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Law offices across the U.S. depend on trained legal secretaries to help business run smoothly. With their broad knowledge and technical abilities, legal secretaries work capably within their field. They are valued by lawyers, clients, and court officials for their ability to help bridge the gap between individuals and entities in the complex legal system.
Training to become a legal secretary means adding specialized skills to your existing knowledge. As the reliance on technology spreads through law offices across the country, legal secretaries are an important part of the legal team, working with new hardware and software and operating on the front lines of law offices to keep systems current and operational while catering to the needs of clients.
What Do Legal Secretaries Do?
Legal secretaries work closely with paralegals and attorneys to prepare materials and provide other essential functions in a law office. These specialized administrative professionals use a strong working knowledge of technical terminology and procedures to keep business running smoothly. Under the supervision of a paralegal or attorney, legal secretaries prepare materials such as:
Beyond paper preparation, legal secretaries serve a variety of valuable purposes in law offices, where duties can change on a day-to-day basis. On any given day at the office, a legal secretary might have one or more of the following tasks:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that there were approximately 262,600 legal secretaries working in the U.S. in 2008. Moderate growth in legal services should lead to faster than average growth for legal secretaries, with about 48,400 new careers available between 2008 and 2018, a growth of 18 percent.
According to the BLS, legal secretaries earned mean annual wages of $42,940 in 2009. Higher salaries may be expected with additional experience and training, as legal secretaries move to supervisory or paralegal positions.
What Are the Steps to Becoming a Legal Secretary?
Although high school graduates may qualify for entry-level secretarial positions, working as a legal secretary typically requires formal education designed to teach you the language of the industry. Legal secretary programs last from one to two years and are available in vocational schools both online and on campus.
Becoming a legal secretary involves training in legal terminology, technology and software as well as developing skills in typing, verbal and written communication and grammar. Legal secretaries should be able to communicate professionally and effectively, using the advanced legal language of their profession.
Most legal secretaries have to go through specialized training in the intricacies of a law office. In order to become certified in the special procedures used on the job, aspiring legal secretaries can take tests through the following professional organizations:
NALS offers the Accredited Legal Secretary (ALS) designation to legal secretaries who either have one year of experience in the legal field, or have completed an approved training course. A Professional Legal Secretary (PLS) designation is considered an appropriate designation for paralegals.
How to Become a Great Legal Secretary
Becoming a great legal secretary requires training, experience, and continuing education. The best legal secretaries must have a strong awareness of the shifting rules and regulations in the legal world, and be able to respond positively to the changes. Legal secretaries at the top of their fields embrace change, taking on new challenges as opportunities for growth.
Beyond continued improvement, top notch legal secretaries often secure certifications as proof of their skills. Once you have five years of experience and pass an examination, you can earn the Certified Legal Secretary Specialist (CLSS) designation, conferred by Legal Secretaries International. The designation allows legal secretaries to specialize in one of the following areas:
Whether you choose to specialize or keep your skills broad, advancing as a legal secretary requires operating at high levels of proficiency. Some legal secretaries eventually obtain more training and become paralegals, earning a higher salary and enjoying more responsibilities in the workplace.
While no career training program can guarantee a certain career or salary, hiring managers in the legal secretary field typically prefer to see applicants with formal training. Whether or not you have a career history in administrative work, career training can help you succeed as a legal secretary. With healthy wages, growth potential, and a projected increasing job market, training to become a legal secretary is a smart career move.
Resources for Legal Secretaries
These schools offer particularly quick info upon request, and we have written detailed profiles for each (click school names to see the profiles).
Request info from multiple schools, by clicking the Get Info links.
| School | Locations | Degrees | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brookline College | AZ, NM | Diploma | |
| Career Point College | OK, TX | Associate, Diploma | |
| Computer Career Center | TX | Diploma | |
| Everest College | ON, OR | Diploma | |
| Everest Institute | PA | Diploma | |
| Harris School of Business | NJ | Certificate | |
| Kaplan University Online | Online | Certificate | |
| Minnesota School of Business | MN | Diploma | |
| Salter College | MA | Associate | |
| South Texas Vocational Technical Institute | TX | Diploma | |
| South University | Online | Associate, Bachelor | |
| Sullivan University | KY | Associate, Diploma |
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