Been a Legal Secretary for 25 years but what next??

I have been a Legal Secretary for many years (my first legal sec. job was in 1984). I am in mid-40s and have been thinking about expanding my career but in the legal environment that would mean ‘paralegal’ or ‘trainee legal executive’. I earn about £30k at the moment but am I correct in thinking that:

1. ‘Paralegal’ or ‘trainee legal exec’ jobs might pay less than £30k; and
   
   
2. There are not many ‘paralegal’ or ‘trainee legal exec’ jobs around at the moment and where they exist a law degree is a necessity (which I do not have)?

I am working for a small law firm with neither paralegals nor legal executives, so I would be grateful for any answers to the above.

What would you suggest I do?

Thanks,

Reply from Peter Fisher

Michael, thank you for your question, in answering it we will probably help a number of people, not just in legal secretary jobs but those who feel they have reached a career plateau.

Legal secretarial jobs are there to give administrative and secretarial help to lawyers and legal executives. There is a broad range of office management and administrative tasks that legal secretary jobs entail.

Working in this field means you are in charge of keeping vital records up to date, preparing letters and important legal documents, organising diaries and making appointments, preparing court forms and going to court or the Police cells with solicitors.

Beyond solicitors' offices there are plenty of other organisations that need legal secretaries.

You could work in barristers' chambers, law courts or even for the police and armed forces, finance houses, insurance companies and estate agents.

From what I have found out, the salary for legal secretaries could range from anything up to £37,000. This depends on the firm, your experience and how long you have worked in the position. In your case with a small firm you may be at the limit already, although in a larger firm you may have an opportunity to improve your salary.

However, with your experience there can be opportunities to become senior legal secretary, PA or office manager, but as you work for a smaller firm you might find you need to change firms to win a more senior role.

To discover whether you would like to do any of those jobs, start with a skills analysis and pay particular attention to the higher level of people management and organisational skills you would need to propose yourself as a viable candidate for consideration.


You would need to be clear in both your spoken and written communications that you have the skills needed and the 'substance' to fulfil a more demanding higher level job.

If you want to branch out in a new direction, you could train to become a legal executive, paralegal or licensed conveyancer. If you're really keen you could even study for a law degree to become a solicitor or barrister but I guess from what you say that it is not where you want to go.

As you know, legal secretaries can command good salaries and interesting careers. So choosing the right course from among the many legal secretary courses available is vital.

It seems to me that the course of study would be for a Legal Practice certificate (LPC) but I'm not sure it would gain you very much, because as you surmise starting salaries seem to be in the range £20000 - £25000 per annum.

So summing that up, if you want to broaden your career and no upward movement in your present firm is possible, you should consider other larger firms where your experience could win you a more senior role; think about other types of organisations as I mentioned, otherwise a step backwards to ultimately go forwards must be considered.

Also of interest are these pages:

Legal Opportunities Search for the latest opportunities including private practice, in-house, public sector, paralegal and legal secretaries, as well as finance, marketing and HR legal roles.

Legal jobs are available for anyone interested in pursuing a career in the legal profession with or without actually being a lawyer. If you are looking for a way to get a foot in the door of the legal field, becoming a paralegal may be your ideal choice. Most people have heard of the term "paralegal" or "legal assistant", but are unsure as to the exact details of what a paralegal does.

Criminal Justice Jobs include not only front line police officers but also civilian support roles and specialist jobs in fighting fraud, as well as court officers and private investigation jobs.

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