Want to Be a Legal Secretary?

Legal secretaries are responsible for a variety of administrative and clerical duties that are necessary to run and maintain organizations efficiently. They schedule appointments, give information to callers, organize and maintain files, fill out forms, and take dictation. They may also type letters, make travel arrangements, or contact clients. In addition, secretaries operate office equipment such as facsimile machines, photocopiers, and telephones with voice mail capabilities.

More specifically, the duties of a legal secretary generally include the following:

 

1. Prepares (with a typewriter or computer) documents, correspondence, pleadings, etc., at the direction of the legal assistant/paralegal or attorney.
2. Is knowledgeable about court filing rules and fees and is responsible to see to it that documents are properly filed.
3. Keeps legal calendar for attorneys.
4. Proofreads documents for factual, grammatical, or typo-graphical errors.
5. Maintains files in good order.
6. Handles phones.

The legal secretary's job in most large firms, then, is one of production at the direction of attorneys and legal assistants. Except in matters of obvious routine and the use of company formats, the legal secretary does not independently generate work. In some small firms, though, jobs and job titles are often blurred, with the assistant or paralegal on occasion doing the work of a secretary and the secretary at times doing the work of an assistant.

In today's automated offices, secretaries increasingly use personal computers to run spreadsheet, word processing, database management, desktop publishing, and graphics programs for tasks previously handled by managers and professionals. Because they are often relieved from dictation and typing, legal secretaries can support several members of the professional staff. Secretaries sometimes work in clusters of three or four so that they can work more flexibly and share their expertise.

In addition to general administrative duties, further specialization in various types of law is common among legal secretaries. They prepare correspondence and legal papers such as summonses, complaints, motions, and subpoenas under the supervision of an attorney. They also may review legal journals and assist in other ways with legal research.

Secretaries generally work a standard forty-hour week. In some cities, especially in the Northeast, the scheduled work-week is thirty-seven hours or less.

About one-half of all secretaries are employed in firms providing services, ranging from education and health to legal and business services.

High school graduates may qualify for secretarial positions provided they have basic office skills. Today, however, knowledge of word processing, spreadsheet, and database management programs is increasingly important, and most employers require it. Secretaries must be proficient in keyboarding and good at spelling, punctuation, grammar, and oral communication. Shorthand is necessary for some positions.

Employers also look for communication and interpersonal skills, since secretaries must be tactful in their dealings with many different people. Discretion, judgment, organizational ability, and initiative are important for higher-level secretarial positions.

As office automation continues to evolve, retraining and continuing education will remain an integral part of many jobs. Continuing changes in the office environment, for instance, have increased the demand for secretaries who are adaptable and versatile. Secretaries may have to attend classes to learn to operate new office equipment such as word processing equipment, information storage systems, personal computers, or new and updated software packages.

The skills needed for a secretarial job can be acquired in various ways. Formal training, especially for computer skills, may lead to higher-paying jobs. Secretarial training ranges from high school vocational education programs that teach office practices, shorthand, and keyboarding skills to one- or two-year programs in secretarial science offered by business schools, vocational-technical institutes, and community colleges. Many temporary service agencies provide training in computer and keyboarding skills. Training in specific software programs is often acquired, however, through instruction offered at the workplace by other employees or by equipment and software vendors. In addition, specialized training programs are available for students planning to become legal secretaries.

Testing and certification for entry-level office skills are available through the Office Proficiency Assessment and Certification (OPAC) program offered by Professional Secretaries International (PSI). As secretaries gain experience, they can earn the designation of Certified Professional Secretary (CPS) by passing a series of examinations given by the Institute for Certifying Secretaries, a department of PSI. This designation is recognized by a growing number of employers as the mark of excellence for senior-level office professionals.

Similarly, those without experience who want to be certified as a legal support professional may be certified as an Accredited Legal Secretary (ALS) by the certifying board of the National Association of Legal Secretaries. This organization also administers an examination to certify legal secretaries with three years of experience as Professional Legal Secretaries (PLS's).

Job Outlook

Employment of secretaries is expected to grow more slowly than the average for all occupations. Nevertheless, employment opportunities should be quite plentiful, especially for well-qualified and experienced secretaries, who, according to many employers, are in short supply. The very large size of the field, coupled with moderate turnover, generates several hundred thousand secretarial positions each year as experienced workers transfer to other occupations or leave the labor force.

Demand for secretaries will rise as the economy grows and as more workers are employed in offices. The trend toward secretaries assuming more responsibilities traditionally reserved for managers and professionals should also stimulate demand.

Widespread use of automated equipment is already changing the work flow in many offices. Administrative duties are being reassigned and the functions of entire departments are being restructured. Large firms are experimenting with different methods of staffing their administrative support operations. In some cases, such traditional secretarial duties as typing or keyboarding, filing, copying, and accounting are being assigned to workers in other units or departments.

In some law offices paralegals are taking over some tasks formerly done by secretaries. Professionals and managers increasingly do their own word processing rather than submit the work to secretaries and other support staff. In addition, there is a trend in many offices for groups of professionals and managers to share secretaries, allowing secretaries to assume new responsibilities.

Developments in office technology are certain to continue, and they will bring about further changes in the secretary's work environment. However, many secretarial job duties are of a personal, interactive nature and hence not easily automated. Duties such as planning schedules, receiving clients, and transmitting staff instructions require tact and communication skills. Because automated equipment cannot substitute for these personal skills, secretaries will continue to play a key role in the office activities of most organizations.