Careers 101: Legal Secretary Jobs

Published on 2008-07-01

Tools:

Though an associate`s or bachelor`s degree is not a requirement for most legal secretary jobs, it is an asset, particularly for inexperienced workers or those seeking jobs at higher-end law firms. Both traditional and online schools offer legal secretary degrees as well as majors in legal administration, legal studies, and related subjects. Students who are considering clerical jobs in the legal field could also pursue paralegal certification in order to qualify for legal assistant and paralegal jobs. Various certifications are available for legal secretaries, including ALS (accredited, i.e. basic) and PLS (professional, i.e. advanced) from the National Association of Legal Secretaries and CLSS (certified legal secretary specialist) from Legal Secretaries International.

Legal secretary jobs, like other law firm jobs, require a professional appearance and manner, excellent administrative and organizational skills, and an ability to work in sometimes demanding and high-stress environments. Knowledge of formatting guidelines for legal documents, a familiarity with legal terminology, and superb typing skills are all essential tools.

Tasks:

Many of the tasks that a legal secretary performs are similar to those of a receptionist or administrative assistant: communicating with clients and staff, scheduling appointments, maintaining and ordering supplies and office equipment, etc. Legal secretaries must also prepare legal documents such as motions, responses, summonses and subpoenas. Experience as a legal secretary combined with ongoing education can lead to other legal jobs in management or administration, such as executive administrative assistant positions. The median annual salary paid to legal secretaries is around $40,000.