legal secretary

The work of a legal secretary varies depending on the legal environment. Some of the tasks include:

• preparing correspondence and legal documents: as a legal secretary, you respond to emails and receive letters on behalf of lawyers. You also write down various legal documents and agreements used in litigation. For instance, you prepare deeds and agreements for land sales, as well as sale contracts for property purchases. You also write affidavits, wills, and briefs from dictation and handwritten notes. After writing the documents, you proofread them for errors and ensure they comply with legal requirements.
• managing schedules and appointments: your primary duty as a legal secretary is to support attorneys, lawyers and other legal professionals. You organise their schedules and ensure they meet with all their clients on time. You also attend appointments, client interviews, and hearings to write notes and later present your reports to the lawyers.
• assisting in research: as a legal secretary, you collect all the facts concerning a case and document findings from interviews. You find out previous court rulings and precedents related to a case. You also evaluate legal publications and materials to identify the best approach for a particular case.
• organising legal documents: when the opposing counsel sends discovery documents of the complaint, your job is to sort them. You organise the files and ensure the lawyer goes through them. You should be conversant with every relevant document for easy retrieval during court procedures. Since you are in charge of the filling system, you ensure all the documents are in order.
• attending court: as a legal secretary, part of your job is to write notes and witness statements in court sessions. You also provide relevant information for rebuttals and assist lawyers in finding the required documents during legal proceedings.

As a legal secretary, you work in a law firm, corporate setting or government agency. Regardless of your employer, your work setting is indoors in a well-ventilated office environment. You spend long periods standing or sitting when researching and completing your clerical duties. As a legal secretary, you meet with various people during interviews and daily meetings. Sometimes, you work outdoors when researching cases. Legal secretaries also spend considerable time in courtrooms during hearings and negotiation tables in corporate offices. As a legal secretary, you maintain a professional dress code during working hours.

Depending on where you work, you are likely to interact with administrative assistants, auditors and office managers. You also collaborate with data entry clerks, legal assistants and lawyers. Sometimes, you work alongside executive assistants, office administrators and managers.

As a legal secretary, you work 36 to 38 hours a week with the regular 9 am to 5 pm office hours. Sometimes, you work overtime, and your duties may extend to weekends and evenings. While most jobs are full-time, you can find a part-time legal secretary job if you're looking for a flexible work schedule. Some legal secretaries also work temporary positions on short-term contracts.

As a legal secretary, your job falls between traditional administrative and paralegal responsibilities. You can improve your educational qualifications and skills to become a paralegal or lawyer. Alternatively, branch out to land a role as executive assistant or office manager and work in a corporate environment. You can also specialise in handling specific aspects of law, such as corporate or criminal cases.

Finding your legal secretary job through Randstad provides important advantages such as:

• a wide variety of training and development opportunities
• an experienced contact person to provide help if needed
• a range of opportunities in your area
• get paid on a monthly basis
• temporary and permanent contracts

Want a permanent contract? A temporary job as a legal secretary is often a stepping stone to an attractive permanent job. Every year, thousands of people earn a permanent contract with great employers thanks to a temporary job found through Randstad. What's more, many companies recruit their permanent employees through Randstad too!

As a legal secretary, you prepare legal documents for judges or lawyers. Your duties include typing and filing various legal documents, like subpoenas, contracts and wills. You also handle the correspondence from clients and answer phone calls and emails. Other administrative duties include organising diaries and planning schedules for lawyers and judges.

As a legal secretary, you have numerous opportunities for career growth. For instance, you can become a paralegal or a legal executive. Some legal secretaries progress to office manager positions in legal companies. If you advance your education, it is possible to become a lawyer or a licensed conveyancer.

While legal secretaries are vital in the law community, they are not lawyers. They work alongside legal professionals and support lawyers in administrative work and handling caseloads. Legal secretaries can become lawyers after completing the relevant qualifications.

While you don’t need a law degree to become a legal secretary, you require legal qualifications. Pursue a certificate course in law to acquire the necessary knowledge for becoming a legal secretary. If you have a degree in a different field, complete a postgraduate diploma in law.

Becoming a legal secretary is a promising career with numerous job opportunities. The skills you learn in the role prepare you to work as a paralegal, executive secretary or office manager in big companies.

Applying for a legal secretary job is easy: create a Randstad profile and search our job offers for vacancies in your area. Then simply send us your CV and cover letter. Need help with your application? Check out all our job search tips here!