Duties of a Legal Secretary
A legal secretary serves as a key legal administration professional, ensuring that the work of attorneys and other legal staff is carried out with the utmost professionalism, precision, and attention to detail. In the midst of busy law firms, legal secretaries manage the flow of litigation materials while also overseeing the needs of the firm’s support staff personnel.
The majority of a legal secretary’s time is spent typing and filing legal documents. However, the responsibilities of a legal secretary go well beyond simply filing forms and typing transcriptions. As a legal administration professional, the legal secretary often works directly with clients, attorneys, and/or paralegals to help ensure the optimal organization and accuracy of legal files and correspondences. This job will also require you to compose letters for attorney review, so strong professionalism and perfectionism are a must as you create the perfect copy.
A legal secretary typically links the various departments within a law firm by coordinating legal transactions through the office’s primary communication systems. In doing so, the legal secretary is often accountable for managing the production, editing, and filing of expansive legal documents . Many different software programs are used to complete these tasks, so it is important to familiarize yourself with the software that your firm uses. Overall, a qualified legal secretary should be able to operate standard office machines such as copiers, fax machines, scanners, and computers, and the latest document management systems.
Legal secretaries at the firm may also conduct research for cases, update legal files, and record statements and affidavits from potential witnesses. It will also be necessary for the legal secretary to review legal publications and monitor online legal research material. They will need to keep meticulous track of any deadlines that affect legal filings, and they must maintain the firm’s filing in accordance with the rules of the governing body.
To be successful in the role of legal secretary, you must have excellent organizational abilities, knowledge of advanced software applications for document management, and a solid understanding of computer networks, database systems, and electronic filing procedures. Other qualifications include a knowledge of the pertinent laws and regulations, as well as knowledge of various legal proceedings such as motions, orders, hearings, and appeals. Well-developed reading and writing skills are also essential for individuals in this position.
Legal Employment in San Diego
San Diego’s legal secretarial job market is in a period of relative growth, making now an opportune time to seek employment in this field. As with most metropolitan areas across the country, the legal field in San Diego is experiencing an uptick in open positions as more firms are actively hiring to accommodate increasing workloads and expanding practice areas.
This growth in opportunities for legal secretaries is in line with the national trend, which has also seen a modest rise in demand for legal secretaries due to strong growth in the legal services sector. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the need for legal secretaries is projected to grow by 7% from 2022-2032, which is about as fast as the average for all occupations.
The steady growth in employment opportunities for legal secretaries is a positive sign for jobseekers looking to break into this field, as the increasing demand for legal services and professionals will likely continue to create new openings for legal secretaries in the near future.
Qualifications Required
Traditionally, educational qualification for a legal secretary job is the attainment of a high school diploma. However, with high school graduation rates exceeding 99% in San Diego, and the rapid advances of technology in the legal secretary field, most employers will favor at least a two year degree. Colleges, universities, and vocational schools offer programs and courses that teach legal terminology, corporate and business law, civil and criminal procedure, and legal and tax research. The best programs also provide hands-on experience in preparing correspondence, legal briefs, court motions, and financial statements. Some employers will also look favorably on experience with bookkeeping systems, especially methods that might be required in specialized areas of law. Although not mandatory, certification through the National Association of Legal Secretaries (NALS) or one of the state chapters is strongly preferred by some employers. Secretaries who achieve the NALS Professional Legal Secretary (PLS) or Accredited Legal Secretary (ALS) certification have demonstrated a proven knowledge in practices, ethics, and theory of the legal secretarial profession. Practical skills such as shorthand and good typing proficiency are still taught by many local colleges, but audio transcription technology and dictation recording equipment have made these skills less crucial. Dictaphones, digital recorders, and computer stations with recording capacity can replace the older systems that demanded the ability to accurately transcript dictation at 80 words per minute. Such data management skills can prove to be more valuable than speed and accuracy in transcription.
Top San Diego Employers
Within the city limits of San Diego, there are a number of businesses to choose from when it comes to employment in the field of legal secretary work. Some major employers of paralegals and legal office professionals include law firms, in-house legal departments, government agencies, and professional organizations.
Employers that most often hire legal office professionals are In-House Counsel offices. Companies that typically hire in-house counsel for managing contracts, disputes, and corporate affairs include Qualcomm, Sharp Healthcare, and General Atomics. Intel Corporation and DIRECTV also employ in-house counsel and legal secretaries.
