Learn About Becoming a Legal Secretary
Legal Secretary: An Essential Role in Every Law Office
A legal secretary or legal assistant plays a crucial role in every law office. Legal secretaries prepare legal documents such as summonses, complaints, requests for discovery and subpoenas for attorneys and their clients. They may also may have to file legal documents in court in a timely manner according to the rules of civil procedure.
Legal secretaries may handle traditional secretarial duties, as well such as setting up appointments, billing clients, managing and retrieving files, word processing, and making travel arrangements for their employers.
They also may review legal journals and assist in other ways with legal research, such as verifying quotes and citations in legal briefs, and may also be in charge of getting legal documents filed before court deadlines expire.
Legal Secretary Education
While there are no academic requirements for this field, taking a 2-year associate's degree program or a 1-to-2 semester certificate program in legal secretary skills will help you prepare for the complexities of legal practice. Most legal secretary programs cover law office practices, keyboarding, computers, word processing, legal terminology and law.
Legal Secretary Certification
Legal secretary certification is voluntary, but highly recommended because many employers require it. Legal secretaries or law office managers who have completed an approved paralegal training course or have one year's experience can take an exam to become an Accredited Legal Secretary (ALS).
The National Association of Legal Secretaries (NALS) also offers an advanced certification for legal support professionals called Professional Legal Secretary (PLS).
Legal Secretaries International confers the Certified Legal Secretary Specialist (CLSS) title in specialized areas such as civil trial, real estate, probate, and business law to those who have five years of law-related experience and pass an examination.
Legal Secretary Salary
Salaries for legal secretaries, like paralegal and legal assistant salaries, vary. Your salary may depend on education, training, experience, the type and size of employer, and where you work. In general, legal secretaries who work for large law firms or in big cities earn the most. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, legal secretaries earned an average of $42,940 in 2009, but the top 10 percent earned more than $63,900.
But remember: your salary and job opportunities will improve with additional legal secretary education.
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