Legal administrative assistant

Legal administrative assistants carry out the daily administrative activities of firms, offices of notaries public, and companies. They perform activities such as writing mails, phone-answering and typing/keyboarding. They combine these activities with specific knowledge and understanding of the procedures and codes managed in legal business affairs.

Legal administrative assistants typically do the following:

• Perform accurate legal research and analysis.
• Interpret laws, rulings and regulations in legal documents.
• Compile, proofread and revise drafts of legal documents and reports.
• Daily record keeping with electronic and hard copy filing of documents.
• Obtain relevant information from other organizations or agencies.
• Create and organize information, and generate reference tools for easy use by the office.
• Prepare and format legal and management reports.
• Maintain and update databases and tracking systems.
• Respond to all case-related queries.
• Ensure efficient and effective administrative information and assistance.

The following job titles also refer to legal administrative assistant:

paralegal assistant
certified legal assistant
litigation secretary
litigation legal assistant
legal executive secretary
legal assistant
certified legal secretary specialist
legal secretary
certified legal secretary
collection legal assistant
legal administrative assistant
legal administrative secretary

A high school diploma is the minimum educational requirement for an entry-level legal administrative assistant. Candidates should also be computer-literate and familiar with basic office work. To fulfill their job duties, legal administrative assistants should become familiar with legal processes and terms.

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

• the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
• the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
• the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Legal administrative assistant is a Skill level 3 occupation.

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to legal administrative assistant.

legal assistant
conveyance clerk
case administrator
court administrative officer
court clerk

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of legal administrative assistant. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of legal administrative assistant with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

court administrator
court jury coordinator
legal consultant
prosecutor
supreme court judge

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of legal administrative assistant.

• Procedural law: The law that encompasses the rules of procedure followed in court, and the rules governing the civil and criminal procedures.
• Legal department processes: The different processes, duties, jargon, role in an organisation, and other specificities of the legal department within an organisation such as patents, legal cases, and legal compliance.
• Legal terminology: The special terms and phrases used in the field of law.

These skills are necessary for the role of legal administrative assistant.

• Compile legal documents: Compile and collect legal documents from a specific case in order to aid an investigation or for a court hearing, in a manner compliant with legal regulations and ensuring records are properly maintained.
• Meet deadlines for preparing legal cases: Plan and adjust timings in order to prepare legal documents, collect information and evidence, and contact clients and lawyers in order to prepare the case properly.
• Perform office routine activities: Program, prepare, and perform activities required to be performed everyday in offices such as mailing, receiving supplies, updating managers and employees, and keeping operations running smoothly.
• Manage personnel agenda: Schedule and confirm appointments for the personnel of the office, mostly managers and directive employees, with external parties.
• Observe confidentiality: Observe the set of rules establishing the nondisclosure of information except to another authorised person.
• Perform clerical duties: Perform administrative tasks such as filing, typing up reports and maintaining mail correspondence.
• Communicate by telephone: Liaise via telephone by making and answering calls in a timely, professional and polite manner.

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of legal administrative assistant. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Legal case management: The procedures of a legal case from opening to closing, such as the documentation that needs to be prepared and handled, the people involved in different stages of the case, and the requirements that need to be met before the case can be closed.
• Legal research: The methods and procedures of research in legal matters, such as the regulations, and different approaches to analyses and source gathering, and the knowledge on how to adapt the research methodology to a specific case to obtain the required information.
• Civil law: The legal rules and their applications used in disputes between different parties.
• Court procedures: The regulations which are in place during the investigation of a court case and during a court hearing, and of how these events occur.
• Civil process order: The legal procedures and standards that courts follow in civil lawsuits.

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of legal administrative assistant. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Translate keywords into full texts: Draft e-mails, letters and other written documents on the basis of keywords or key concepts outlining the content. Choose the appropriate format and language style according to the type of document.
• Handle evidence: Handle evidence important for a case in a manner compliant with regulations, in order to not affect the state of the evidence in question and to ensure its pristine condition and usability in the case.
• Brief court officials: Brief court officials such as judges, barristers, and other representatives on the day’s events, the details of the cases scheduled for that day, attendance, and other matters pertaining court proceedings which are significant.
• Study court hearings: Read and interpret court hearings in order to format and process the outcome information of these events.
• Revise legal documents: Read and interpret legal documents and proofs about happenings in relation with the legal case.
• Fix meetings: Fix and schedule professional appointments or meetings for clients or superiors.
• Apply technical communication skills: Explain technical details to non-technical customers, stakeholders, or any other interested parties in a clear and concise manner.
• Manage accounts: Manage the accounts and financial activities of an organisation, supervising that all the documents are correctly maintained, that all the information and calculations are correct, and that proper decisions are being made.
• Issue sales invoices: Prepare the invoice of goods sold or services provided, containing individual prices, the total charge, and the terms. Complete order processing for orders received via telephone, fax and internet and calculate the customer’s final bill.
• Decode handwritten texts: Analyse, understand, and read handwritten texts with different writing styles. Analyse the overall message of texts to ensure coherence in the understanding.

3342 – Legal secretaries

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References

1. Legal administrative assistant – ESCO
2. Legal Administrative Assistant Job Description – Betterteam
3. What Does a Legal Administrative Assistant Do? – Learn.org