Legal Secretary Job Description and Requirements?

Answer 1

A legal secretary performs a wide variety of clerical functions for lawyers and their clients. Legal secretaries can also be referred to as paralegals or legal assistants, and they most commonly prepare legal documents, correspondence, schedule meetings and maintain case files and legal records. They often help lawyers prepare complaints, subpoenas, summons and appeals. Additional duties include reading and transcribing legal documents, collecting client information, taking notes in meetings and keeping track of court cases.

In addition to the work that a legal secretary performs in assisting attorneys with legal documents and correspondence, they are also in charge of other administrative duties, such as answering the phone, faxing, copying and scanning documents and processing data. It is not uncommon for a legal secretary to perform legal research, including finding information related to trials, motions and hearings.

It is important for legal secretaries to possess excellent communication skills, be detail-oriented, be able to meet important deadlines, be well-versed in legal terminology and procedures and be able to work independently. They also must be well organized, type quickly with very few errors, and possess excellent grammar and proofreading and editing skills. Most legal secretaries find employment in law firms, nonprofit associations, governmental agencies and corporations.

Many employers prefer legal secretaries who have an education that extends beyond the high school level. Many community colleges and vocational schools have a training program which gives a person the necessary skills to be successful as a legal secretary. Many of these programs are an associate degree program, which takes around two years to complete. In some cases, a legal secretary may be able to find employment with a high school diploma if they possess work experience.

The starting salary range for a legal secretary is between $25,000-$28,000 per year. Legal secretaries that have been employed in this field for a few years will receive higher earnings, within a range of $45,000-$65,000. Experienced legal secretaries who possess 5-10 years of work experience earn significantly more, which is upwards of $65,000-$75,000 yearly.