Good Stress Management Skills

Stress can work for us or against us. Management of stress at the right level for us and for the task at hand is a really valuable skill. Without some level of stress we would never get up in the morning, nor would we be motivated to perform at our best or to do anything at all. So we can welcome stress, so long as we can control it effectively when we need to.

Why Work for a Company When You Can Work for Everyone in Europe?

As a Secretary with the European Institutions you can pursue a fascinating future and help them make a difference for 500 million European citizens. Working alongside colleagues of every nationality in the heart of Europe, you will be vital to everything they do and you can expect a challenging international work environment and a career full of opportunities.

To join EU Institutions, you’ll need to be a qualified or experienced secretary with English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Maltese, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish as your main language. You’ll also need a good command of a second language (English, French or German), great problem-solving skills and the initiative to make things happen.

Life as a Secretary With the European Institutions

Proposals for Reform of the Legal Aid System

Legal AidEver since legal aid was first introduced in England and Wales back in 1949, many people believe that this fund, which is paid for by the tax-payer, has increasingly continued to move away from the fundamental principles by which it was first established to serve. Indeed, the Justice Secretary, Kenneth Clarke, has established a consultation period for extensive changes to the legal aid system and has stated that one of the most worrying reasons for this is down to the fact that legal aid is accessible in cases where court intervention may not have been the best way forward. It has been recognised that other dispute resolution services may have produced far better results and at a fraction of the cost to the legal aid fund.

Information Is King

Requests for InformationRequests for Further Information

This is the seventh article in a series focusing on specialist skills and knowledge in Civil Litigation. Litigation can be a time-consuming and expensive process, but what happens when one side is not pulling their weight? What I mean by this is how does a party that has set out their statement of case clearly and provided full disclosure deal with an opponent that is giving “the silent treatment”? It may be that a “silent” party does not realise that their statement of case raises more questions than it answers. More likely they know exactly what they are doing and want to say as little as possible. At any point a party may “clam up”, leaving the other side struggling to get a clear idea of the case they are up against.

The Giving Season

The Giving SeasonThis time last year I did some voluntary work for El Shaddai children’s charity in India and I would like to give you an update to how my fundraising has progressed over the past year.  El Shaddai provide orphans, street, slum, abused and sick children with the basic necessities of life.  The care the children receive develops their personalities and helps them to have a brighter future.  El Shaddai’s slogan is ‘Let there be no child on the streets without a proper childhood and they need help to fulfill their dream.'

Philippine Judicial Procedures on Civil Procedure: Bridging the Gap for Poor People

Since I obtained my Associate Membership of this Institute, I have been working in litigation.  It has equipped me with necessary skills pertaining to the court litigation process after the Philippine Supreme Court’s Approval on the Small Claims Court and the amendments of Civil Procedure in Philippine Courts, as promulgated by Philippine Supreme Court.

The amendments of the 1997 Philippine Civil Procedure gave the chance for the Small Claims Court to be created in 2008.  Now it has been implemented across the lower courts in my country.  It gives a “taste of swift justice” to the underprivileged citizens of our country for them to obtain justice, or if they are the defendants of a particular case, swift vindication can be obtained.

Is Employment Law Holding Businesses Back?

At the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs, we have used our journal to report back on the effects of employment law on economic recovery in the past. We discussed the possibility that some businesses were struggling to cope with the financial burden that such legal regulations impose upon them, and how this may have led to a sharp increase in the number of employment tribunals that were being pursued.

Improve Your Software Skills With Lynda.com

Lynda.ComIn today’s high-tech work environment you may find yourself pushed to learn how to use new software in order to take on a new role or responsibility. Sometimes you may find yourself forced into using software that you have never heard of, let alone used. Maybe it’s not even the case that it’s new software; rather, you get forced into using the same old application in a way that surpasses your technical capabilities. If you are like me, you may just want to master a new application for fun as well as for the potential work benefits.

Oh No, Grammar!

Is that a groan familiar from your school days?  If only you had listened, you’d know all about nouns, verbs, sentences and so on.  Or perhaps you were part of the ‘lost generation’ at school between the late 1960s and 1990s, and so you didn’t have a formal education in grammar and punctuation.  Do not fear: here are our top ten tips on grammar:

Handling Difficult Callers

Difficult CallersWe recognise these calls pretty quickly, don't we?  The callers with high-pitched speech, sighs, long pauses, terse answers and increasing volume.  Telling them to "take it easy" or "stay calm" will probably make it worse.  So before your call turns abusive, here are top ten tips to help you handle a difficult caller: