AdultCareerChange.co.uk

Legal & Secretarial Courses

If you're looking to get into Legal Secretarial work, you'll need to be orderly and disciplined, with a good aptitude for common sense! We'll go on to suggest possible training later on, but first let's get a feel for what the job entails.

The principal activity for all legal secretaries involves the preparation of legal documents and paperwork on behalf of barrister's, solicitors or legal executives. You might also be involved with other administrative tasks, such as diary organising and appointment booking.

There are also some jobs that are specific to the legal industry, such as accompanying lawyers to court attendances. Training in more general secretarial skills will prepare you for the basic work, but employment opportunities are always greater for those who've trained in legal aspects as well.

Different law firms will have their own specialities, and focus on one area of the law, such as criminal law or civil law. So there's a big variety of legal secretarial work, as civil litigation differs hugely from criminal law.

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).

Whichever type of law firm you work for, you will spend most of your time in the office. It's unlikely you'll be expected to work any anti-social hours - most legal secretaries finish around 5pm and only work on weekdays. A legal secretary with a good skill level and several years experience can earn a very nice salary - indeed sought after professionals would expect upwards of twenty eight to thirty thousand a year.

Training To Become A Legal Secretary

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

Whilst there are no real minimum qualifications to starting as a Legal Secretary, employers may look for GCSE's (especially in English and Maths.) As you would expect, a good working knowledge of English grammar, spelling and punctuation is fairly essential to the whole process. Many companies now utilise Microsoft Office Products, and therefore a good practical understanding of Microsoft Word along with PowerPoint and Excel are definitely welcomed. 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.

You'll find links and adverts from several training providers here, so it would be worthwhile bookmarking this page ('CTRL-D' will do the trick). Then when you have time to check them out you can come straight back in seconds.

You'll find that general secretarial (Pitman/OCR) and/or business administration qualifications can be very helpful. As many people want to get into this type of work, you need to have a good edge. Be sure to be positive, attentive and responsive - employers like to get a feel for how someone would fit into their working environment. (Watch your CV - in a job that places priority on accuracy of documentation, you don't want to drop a clanger here!)

What's the Next Stage?

In order to fully educate their legal secretaries on the specific nature of their work, some firms train them alongside the job. So for example the law firm might have their own training programme for new employees, or they might allow time for college or home study.

Various Legal Secretarial training programmes are available, and they can be quite in-depth. You might start by learning about legal forms and documents and confidentiality procedures. Knowledge of how to use the internet for legal matters will be covered, plus the basics of the English legal system. The real meat will cover the specific subject matter that your employer's work involves, which for example could be Wills & Probate, Property Law or Family Law.

Based on current prices, the average cost of a formal Legal Secretarial course is currently in the region of 500-1000 pounds. On top of that you should budget for Microsoft Office skills training if you need that as well.

You'll find both in-centre and home-based training programmes by looking online at the range of UK trainers.

Developing Into a Legal Executive

A natural progression for the experienced and career-focused Legal Secretary could be Legal Executive training. These are exciting times for Legal Executives. In many ways they act on behalf of clients in the same manner as a lawyer would, but they cannot represent them in High Court. It is very common today though to see Legal Executives working in all courts outside of the High Court. 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.

Our aim in this information sheet has been to give you a taste of how life could be for you as a professional Legal Secretary. Take the steps now to discover the right training choices for you.