are similar to those of a secretary in any other firm, except that the documents you type are legal documents. The kind of documents you can expect to type up are letters, wills, court documents, leases and contracts. Legal secretaries often need audio typing skills as a lot of their documentation can be given to them in the form of recorded notes for transcription. Some legal secretaries accompany lawyers to court hearings.
According to recent research, a legal secretary can expect to earn in the region of $40,000 per year. Many training companies offer courses in legal secretarial skills, some of which can be done in correspondence form. However it is not always necessary to have any formal qualifications to become a legal secretary. Often a legal firm will take you on based on your secretarial skills and then provide you with on the job training as you work.
A good legal secretary needs fast, accurate typing skills and audio typing skills, solid organizational skills and good attention to detail. You will also need a good telephone manner and the ability to prioritize and manage your own workload.
In the day-to-day running of the law firm you may also need undertake duties such as maintaining petty cash records, diary management and meeting organization, and dealing with enquiries from clients. You will often be reporting to the legal assistant or paralegal.
Many legal secretaries go on to train to become paralegals themselves. If you decide to train to become a paralegal you will be able to find work in a wide range of organizations.
Organizations such as a private law firm, an insurance company or a corporate legal department all hire paralegals. Banks and real estate companies also have work for paralegals. A paralegal does a lot of research and preparation for hearings and trials. Paralegals may also help draft legal documents.
Becoming a legal secretary could be your first step to a long a fulfilling career in the legal field.
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