All About a Legal Secretary
A legal secretary is sometimes known as an executive assistant, legal assistant, or administrative assistant.
Their duties include clerical functions that ensure competent functioning of any legal office.
These secretaries have unique and specialized skills that will add to the juridical profession besides the filing, dictation, typing or phone answering.
At times, a legal secretary career may kick off as a legal receptionist before heading into the secretarial role.
After gaining enough experience, they can be promoted into paralegal or secretarial positions within the organization.
Such assistants, or secretaries, get involved in the preparation of type juridical and correspondence documents including briefs, motions, pleadings, subpoenas, and discovery documents, as well.
They also help in maintaining hard docket systems to keep up with the countless authorized filing deadlines.
They create discovery binders, update beadings, and spreadsheets.
Lastly, they get involved with site inspections, hearings, schedule depositions, meetings, and closings, as well.
The list appears endless; they also draft correspondence, as well as daily legalese documents like authorized invoices and depositions notices.
Additionally, they help in dealing with legal research besides communicating with different experts, attorneys, vendors, opposing counsel and many others.
Secretary skills include fundamental legal procedure, experience with legal terms, law office protocol, as well as state and federal rules encompassing court filing.
These secretaries have to be excellent and fluent in typing, and possess dictation skills.
They have to be exceptionally deadline-oriented; missing a filing deadline means default judgment.
Notably, legal and office processes are increasingly becoming automated, which means legal assistants should have outstanding computer skills, be proficient in spreadsheet, word processing, presentation, legal research, time, as well as billing software.
Most of the legal assistants usually work in law firms but they can also get employment in government offices, public interest organizations, and the judiciary.
Numerous colleges, private schools and technical centers offer legal secretarial programs.
It can take you one or two years to finish the course.
Certification for legal secretaries is increasing these days, which will help in improving employment venues.
The National Association for Legal Professionals confers an ALS title to legal secretaries who pass a certain exam.
Regarding salaries, legal assistants salaries differ depending on the location, experience or practice setting.
Entry-level legal assistants can earn approximately $28,000, while senior legal secretaries can up an upward of $65,000 in a large firm.
Legal secretaries have growing job opportunities due to increase in demand for legal services.
Many clients nowadays want to minimize legal costs.
Their duties include clerical functions that ensure competent functioning of any legal office.
These secretaries have unique and specialized skills that will add to the juridical profession besides the filing, dictation, typing or phone answering.
At times, a legal secretary career may kick off as a legal receptionist before heading into the secretarial role.
After gaining enough experience, they can be promoted into paralegal or secretarial positions within the organization.
Such assistants, or secretaries, get involved in the preparation of type juridical and correspondence documents including briefs, motions, pleadings, subpoenas, and discovery documents, as well.
They also help in maintaining hard docket systems to keep up with the countless authorized filing deadlines.
They create discovery binders, update beadings, and spreadsheets.
Lastly, they get involved with site inspections, hearings, schedule depositions, meetings, and closings, as well.
The list appears endless; they also draft correspondence, as well as daily legalese documents like authorized invoices and depositions notices.
Additionally, they help in dealing with legal research besides communicating with different experts, attorneys, vendors, opposing counsel and many others.
Secretary skills include fundamental legal procedure, experience with legal terms, law office protocol, as well as state and federal rules encompassing court filing.
These secretaries have to be excellent and fluent in typing, and possess dictation skills.
They have to be exceptionally deadline-oriented; missing a filing deadline means default judgment.
Notably, legal and office processes are increasingly becoming automated, which means legal assistants should have outstanding computer skills, be proficient in spreadsheet, word processing, presentation, legal research, time, as well as billing software.
Most of the legal assistants usually work in law firms but they can also get employment in government offices, public interest organizations, and the judiciary.
Numerous colleges, private schools and technical centers offer legal secretarial programs.
It can take you one or two years to finish the course.
Certification for legal secretaries is increasing these days, which will help in improving employment venues.
The National Association for Legal Professionals confers an ALS title to legal secretaries who pass a certain exam.
Regarding salaries, legal assistants salaries differ depending on the location, experience or practice setting.
Entry-level legal assistants can earn approximately $28,000, while senior legal secretaries can up an upward of $65,000 in a large firm.
Legal secretaries have growing job opportunities due to increase in demand for legal services.
Many clients nowadays want to minimize legal costs.
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