Paralegal-related careers may include paralegals, legal secretaries and claims adjusters. The skills needed to become a legal secretary are quite extensive. You need to be highly organized and detail-oriented to handle the workload of a busy office environment. In addition, you will need excellent communication skills, including the ability to speak clearly and write well. Both of these skills are critical to success as a legal secretary, as they help you understand what is expected of you from your employer and employees. After several years of experience in legal secretarial positions of increasing responsibility, a secretary may be promoted to the status of “superior”. While the scope of duties a Senior Legal Secretary may perform varies from practice to practice, the role is generally as follows: However, some employers may prefer to hire individuals with a law associate degree. In any case, you need at least a high school diploma (9). The National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) offers the National Certified Legal Assistant/Paralegal program and the California Advanced (25). Legal secretaries perform essential administrative tasks in a law firm or other legal environment, although their advanced knowledge and skills of the legal system and the nuances of legal practice set them apart from typical administrative assistants.
A legal secretary is a person who works in a legal environment. This includes any courts or offices that deal with legal documents, such as lawyers and law firms. Legal secretaries work primarily in law firms; However, they are also valuable additions for government agencies, corporate legal departments, and public interest entities. The duties of the Legal Secretary may include typing, filing, answering the telephone, greeting guests and updating databases. Becoming a legal secretary is not an easy task, but the benefits of being one far outweigh any challenges. While most hiring offices don`t require post-secondary training, it`s still an advantage. Among candidates who have the same experience, or those who have the same level of enthusiasm and efficiency, those with advanced academic training are almost always favored by employers. Administrative support services rely on the skills of legal secretaries in the development and maintenance of office systems, where, for example, “rush orders” take precedence over others, or results are color-coded or numbered. Additionally, a candidate`s ability to understand legal terms, understand advanced concepts, communicate effectively, and work quickly – all skills developed by college-level programs – is considered valuable in the long run. In the United States, legal secretaries are employed at the federal, state, and local levels or in non-governmental offices such as law firms, insurance companies, schools, and nonprofit organizations.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) classifies legal secretaries under occupational classification 43-6012 and reports that more than 214,000 of them are employed nationwide. Although they perform clerical functions, legal secretaries should not be confused with federal law clerks (most of whom have law degrees), clerks, court administrators, court reporters, clerks or paralegals. Their work is similar to that of clerks, but their professional duties are considered so diverse that BLS has assigned them various professional classifications, with clerks generally classified as “court, municipality and license” (classification 43-4031). Candidates with three years of secretarial or post-secondary diploma experience. For example, they receive the title of Professional Legal Secretary (PLS) for Legal Secretaries of the National Association for Legal Professionals (NALS). To be eligible, you must pass and pass the PLS exam, which consists of four parts: Legal Secretary. Van & Associates, APLC. San Diego, CA. Be an early candidate.
We are looking for a legal secretary within our team! (34). All four parts of the examination are compulsory for all students.