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How to Become a Legal Secretary | Requirements, Jobs
How to Become a Legal Secretary: Do you have aspirations and ambitions? Are you uninterested in that mediocre job you’re into? Do you want to earn more money? And you are feeling being a legal Secretary might solve all of your problems. Wonderful reader, you’re on the proper page.
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Here I’ll be showing you “What a legal secretary does, what proportion they create , the difference between a legal secretary and paralegal, the talents you would like to become, and so much more.
Who is a Legal Secretary
I know you might be wondering, who a legal secretary is? The answer is quite simple. A legal secretary is a secretary in the legal field. Just like I would call a secretary in a hospital a “medical secretary”.
The difference lies in the technicality of the job.
Now, for a more concise definition. But first, let’s see who a secretary is. Secretaries are often the people that keep track of and coordinate office chores, execute policies, and perform other administrative responsibilities, counting on their position.
In the course of this post, i will be able to mention the roles and activities of a legal secretary.
According to Wikipedia, a legal secretary is a specific type of employee. He is an individual who works within the bar , usually as an assistant to lawyers. Follow attentively to see their roles.
What Legal Secretary Do?
Now let us talk about the role of legal secretary and what they do. The roles of a legal secretary cannot be overemphasized. But I will be telling you the basic roles legal secretaries perform.
Solicitors, barristers, and legal executives use legal secretaries for administrative help. Legal letters and papers, such as wills, will be among the things you produce.
You’ll need to be able to decipher the complicated legal language and possess exceptional administrative and IT abilities.
Below is that the list of a number of the roles you’ll perform as a legal secretary.
- Keeping records up to date
- Typing up legal documents.
- Answering the phone.
- Organizing diaries.
- Preparing court forms.
- Attending court.
- Performing legal research.
- Making appointments with clients.
How to become a legal secretary
Being a legal secretary requires certain skills. Apart from understanding the roles, you must also get to know the skills. I won’t dwell more on this. But I’ll be listing the top 10 skills you need to possess to become a legal secretary.
1. Writing Skills:
This skill was expected, right? Yeah, I know. Writing skills are one of the major skills needed by legal secretaries. Attorneys need their secretaries to be good and proficient writers.
There will be a lot of paper works and documents to fill in and all. The lawyer can’t do all these alone. This is where the legal secretary comes in as an assistant.
2. Computer Skills:
How efficient are your computer skills? Typing, photocopying, printing, etc. How efficient are you computer-wise. Attorneys need their assistants to be excellent computer users.
3. Problem-solving skills:
Due to the big work, an attorney is occupied with, his assistant must be able to affect certain problems and assist in making some problem-solving decisions.
4. Proof Reading:
This is an essential skill when it comes to the attorney or some other legal practitioner working to meet up a deadline. The attorney might not have the time to read through some documents especially those he wrote/typed. The legal secretary must be a fast and mistake spotting reader.
5. Typing Skills:
This may fall underwriting and computer skills. The secretary must be an honest type and a really trick at that.
6. Ability to organize and File Court Documents.
The responsibility of preparing court forms, filing them in court, and serving them on opposing parties lies upon the legal secretary. Therefore, they ought to become conversant in all legal documents, including proofs of service, complaints, briefs, and subpoenas.
7. Confidentiality:
Some cats aren’t meant to be let loose of the bag. Legal secretaries should learn to stay clients.
8. Attention to detail:
Paying full attention to errors during typing, proofreading, and some editing work is important.
9. Listening and Communication Skills:
These skills are as important as all the above skills mentioned. During meetings that require taking and reading minutes, the legal secretary should be able to listen and communicate in such meetings.
10. Research Skills:
As a legal secretary looking forward to being better, your research skills must be top-notch. You will need this skill to form researches on witnesses to a case or to form research on the case as an entire .
There are so many skills required. These are some of the skills required.
IS BEING A LEGAL SECRETARY STRESSFUL?
Being a legal secretary can be very stressful. You would have noticed already. You might be thinking, “how will I do this much work and won’t break down?” the reality is there’s is not any much you’ll do about it. Just take care of yourself health-wise.
Eat and exercise well on your free days.
Sometimes mental and emotional breakdowns are the main cons related to being a legal secretary.
Please don’t let this scare you. As I said earlier just eat and rest well.
