Article by Matt Murren
Most legal offices today employ someone to perform the daily clerical functions that are necessary for efficient business processes. A legal secretary is usually the person hired for this function and is sometimes known as an administrative or executive assistant. This person not only performs normal administrative duties such as typing, phone answering, filing, and dictation but also is skilled in other things relating to the legal profession. Most legal offices depend on this person to gather and organize all of the preliminary paperwork that is required for most legal proceedings. It would be difficult to efficiently run a legal business without the help of a secretary well-versed in legal language and processes.
A secretary in a law firm performs a variety of specialized functions such as preparing and typing pleadings, briefs, discoveries, motions and subpoenas. He or she is responsible for tracking legal filing deadlines and for creating all of the graphs and reports related to the tracking. The secretary will need to be highly skilled in creating spread sheets and be able to understand how to index and update pleadings and discoveries. The secretary must have excellent written and verbal communication skills so that he or she can easily communicate with attorneys, vendors and other professionals. Dispositions will need to be scheduled, as will hearings, closings and other legal meetings.
A legal secretary must have certain skills in order to meet the qualifications necessary for the position. He or she must be at least familiar with legal terminology as well as state and federal court filing rules. Of course, as a secretary the person will be expected to have outstanding typing and clerical skills to go along with his or her legal abilities. Being dependable enough to meet deadlines is a critical skill that must be met by anyone performing administrative work in a law office. Missing a deadline could put the law firm in a negative position, resulting in a default judgment. In today’s high technology environment, a secretary in a law firm must be adept at computer processes and be able to use the computer for word processing, spread sheets, research and billing.
About the Author
Matt D Murren owns and operates http://www.legal–secretary.com Legal Secretary
Find More Become Legal Secretary Articles