What is a para-legal secretary?

Simply put a para-legal secretary is some one who not only types out legal documents and letters but is some one who can also assist in legal assistant/paralegal duties, such as taking statements e.g.  interview witnesses, lodge documents at court, assist counsel (the barrister) by taking notes at a hearing/trial and other legal assignments which a paralegal would normally do.

What does a para-legal secretary do?

Hi, I'm  Lois and I have been a legal secretary for over 7 years. Below is a typical day in the life of a busy legal secretary working in one of London's top city firms.

The outline below, is what I would expect to receive from working for a Partner and two associates:

1. Mail and faxes are delivered throughout the day. This will need to be opened, sorted and delivered to the respective people. If your employer is away that day, you will need to ascertain how urgent this mail is and either phone, e-mail, leave a voice mail message for him or pass it on to whoever else is working on the matter.

2. Telephone - Either take a message or put the caller through to the appropriate voice mail to leave a message. Again, if your employer is away, you would have to determine the need to either contact him or leave a message.

3. New files - Again, due to the size of the firm we have a department that looks after this. A secretary is required to fill in the Matter Inception Form. You will then receive a new file folder back with the appropriate file number on it. Most secretaries keep a list of file numbers for each person they work for. If you work for a partner then you would keep a copy of the Matter Inception Form together with a list of all files opened in that partners name.

4. Most lawyers dictate (on to tapes) any letters/faxes/memos/notes/bills etc. they wish you to type. Computer training is usually always given when you first start working for a firm. A knowledge of Power Point would be advantageous (although where I work training is given in this) as you can be required to prepare slides. This applies to mail merge as well. We have recently had the Internet added to our computers and again, training on this is available.

5. Travel arrangements - The firm uses a particular travel agent for all business travelling. We are required to phone them with the appropriate information and they will arrange flights, tickets etc. Any foreign currency that is required is handled by the finance department (yes, another department!). You are required to fill out the appropriate forms which need to be signed by the person travelling and also the relevant partner. When the lawyer has returned from a trip you are then required to sort out receipts, balance of money etc. and return this to the finance department (balanced) who then costs it out etc. You are usually required to sort out their credit card accounts (firm related credit cards), which means making sure they have all original receipts of expenses etc.

 6. Meetings/Lunches/Conference calls: We have a large number of conference/meeting rooms within the firm. You will be required to book a room and arrange for morning/afternoon tea, lunch to be served (there is a Restaurant in the firm that handles all of the catering). If an external meeting is to be set up you would be required to phone each person (usually speaking to their secretary) and arrange an appropriate time and place.  Sometimes conference calls need to be set up and booking restaurants for client lunches is sometimes required.

 7. Filing - What can I say - I get out of it at all costs!!

Note :The above is typical of the work load you can expect in a Top Law firm. Normally, in a top (or big) law firm you will not be asked to under take paralegal work as there will be plenty of paralegals on hand. If, however, you are working for a typical High Street law practice this is where you will find that your work load can very easily cross over to combining secretarial work with paralegal work such as mentioned above in What is a para-legal secretary?

"...It should be noted that more and more law firms are
looking for individuals who are para-legal secretaries..."