Legal Secretary Training Class

Legal Secretary Job Description Information

Legal secretaries perform clerical duties at law firms and other legal offices. Unlike regular secretaries, legal secretaries require extensive knowledge of legal proceedings and documentation. Most workers complete legal secretary training programs prior to employment. Read on for more information about legal secretary duties and job description details.

Job Duties of a Legal Secretary

Some of the duties of a legal secretary include overseeing all clerical tasks that are necessary for keeping a law firm running efficiently, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov). Legal secretaries often prepare documents, including legal briefs, court subpoenas, spreadsheets and other office-related letters. Many legal secretaries also organize and maintain all legal files kept on-site. Some legal secretaries also maintain electronic-filing databases.
Legal secretaries often provide lawyers with direct assistance, such as helping with research for cases, gathering necessary documents for trials and submitting paperwork to courthouses. Other duties may include scheduling client appointments, answering calls, taking notes during legal meetings and maintaining the firm's legal research references.

Job Skills

Since most law firms and legal offices deal with multiple clients simultaneously, a legal secretary requires the skills to multitask effectively. Strong organizational skills and attention to detail are also essential for this career. Computer skills are required since many legal documents are created and altered electronically. Good communication skills are also necessary to instruct staff members and to address clients. Legal secretaries need to be familiar with legal terminology and government regulations.

Job Description

Legal secretaries can work in several types of office environments, including legal firms, corporate legal offices, nonprofit organizations and government offices. Most legal secretaries converse directly with attorneys, clerical personnel, courtroom staff members, clients, expert witnesses and commercial vendors. Legal secretaries can also teach new lawyers and paralegals about protocols for filling out and submitting courtroom documents.

Education Requirements

Although the BLS showed that regular secretaries enter the profession with little-to-no postsecondary training, employers of legal secretaries prefer applicants who have completed specialized coursework related to the field. Legal secretary certificate and diploma programs are available, and they include such coursework as legal office procedures, civil litigation and legal terminology. Most programs also teach students how to use legal technology, including word-processing programs, court-filing computer systems and transcription software.

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Legal Secretary Salary Information

In the United States, legal secretaries in the bottom 10 percentile earn an average annual salary of $26,330 while legal secretaries in the top 90 percentile earn an average annual salary of $63,980, according to May, 2009, data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Employment Statistics.

Geographic location and industry type influence legal secretary salaries. On average, U.S. legal secretaries earn the most money when they work in the District of Columbia or the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metropolitan area, or when employed by managers and executives in the private sector.

On average, U.S. legal secretaries earn the least money when they work in Idaho or when employed by local government in the United States.

Legal secretaries in the United States earn a mean hourly wage of $20.65 and a mean annual salary of $42,940. At the same time, legal secretaries in the U.S. earn a median hourly wage of $19.75 and a median annual salary of $41,080.

How to Become a Legal Secretary

If you want to have a career related to a law profession, but you don’t have the time or resources to become a full-fledged lawyer, why not become a legal secretary instead? A legal secretary is an absolute necessity in any law office, as she is in charge of organizing attorney schedules, coordinating with clients, keeping accurate and up-to-date records and fulfilling many other important administrative duties. Before you can apply for legal secretarial jobs, you’ll need proper legal secretary training. Use these tips to learn more about legal secretary qualifications. Here’s how to become a legal secretary.

Know whether you have what it takes. A good legal secretary has effective people skills, as a big part of her job is coordinating and communicating with different kinds of people. To have a secretary career, you should also be highly organized, detail-oriented and computer-savvy.
Complete high school. The minimum requirement for becoming a legal secretary is a high school degree or its equivalent.
Take secretarial courses. There are available two-year certificates and associate degree programs that will certify you as a legal secretary. These courses will train you in processing legal documents, using legal office software, managing databases, preparing correspondences, etc. Know that many law offices only accept legal secretaries who are graduates of these programs. Inquire at your community college for such courses to start your legal secretary career.
Take the time to become familiar with legal terminology. Remember, a legal secretary works with and coordinates with judges and lawyers and works within a legal setting. That’s why if you want to be a legal secretary, it’s very important that you take the time to research at least the basics of legal terminologies and procedures, so that you can keep up with the demands of your legal secretary job duties.
Opt to apply at smaller firms over bigger ones first. If you are a new graduate of a secretarial degree, it’s best that you go for acquiring experience at a relatively smaller law firm. This way, you will be able to get a feel of what it takes to be a legal secretary and you will be able to establish your foundations in this career, minus the fast pace of big firms. Afterward, you will have enough experience to move on to bigger law offices and take on heavier responsibilities.
Obtain a certification as an Accredited Legal Secretary (ALS). The ALS is offered by the National Association of Legal Secretaries, and it is a great addition to your resume. The ALS is for legal secretaries who have worked in the field for one year and who have graduated from accredited legal secretary courses. If you have had more than three years of experience, you can obtain the Professional Legal Secretary (PLS) certification.
Join associations. It’s a smart move to network with others in your profession, so you will be in the know of job opportunities for you to maximize your career growth. Some of the associations that you can join include the National Association of Legal Secretaries, International Association of Administrative Professionals, and Legal Secretaries International, Inc.

These are just some of the steps that you should take towards completing secretarial training and becoming a legal secretary. Remember, it all starts with gauging your potential and your skills to help you determine whether becoming a secretary in the field of law is truly something you will enjoy.

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