Although law firms can be busy places to work, it is not only lawyers who are involved in the firm. Legal secretaries and PAs are there to provide support for lawyers in order to be able to do their work efficiently and smoothly. You may prefer a career as a PA or legal secretary if you are interested in a career in law.
Legal secretaries
The legal department in which you work and the case being dealt with will affect your day-to-day responsibilities and work hours. You could be responsible for producing legal documents, forms, conducting legal research, answering enquiries from clients new and old, attending court and collecting fees after completion of legal work.
Working as a legal secretary will allow you to learn a variety of legal procedures and gain experience in many different areas. You may be able to move up the ladder and become a legal PA, paralegal, or executive if you have the right training.
As a legal secretary, you can earn a lot more than a standard secretary. A newly qualified legal secretary’s starting salary can range from PS14,000 to PS20,000 depending on where you live and what firm you work for. You can be paid as much as PS30,000 per year if you gain experience. Highly skilled and competent legal secretaries can make around PS40,000 per year.
Legal PAs
Legal PAs undertake legal PA courses and are personal assistants to bosses. They provide a high-quality service for their clients. They often act as the first point-of-contact and can even make decisions for their bosses.
While they can perform similar work to a legal secretary, they often have more responsibility for administrative tasks like marketing and managing budgets and accounts. They manage personal time and diary, as well as organising events and travel arrangements.