What skills are needed by a legal secretary?

Apart from the educational requirements, these professionals are expected to have a set of skills and abilities which will help them to perform their duties and responsibilities effectively thus, allowing them to excel and prosper in the field.

Following are the skills and abilities required for a legal secretary:

Skill Set:

• Writing Skills: Legal secretaries are frequently asked to draft out correspondence, file memos and other legal documents such for transactional purposes. It must be noted that, it is the legal secretaries who are asked upon to perform all the writing as well as proofreading the documents and not the attorneys. As such, they need to develop strong writing skills that will help them to carry out his responsibilities smoothly and efficiently.
• Ability to work in Team: Teamwork forms the core essential for a legal secretary in order to deliver legal services for an organization. These professionals often work with clerks, paralegals, vendors and other clients as part of legal secretaries. A most efficient professional will know how to get along with subordinates while collaborating with other parties to complete their work.
• Communication Skills: Legal secretaries are professionals who interact with staff, clients, paralegals, attorneys and other judicial personnel. Hence, they should have excellent interpersonal and communication skills which will help them in face-to-face communication and also communication made through e-mails, videoconferencing systems etc.
• Organizational and Managerial Skills: As the legal secretaries form the right hands for an attorney, have considerate amount of organizational and managerial skills would be essential which will help to efficiently carry out a legal practice of corporate procedure. These professionals must have the ability to maintain records of all the file cases with the help of electronic technology such as a computer etc. which is accessible to every professional of the department.

Other Skills Include:

• Ability listen carefully paying attention to every minute detail.
• Technological skills.
• Familiarity with legal terminology and documents.

What does legal secretary do?

A legal secretary is vested with a number of job duties and responsibilities to perform as part of his job role in the industry.

Most of the duties vested to a legal secretary are administrative and secretarial activities.

The duties of this professional remain the same if he is employed in a supreme court or a civil court except that the quantity of work varies.

Following are the duties and responsibilities of a legal secretary:

Duties:

• The primary duty of a legal secretary is to prepare and implement legal documents and other papers that are required for the purpose of complaints, incidents, agreements between two parties and other appeals.
• It is the duty of a legal secretary to review the legal publications by performing database services in order to indentify the laws of the court and determining the decisions that are relevant to pending cases.
• It is the legal secretary’s duty to maintain the necessary correspondence by keeping the clients informed about the latest developments of the cases and sending them a copy of the necessary documents through e-mail, fax etc.
• They are involved in processing important information by collecting relevant data, verifying it and categorizing the information to present in as evidence in the court of law.
• An important duty of a legal secretary is to prepare schedules and make appointments with clients by drafting out office memos that will help the clients to understand the proceedings of the case better.

Responsibilities:

• A legal secretary is given the responsibility to proofread legal documents and make necessary corrections in legal jargon such as grammar, spelling errors, syntax content and other format details.
• It is the responsibility of these professionals to organize and manage the law libraries, case files and other legal and confidential files.
• They are responsible for being updated with the changes made in the regulatory and legislation management and also to attend legal meetings with clients and take down relevant notes about the case.
• Legal secretaries are responsible for assisting the attorneys to compile documents for litigation cases by conducting research programs and gathering information through law libraries.
• It is the responsibility of this professional to maintain a record of all the legal files and consulting the legal journals that help in taking decisions and keeping this information confidential.

5. Certifications and Licensure.

What is the certification and licensure given to a Legal Secretary?

• Certification and licensure is not mandatory for a legal secretary but it forms beneficial for attaining great employment prospects in the field.
• Candidates can take the Accredited Legal Secretary Certification examination which is administered by the National Association for Legal Secretaries (NALS).
• A law or business law course forms a prerequisite to be eligible for the exam which is conducted by the NALS.
• Another requirement criterion to take this exam is a minimum of one year work experience in the field of general office experience.
• Candidates are certified after they clear this examination with the qualifying marks.

How to train for the job of a legal secretary?

