what is a legal secretary?

As a legal secretary, you are a vital legal team member since you ensure the department runs smoothly. You perform administrative duties and support the lawyers with legal research and schedules. Most legal secretaries possess various skills since the role involves traditional administrative duties like answering phones, creating detailed reports, and conversing with expert witnesses. With the complexity of your duties, you need to be conversant with legal terms, procedures, and documentation. You must also be highly organized and attentive to details to perform various assignments and meet deadlines.

Your work involves a lot of writing, from transcribing meetings to correspondence, memos, and legal paperwork. You also proofread legal documents before mailing them and file clients' paperwork. You could work in a law firm or government agency as a legal secretary. Some legal secretaries work for judges and attorneys in the public sector. You can also work for companies with legal departments, like multinational corporations and media firms in the corporate sector.

Would working as a legal secretary suit your organizational skills and interest in law? Then, read on to discover what competencies and qualifications you need to thrive in a legal secretary role.

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average legal secretary salary

Would you like to know what a legal secretary earns? Where the highest salaries are paid to a legal secretary? Check out this salary page and find out all about the salary of a legal secretary in the USA.

Female sitting in a green chair looking up
Female sitting in a green chair looking up
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types of legal secretary

Some of the types of legal secretaries include:

  • litigation assistant: As a litigation assistant, you provide support in various realms of law where legal action has been taken. That means you may work in bankruptcy, intellectual property, and personal injury cases. Your job is to gather facts relevant to the case by interviewing witnesses and finding evidence to support your client's claims. Sometimes, you have to write press releases to control the public perception of a case.
  • judicial legal secretary: Your job is to assist judges with administrative work. You maintain their schedule and organize legal documents for various cases. The job also involves transcribing dictations and researching precedence and application of laws.
  • corporate legal secretary: When you are a corporate legal secretary, you work for a specific company and ensure they don't break any laws. You assist the legal team with writing contracts and staying up-to-date with the changing regulations.
  • criminal legal secretary: Your job as the criminal legal secretary is to help lawyers with criminal cases. You organize discovery files and search for loopholes in the prosecution case to assist your client. You also accompany lawyers to court to ensure they have the documents for the case.
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working as a legal secretary

Working as a legal secretary involves providing administrative support to legal professionals. That means you carry out clerical, secretarial, and administrative tasks to ensure your department runs efficiently. Discover the work schedules and job prospects of a legal secretary below.

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legal secretary skills and education

This profession relies more on experience than formal education. At the very least, a legal secretary should have a high school diploma along with practical experience. For instance, employers might seek two to three years of experience in various intricate legal secretarial tasks. In some cases, employers may consider substituting some college coursework or completion of secretarial school for practical experience.

Nevertheless, having a formal education in legal administration, coupled with experience and certification, can enhance your competitiveness. Given that a significant part of a legal secretary's responsibilities involves typing, transcribing, and writing, taking classes in speech, communication, English composition, and computer software could be highly beneficial.

skills and competencies

As a legal secretary, the following skills help you excel:

  • technology skills: Lawyers and attorneys rely on tech-savvy legal secretaries to organize computer files, prepare presentations, audit timesheets, write spreadsheets, and type documents. You also manage the software applications used to manage a law office.
  • interpersonal skills: You interact daily with paralegals, clients, and opposing counsel. Hence, communication and interpersonal skills are vital. Interpersonal skills help you listen to others and collaborate with them. The skills also promote emotional intelligence and improve formality.
  • organization skills: As a legal secretary, you are the right-hand person of an attorney or lawyer. You need organizational skills to run a law office smoothly. For instance, you need to manage electronic files, maintain calendars, schedule meetings, and organize events.
  • transcription skills: As a legal secretary, you need transcription skills to excel in your role. You require fast typing speed and active listening skills to comprehend voice dictation.
womale looking at her file
womale looking at her file
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FAQs about working as a legal secretary

Here, you will find answers to the most frequently asked questions about legal secretaries.

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