Setting Boundaries: A Guide for Legal PAs
Legal Personal Assistants are a unique group of professionals, who not only possess great knowledge and skills but are often recognised as going above and beyond to support their bosses and teams. Legal PAs are often recognised for their knowledge and specialist skills within the law firm. But more than this, they are often also seen as the problem solver, the support and the fixer. Amid all of this demanding work, it’s easy to forget about oneself and eventually burn out.
That’s why setting boundaries is not just a nice-to-have, but an absolute must. It’s the key to preserving your well-being, maintaining a healthy work-life balance, and ultimately thriving in your career.
The only realistic answer to this is, “Maybe, maybe not!”
The opportunities available to Legal Secretaries are ever-increasing. We spoke to Melinda Toth who secured a Solicitor Apprenticeship with her firm while working as a Legal Secretary in their Pensions, Incentives and Corporate Tax team.
Whether you are newly qualified and looking for your first role in the sector, or an experienced Legal Secretary on the hunt for your next position, creating a bespoke CV that matches the job advert, is the best route for advancing to the interview stage. In a competitive job market, it’s more important than ever to curate a stand-out CV to catch the recruiters’ eye. So, you may ask yourself, where’s the value in keeping this essential document updated?
A legal career had always been on the cards for Sinead Owen, but when life took her on a different path during the second year of working towards her Law degree, it became clear that it might not be as set in stone. A few years down the line, the pandemic and a furlough gave Sinead the opportunity to look at how to re-enter the legal profession. Sinead used a difficult and insecure time to take the leap back into her dream legal role, and she has continued to take steps to progress ever since.
If a child decides they want to pursue a career in the law, a frequent reaction is Wow! Or Wow! adjacent. And much of that Wow! is based on a well-worn trope – working in the legal profession is something for the “elite”. It is true that there has been a lot of snobbery around the practice of law – both real and perceived – and it is well documented that the traditional legal professions lacked diversity and did not reflect those they were representing.
Being able to manage your workload well makes all the difference in how you perform in your role. Whether you are a new Legal Secretary or someone who has been working in the legal profession for many years, you will need to manage your workload efficiently. Learning this valuable skill enables you to do your job well and avoid becoming overwhelmed.
To bring in 2023, TotallyLegal surveyed over 900 legal professionals to understand the finer details of their working lives, including salaries, bonuses and job satisfaction. The feedback and results revealed an educated and experienced audience covering a range of roles, including the valued 
With over 20 years of experience in the legal sector, Elizabeth Forbes has had a very successful and interesting career. From starting out as a Legal Secretary Temp in a local firm at age 19, she progressed all the way to become a Secretarial Co-ordinator for a large Southeast based firm. Her goal had always been to become a Paralegal. So, when a vacancy for a Trainee Paralegal became available in her department 18 months ago, she knew it would be perfect for her.
Working from home is fast becoming a common feature of the working week for many of us, and in the legal sector, hybrid and remote working bring many benefits for both individuals and law firms.