The position of a legal secretary requires a certain set of educational qualifications that will help the candidate to perform the duties and responsibilities handed to him as part of his job role in the organization.

It is through education that students are prepared to face the work environment as it prepares them for the profession.

Following are the educational requirements to become a legal secretary:

Educational Requirements:

• A high school diploma is sufficient to acquire a position as a legal secretary.
• Many people seek employment in this field by the virtue of their skills in secretarial field which is gained by attending law classes in law colleges.
• To enter the profession of legal secretary, candidates need to acquire a fair knowledge of all the aspects of legal terminology, local court system and also all types of pleadings assisting the attorneys.
• One may also take up additional training courses after the completion of high school diploma.
• These training programs provide relevant on-the-job experience while grooming the individuals for the profession.
• The program emphasizes on courses of criminal, litigations, wills, corporate, family and real estate laws.
• In short, it familiarizes the students with the basic terminology and work procedures of the law field.
• Such training will definitely prove beneficial for person who is seriously seeking for a stand in this field.
• Training programs are also offered by law firms which the students may takes up and they train the students with the company’s law procedures, rules and regulations.
• If they perform well they will be recruited by the company itself.
• Candidates usually start their career by being employed under reputed and experienced legal secretaries in any accredited law firm.
• After the candidates are acquainted with the required procedures and work activities as part of the firm, they become independent legal secretary professionals you are ready to face challenging projects all by themselves.

What is the salary package of a Legal Secretary?

• The remuneration package for a legal secretary is determined by a number of factors such as experience in the industry, area of employment, geographical location of employment etc.
• However, it is seen their salary of these professionals is lucrative considering their work contribution to the organization.
• The average median salary of a legal secretary is estimated to $43,484 annually.
• The top ten percentile of legal secretaries earn salary up to $48,227 per annum while the lowest ten percentile of the professionals receive an income of $33,135 annually.
• Apart from the traditional salaries, these professionals are also given bonus amount of their overtime work which ranges around $103.04 – $1,939 per annum.
• Legal secretaries who are employed in law firms and offices earn salary ranging around $29,770 – $52,031 per annum.
• It is seen that legal secretaries who have experience of one to five years in the industry earn thirty six percent more salary than those who have experience of less than one year.
• Legal secretaries are also given incentives as part of their employment in the organization such as medical insurance, paid holiday trips, paid sick leaves etc. in order to encourage the professionals to do their best.

An overview of the job of a Legal Secretary:

A legal sectary is a professional who is involved in providing administrative and secretarial support to the legal executives and the lawyers. He is a professional who generally works backstage and contributes at large to the events that take place in the premises of the court on a daily basis. A person who is appointed as a legal secretary has to maintain vital records and prepare important letters and other legal documents. This professional takes care of all the paperwork for the cases which involves compiling all the relevant documents with necessary communication to carry out the court proceedings. The job of a legal secretary was once underrated but it is slowly gaining importance and popularity as a number of corporate and law firms are realizing the importance of a legal secretary and recruiting them to carry out legal procedures under the supervision of lawyers or attorneys.

Legal Secretaries are sometimes referred to as Legal Assistants and they occupy a specific category within the legal profession. It is seen that the job of a legal secretary is very interesting as they come across wide diversity of people and cases to deal with. These professionals are always present to deal with the legal procedures and basic laws. The job of a legal secretary would be a perfect start for those who are looking forward to becoming lawyers. This professional plays a crucial role in assimilating relevant information for the cases.

Legal secretaries are involved in assisting the attorney’s in executing and proofreading legal documents, appeals, complaints and summons by reporting to their clients or lawyers. They are also given the responsibility to maintain a record of case files and other important documents pertaining to the case. These professionals must also follow-up with the pending cases of the court by keeping a track of the latest proceedings and court decisions and implementing new laws for the progress of the pending cases and also to publish the same. Once you have acquired relevant experience in the industry, the professional will get the opportunity to move on to become senior secretary and then to a lawyer. The annual income for legal secretary is high considering their work in the industry.