A legal secretary fills a unique role in the world of law firms and legal departments — something of a hybrid position between that of a traditional secretary and a legal assistant or paralegal.
Legal secretaries perform essential secretarial and administrative duties, like arranging meetings and conferences, taking phone calls, and maintaining office inventory. They also possess a substantial amount of legal know-how so they can complete legal-specific tasks to assist with cases and litigation.
A legal secretary can do everything from preparing legal papers, correspondence, and reports to helping assemble trial and presentation materials, and transcribing legal dictation. They also assist with legal research. A legal secretary is a versatile and crucial member of a legal team.
Sample job description #1
To be successful in this role, you should possess an in-depth knowledge of legal procedures and terminology.
Responsibilities
- Provide secretarial support to one or more lawyers at the firm
- Edit and proofread all legal documents
- Maintain attorney calendar by scheduling conferences, depositions, and meetings
- Welcome clients and conduct initial screenings of new clients
- Go to court proceedings and type minutes
- Organize all legal documents and ensure they are updated
- Ensure all court documents are in order and filed before deadlines
- Answer emails and phone calls, and when necessary, redirect calls, etc.
- Research and authenticate important case information
- Prepare different legal documents including appeals, motions, and petitions
Requirements
- High school diploma or equivalent qualification required
- Associate degree in legal studies or related field
- A minimum of 5 years experience in a similar role
- In-depth knowledge of legal documents and terminology
- Skilled with MS Office
- Excellent time-management and organizational skills
- Good written and verbal communication skills
- (State) and (State) experience preferred
Sample job description #2
The Legal Secretary will perform a variety of secretarial duties for attorneys to whom assigned according to established policies and procedures. The Legal Secretary is assigned to assist several attorneys in a specific practice group and will support 5-9 attorneys. This position will be responsible for preparing practice-specific forms, updating electronic and paper files, preparing and filing court documents and e-filings, updating attorney calendars as needed and delegating work to appropriate departments, and completing other tasks as assigned in a timely and accurate manner.
Essential functions
- Delegate attorney work to appropriate departments
- Prepare practice-specific documents, paper court filings and e-filings, and update electronic pleading/correspondence/closing folders
- Screen telephone calls and take messages for attorneys when requested. Receive clients and visitors. Maintain good public relations with clients. Observe confidentiality of attorney-client relationship
- Read, sort, and date incoming mail when requested. Ensure that outgoing mail is delivered timely and specify types of delivery
- Schedule and calendar meetings and deadlines for attorneys
Knowledge, skills and abilities required
- Excellent spelling and proofreading skills. Typing (45+ wpm)
- Effective delegation skills
- Knowledge of court filing procedures, including electronic filing
- Ability to organize, prioritize, and produce quality work
- Self-motivated and flexible in order to complete assignments in a timely manner
Knowledge, skills and abilities desired
- MS Excel
- Intapp Flow
- iManage 10/FileSite
- Chrome River
- PDF conversions and manipulations
Education and experience
- High school diploma or equivalent required
- 3-5 years of experience in similar field required. Previous law firm experience preferred
Sample job description #3
Responsibilities
- Update schedule with client interactions
- Provide support for several attorneys
- Transfer legal correspondence to clients
- Handle assigned files and deliver legal services under attorney supervision
- Conduct administrative tasks as necessary
- Maintain and improve calendars and billing sheets
- Strong communication skills are essential to communicate with clients in an effective and efficient manner
- Utilize comprehensive knowledge of legal procedures
- Provide assistance to attorneys in the effective and efficient resolution of files
Requirements
- Excellent communication and organizational skills
- Knowledgeable in local jurisdictional and federal court rules and procedures
- Able to manage time well
- Possessing an understanding of word processing and spreadsheets is desired
- Knowledgeable about and experienced with legal correspondence and court filing procedures is a plus
- Proficiency in database management
- Practical knowledge of travel arrangements
- Well-founded grasp of conference room setup and cleanup
- General familiarity with travel arrangements
- Command of Draft Pleadings
- Comprehensive knowledge of Draft Legal Documents
- Foundational knowledge in Schedule Appointments
- Proficiency in Draft Letters
- Proven knowledge of billing software for attorneys
- Schedule Depositions experience
- 3+ years of prior relevant experience
Average salary and compensation
The average salary for a legal secretary is $62,500 in the United States. Position salary will vary based on experience, education, company size, industry, and market.
| Location | Salary Low | Salary High |
|---|---|---|
| Phoenix, Arizona | $62,150 | $84,100 |
| Los Angeles, California | $70,150 | $94,900 |
| Denver, Colorado | $58,450 | $79,050 |
| Washington, DC | $71,200 | $96,300 |
| Miami, Florida | $58,150 | $78,700 |
| Orlando, Florida | $53,650 | $72,600 |
| Tampa, Florida | $54,200 | $73,300 |
| Atlanta, Georgia | $56,850 | $76,900 |
| Chicago, Illinois | $65,350 | $88,400 |
| Boston, Massachusetts | $70,650 | $95,600 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota | $56,300 | $76,200 |
| New York City, New York | $74,400 | $100,650 |
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | $60,550 | $81,950 |
| Dallas, Texas | $58,950 | $79,800 |
| Houston, Texas | $58,450 | $79,050 |
| Seattle, Washington | $68,000 | $92,000 |
| National Average | $53,150 | $71,900 |
Sample interview questions
- It is key as a legal secretary that you be organized. On a scale from 1 through 10 how do you rate yourself?
- How do you decide which tasks to prioritize?
- Do you have the ability to multitask?
- How do you handle situations when a client is difficult?
- Why are you choosing to leave your current job?
- What was the best part of your job? What was your least favorite part?
- What do you do to ensure your work is accurate?
- What is your typing speed?
- What steps do you take to make sure you are protecting your client’s confidentiality?
- What do you do when you have multiple deadlines on the same day?
- Has there ever been a time when you had technical difficulties at an inconvenient time? How did you handle that situation?
- What’s your experience with subpoenas?
- What form of communication do you prefer: email, phone, or in person? Why?
- What experience do you have working with attorneys and judges?
- What is your time management like?
- What area of law interests you the most?
- Why should we hire you?