Medical-related legal professionals might find opportunities with Sharp Healthcare and Scripps Health, both of which have legal departments to assist their network of hospitals and healthcare provider services.
Local and regional health plans, like Anthem Blue Cross and Aetna, also require the services of legal secretaries, paralegals, and other legal office personnel .
Government agencies such as the California Department of Justice, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Business Oversight are also large employers of legal office professionals in local, regional and federal agencies. Contacting individual agencies for listings of secretarial and paralegal job openings is highly recommended.
The San Diego County Regional Law Library has a small staff of legal professionals and support staff and are always on the lookout for highly organized, professional individuals seeking employment in a legal setting.
Large corporations with substantial employee bases still rely on in-house counsel to handle all of their legal affairs. Sometimes, these companies will expand into a new geographic area and take on additional legal staff to handle regional accounts, such as the recent expansion of DIRECTV in southwestern California.
Finally, professional organizations, both non-profits and associations, such as the San Diego County Bar Association, the Legal Secretaries International and the San Diego Paralegal Association, need administrative support for their daily operations.
Tips for Applying
When competitively searching for legal secretary jobs in San Diego, you must be able to clearly and concisely "sell" yourself to your future employer from the moment when they receive your résumé, to when you are hired. Law firms in San Diego want qualified, competent employees, so you need to show you can handle yourself well at the interview. One of the most important factors is being able to put your best foot forward with an outstanding résumé. Does it have a professional, polished look? Does it detail exactly what you’ve done and how your skills can be beneficial to the firm? Is it up to date? Have you carefully reviewed and proofed it and made sure it’s grammatically correct?
Remember basic résumé writing tips. Use black or dark blue ink on white or cream colored paper with plenty of blank space. Use a font that is readable and avoid any type of wacky formatting. Do not use first person in your résumé, and always use past or present verb tense. Write in active voice. Depending on what kind of position you are applying for, you should consider adding in technical skills if you have them—if you’re applying for a corporate legal secretary position and you’ve worked with corporate software in the past, be sure to highlight it on your résumé. Research law office etiquette before heading in for an interview. Be aware of how to greet your interviewer, how to address him or her appropriately, and how to answer questions in an informative and succinct way. Arrive on time. Be sure to ask questions during the interview that demonstrate interest and initiative. Refrain from using slang, swearing, or informal language (in conversation or in writing) on your résumé or cover letter –this includes abbreviations for words such as "you" (u) and "have" (hav). If you are attending an interview for company who’s offices you are not familiar with, find out in advance their office procedure for visitor parking, and be sure to follow it. Your first impression upon entering the office is very important. If you are coming from out of state, make it a point to speak with a Recruiter in the San Diego area who knows the market. In addition, you should familiarize yourself with the various neighborhoods in San Diego to learn which areas would be most appropriate for you and your lifestyle. For example, there is a major difference between living in La Jolla and Pacific Beach. While North County may be a fine place to live, it is a bit of a hike and not always practical for everyone.
Career Advancement
For legal secretaries in San Diego, particularly those who have obtained Certification from the International Association of Administrative Professionals® (IAAP), there are substantial career growth and advancement opportunities to pursue. Legal Secretaries can expand up the ladder into the fields of legal assistant, executive assistant, paralegal, legal administrative assistant and law office manager. In fact, with a combination of tenacity, integrity and ambition, some LAAs and legal secretaries have worked their way up to partners or even managing partner positions, while many others have become case managers in the fields of housing, bankruptcy, medical malpractice, corporate and criminal law.
According to the BLS , median wages for legal secretaries in the metropolitan area range between $48,170-$51,050 per year.
In the San Diego-Carlsbad area, legal secretaries/administrative assistants are expected to earn similar wages of between $16-$26 per hour. Which equates to an annual salary of $41,600-$65,500.
Those who hold professional certification as a Certified Legal Secretary (CLS) through the National Association of Legal Secretaries (NALS) or as a California Certified Legal Secretary (CCLS) through the California Alliance of Paralegals & Legal Secretaries (CAPALS) can expect to earn even higher salaries. The salary range for those with professional certification is between $55,020-$78,860 per year.