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Getting Into Legal Secretarial Work Through Receptionist Courses

Legal secretarial work can be extremely interesting and rewarding for anyone with the right disciplines and skills. Let's first explore what legal secretarial work actually involves and then work backwards to look at the training you might need to get into the industry.

The majority of the work will involve typing correspondence on behalf of the lawyers you work for, and preparing legal forms and documents. In many smaller offices, legal secretaries perform a host of general secretarial roles as well. Then there are times when the job will require you to leave the office and collect or deliver documents. If you've already had secretarial training or experience, you may want to take a specialist course to improve your skill-set for the industry.

Law firms usually specialise, for example in criminal law, civil law or corporate law. Which means there's a great variety of work - and then some offices are concerned with family law, and others might be concerned with company law. That said, although those who work in large companies tend to deal in more specialised areas, a legal secretary in a small practice may handle many areas of the law.

The job itself is mainly office-based, and the majority of work will be done on the computer (although that can vary from firm to firm.) Normal weekday office hours are standard, with the usual statutory entitlements. Some legal secretaries in larger offices work on a flexi-time arrangement.

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.

Study Paths For Legal Secretaries

OK - so which skills and competencies does an employer seek the most? Touch typing, audio and shorthand skills are essential, plus a good knowledge of how to use basic computer software. Additionally lawyers need secretaries who are completely trustworthy and fair-minded, with very good practical and organisational abilities.

There aren't any clear cut exam qualifications, but legal secretaries should have an English Language GCSE as a minimum. Without doubt the one thing you must be confident about is your spelling.

Just about all law firms will use Microsoft Office, so be sure you have strong user skills for Word, Excel and Outlook at the very least. A good place to start would be with the ECDL, which teaches all user skills to an elementary level. Microsoft MOS or MCAS will take you to Proficient and Expert in all the relevant applications.

As you'll find a number of trainers featured here, you might like to Bookmark this reference page - a handy shortcut for this is to simply type in 'Ctrl D'. Then you can access any of them without wasting time.

There are some very good business admin and general secretarial courses on offer from UK colleges - these can certainly help. As the work is so interesting it's a popular choice for many candidates coming from other secretarial fields. Be sure to be positive, attentive and responsive - employers like to get a feel for how someone would fit into their working environment. Having said that, always be honest. People appreciate honesty, and claiming to be something you're not usually ends up causing you more problems.

What Actions Do I Take Now?

As we mentioned earlier many companies are highly specialised, and so legal secretaries often receive training on specifics once they're in the job. Sometimes that involves training in the workplace itself, and other times it means continuing to do more advanced external training.

Various Legal Secretarial training programmes are available, and they can be quite in-depth. In the first place you need to have an understanding about the key factors concerning legal documentation. Knowledge of how to use the internet for legal matters will be covered, plus the basics of the English legal system.

But the specialist area you're employed in will be where most attention is focused - and so you will most likely choose from family law, company law, criminal law, civil litigation, wills and probate or conveyancing.

The cost of training depends on what you do, but most legal secretaries pay several hundred pounds to learn their skills.

Certain PC skills may be included in the training, but for professional certifications refer to specialist IT Training Providers. Most training courses are predominantly home-based and can be done on a PC or laptop.

Legal Executive Training

A natural progression for the experienced and career-focused Legal Secretary could be Legal Executive training.

These are exciting times for Legal Executives. Legal Executives are able to carry out most of the same tasks as solicitors, (with the exception of High Court work) but work under the supervision of a solicitor. However, with the extended rights of audience now in place, there are many Legal Executives who can represent their clients in County Courts, Family Proceedings Courts and the Magistrates Courts. Clearly the level of training they've had will reflect the work they do. Just like solicitors, legal execs can focus on civil litigation, criminal law etc.

To sum up, training and gaining certifications for work as a legal secretary will give you the confidence to pursue a highly valued career path. Take the steps now to discover the right training choices for you.