Legal secretary
Legal secretaries provide administrative support for legal executives and solicitors.
Also known as: Legal personal assistant, legal PA
- Starter salary£24,000 a year
- Experienced£40,000 a year
- Typical hours36 to 40 a week
What you'll do
As a legal secretary, you could:
- draft, check and edit reports
- prepare court forms and statements
- handle confidential information correctly
- work from solicitors' written notes and audio files (dictation)
- respond to client enquiries
- make appointments, set up meetings and manage diaries
- accompany solicitors to court or police stations
- deliver, collect and file documents
- handle billing and invoices
Working environment
You could work in an office, in a court or at a police station.
Skills and knowledge you'll need
You'll need:
- administration skills
- legal knowledge including court procedures and government regulations
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- excellent verbal communication skills
- excellent written communication skills
- the ability to work well with others
- concentration skills
- customer service skills
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently
How to become a legal secretary
You can get into this job through:
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
- training with a professional body
College
You could take a course to learn some of the skills and knowledge needed to get a role as a trainee legal secretary. Courses include:
- law
- law and legal work
- T Level in Legal Services
Entry requirements
Entry requirements for these courses vary.
- 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths for a T Level
Apprenticeship
You could apply to do a Paralegal Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship, with a legal firm.
This takes around 2 years to complete and combines on-the-job training and time spent with a learning provider.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
Work
You could start as an admin assistant with a legal services company, then apply for a trainee position as a legal secretary.
For trainee roles, you'll need:
- a good standard of spoken and written English
- to be well organised
- excellent IT skills, especially word processing
Other routes
You could complete a qualification, like the Legal Secretaries Diploma, through a professional body, such as The Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs .
Alternatively, you might do the Foundation Stage of the CILEx Professional Qualification .
These qualifications are aimed at people who are working in a legal setting, as well as those looking for a career change into law.
Career path and progression
With experience, you could become a senior secretary, PA or office manager in larger firms.
With further training, you could become a:
- paralegal
- legal executive
- licensed conveyancer
- solicitor
Career tips
Some employers will look for typing speeds of 50 words a minute or higher.
All employers will value accuracy and you may be tested on this as part of an interview task.
Guides for this industry
Related roles
- Job roleBarrister's clerk
- Job roleParalegal
- Job roleCourt administrative assistant
- Job roleLegal executive
- Job roleExecutive assistant
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0