Career Advice for a Legal Secretary

Legal secretaries provide support to legal professionals by carrying out various administration and other duties. For example, they write legal documents and summons and help with research by reading and sourcing legal articles and other documents to support legal cases. Legal secretaries also carry out office duties such as answering phones and handling correspondence.

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How to Become a Legal Secretary

Choosing your career path and learning how to become the person you aspire to be is not always straight forward; getting a job in your chosen industry will take dedication, focus and the right qualifications.

When you have chosen the career path you wish to follow, you will need to learn how to become a Legal Secretary

Should you wish to work as a Legal Secretary you will need to evaluate what courses are required, their cost and what qualifications you need. It is important that you also assess whether you have the right credentials from a personality point of view, what the demands of the job are and whether they complement the lifestyle that you desire.

Another factor to consider, should you wish to fulfil your career aspirations, is the number of jobs you will need to have to reach your ultimate job, and the length of time it will take to reach this goal.

Common Qualifications for a Legal Secretary

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs
  • Diploma for Legal Secretaries
  • Legal Word Processing Course

Key Responsibilities for a Legal Secretary

  • Providing secretarial assistance to lawyers within the firm
  • Editing legal documents
  • Proofreading all letter, summons, and other documents
  • Maintaining lawyers calendars
  • Scheduling appointments for client meetings and court proceedings
  • Greeting clients to the office
  • Conducting initial interviews with clients
  • Attending court proceedings and typing up minutes
  • Updating all legal documents
  • Answering phone calls, emails, and other correspondence

What to expect as a Legal Secretary

Legal secretaries carry out various administration and secretarial tasks within law offices. They assist lawyers in preparing legal documents, answer calls and conduct initial meetings with clients. To be successful in this career path, you will need excellent written and verbal communication and have a polite and professional demeanour.

Recommended Legal Secretary Jobs

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How to get Legal Secretary Jobs

Our advice on how to get a Legal Secretary job is to focus on preparation and personalisation.

Preparation

This occurs before you write a CV cover letter or complete a Legal Secretary application. If you have not held a Legal Secretary position before, it will help to research the industry and review what a typical career path might look like. If you have held a Legal Secretary role, focus your research on the company where you are seeking employment.

Valuable resources that will help you learn about the employer include the company’s career page, social media page, blog, job ad, and job description. Helpful information will consist of the company’s mission statement, values, and vision. You could also use an employer review site to gain insights on average salaries, what current employees say about the company culture, and what it is like to work for the organisation.

Personalisation

You are now in a position to use what you have learned in your Legal Secretary CV, cover letter, and application. You should personalise each Legal Secretary application, cover letter, and CV; prioritising job skills and relevant experience and providing examples that show you have similar values and goals.

This pre-application stage is a crucial step in how to become a Legal Secretary in the UK. It puts you in a superbly informed state, ready for forthcoming telephone, video, or in-person interviews.

Students: How to Become a Legal Secretary 

As with all professions, choose your study topics carefully. Review the qualifications needed to be a Legal Secretary and the subjects you will need to enrol in certification courses, higher education, or online courses. 

Aligning your study subjects

The more closely you align your study subjects with your career path, the more likely you will be to have projects and modules that you can refer to and show a prospective employer that you have practical or theoretical Legal Secretary experience.

How to get Legal Secretary Experience

What does it take to be a Legal Secretary? The best way to find out is to get work experience, which will be invaluable when applying for Legal Secretary jobs. You can learn how to be a successful Legal Secretary through internships, apprenticeships, or volunteering for a local business.

How to be a Legal Secretary Part-Time 

If you are wondering how to get into Legal Secretary part-time, there are several possibilities. You might find a new employer looking for a part-time Legal Secretary or find your existing employer is amenable. Often companies recognise the value of flexible hours and having more staff at work during busy times of the day. 

Legal Secretary freelance work

If you have impressive Legal Secretary qualifications and experience, you could take on the challenges of working freelance with control over your schedule.

Making a Career Change

How to start a career in this profession if you work in another industry may require studying for qualifications online and focusing on transferable skills when writing your CV and attending job interviews.