Legally blogging on secretaries

“ We all work for the same lawyers, they just have different names" – a legal secretary

Most of the administration and support staff with a law firm avoid working under the “secretary” title. Being a secretary seems to underesteem themselves and generally any other job title is preferred instead of secretary, be it assistant of any type (assistant to manager, desk, legal, office manager … the last one really sucks). The Romanian law firms are going with this myriad job titling trend, perhaps for avoiding to regulate with the bar association the position of administrative staff in a law firm and credential requirements!?!

Working as secretary is harder than most people think, if done appropriately. Breaking into the legal secretary is not as hard if grounded on real secretarial skills and relevant credentials. As long as you have the basic secretarial skills under your belt, the specific legal skills can be acquired on the job. However you should at least already be proficient in typing, computer programs, word processing, basic accounting and bookkeeping, good grammar both on native and foreign language and … be reliable!!!! The employer requirements for secretarial and clerical assistance vary with the size, complexity and age of the firm. Usually the fewer the lawyers, the more varied will be the tasks of the legal secretary.

Faxing, photocopying and filing should stand as duty with office and or front desk assistants; a legal secretary should transcript, maintain schedule, communicate with clients and documents preparation. A good legal secretary should build a worthwhile practice and gain confidence of both management and associates level by: teaming up with the lawyer, handling law office automation from retrieval and filing to bookkeeping and worprocessing equipment (software in modern days), supporting with opening client files and creating documents, handling production of documents based on rules for formatting, checking and even prooftuning of documents, introducing basic guidelines to new recruits, handling courtesy on telephone, managing lawyers diary or company’s general schedule, reminding and organizing law office materials both electronically or in hard copy and so on. Moreover a legal secretary should be familiarized with the legal work and documents prepared by the attorney and should know the purpose and scope of work involved with legal counsel. Being a legal secretary should not be confused with paralegal. These are two entirely different careers. Generally, a paralegal work involves much research and drafting for the attorneys, including counseling.

How to become a good legal secretary, here there are some hints to support:

1. Working in a law office – first job
An understanding of what a law office is like and how it functions is necessary to perform your duties intelligently. If you are employed in a law office, you are a member of the team whether you work for one or several attorneys; you will be expected to pull your share of the load, to do that, you need to understand firm’s work and take an active interest in it. In addition to being able to think and write accurately, must have initiative, administrative ability, judgment and deep sense of responsibility towards the work and the team.
One of the many compensations of working in a law office is the type of people with whom you are associated. The prestige and dignity of a law firm demand that every position in the firm be filled with a person of intelligence and refinement. In a small law office the work and responsibilities of all service departments fall on the secretary. In large office such responsibilities may be divided among secretaries and other personnel. In any case, secretaries must be familiar with various duties so that they can cooperate with other departments.
Related to the firm dignity, an impression of refinement is reflected in knowledge of professional customs and practices, good manners, and personal appearance, that’s why politeness, friendliness, graciousness, and consideration for others should be well-established habits.