The past few months have been a time of unprecedented change and disruption for many of us in our normal day-to-day lives. While for some this has led to additional time at home to dedicate to things such as courses and self-care, for others it will have led to the opposite. With work, family and schoolwork all needing to be squeezed in at home, there is little time left for other responsibilities such as studying.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected a lot of aspects of our lives, including buying houses. During the midst of the lockdown no viewings were taking place, causing stagnation in the housing market. As the rules have relaxed, people are now able to view properties they are interested in buying, but they must keep to the social distancing measures that have been put in place.

The government has advised house buyers to try to avoid viewing properties in person by doing it virtually where possible, but how does this balance with the legal risks of taking this approach?

Dealing with change is undoubtedly the most stressful thing for humans to have to endure. No, allow me to rephrase that. Stress isn’t caused by change – change becomes stressful when we don’t adapt or roll with the punches. There are times when life throws you a barrage of many small, new – or even just slightly different – situations, people, rules, restrictions and routines, such as moving house or changing jobs. Then there’s the sucker punch of change that you don’t even see coming, the one that leads to an avalanche of sudden difficult decisions – think divorce or losing a loved one. And sometimes life tries to knock you out entirely with a combination of both: a global pandemic that changes absolutely everything, for everyone.

SecsintheCity is looking for exceptional Legal PAs, EAs and Office Managers to be nominated for the PA of the Year Awards 2020. Could you be a winner?

Now in its ninth consecutive year, the PA of the Year Awards has become an iconic celebration of the essential support that Personal and Executive Assistants provide to the companies and individuals for whom they work.

The awards are hosted by SecsintheCity, the UK’s only job board dedicated to PAs, EAs and other office support professionals. The nominations are open from now until 14 September, after which an esteemed judging panel faces the challenge of choosing a winner in each of the following categories:

We would like to introduce you to an exceptional graduate, Alexander Nair. Alexander enrolled on our Legal Secretaries Diploma course at the beginning of May and qualified with a distinction within a month!

You would be forgiven for assuming that Alexander must come from a legal background to be able to achieve this, but – although he’s studied a couple of introductory legal courses – you could not be further from the truth. Despite always having an interest in law, Alexander is actually an actor. When he’s not acting, he works as a receptionist and office coordinator. He decided to take ILSPA’s course to advance his skills and move into the legal sector.

We spoke to Alexander about his success, why he decided to take our course and the future.

As people continue to work from home, video meetings are now the new normal. Whether the calls are one-on-one or in a group, people can expect to be part of many more video meetings over the next few months. To help with this transition, ILSPA have set out their guidelines to good video meeting etiquette.

Preparation

Starting a new job can be a daunting experience for even the most experienced professionals, but starting a new job remotely presents even greater challenges still. We spoke with experienced Executive Assistant Gina Haynes who shared details about her recent experience of on-boarding remotely and her advice for starting a new job while working from home.

Could you tell us a bit about your career history and the new job you recently started?

Here is a selection of vacancies from our Legal Secretary Jobs Board this month:

Legal Secretary – Clinical Neglience – Page Personnel Secretarial

Location: Reading

Salary: £20,000-£23,000

Ideally looking for someone with some experience working as a Legal Secretary / Administrator. Someone who wants to forge a career in a support role within a prestigious Law Firm. Some exposure to working with in Clinical Negligence is a bonus.

View the full job description here:          

https://www.institutelegalsecretaries.com/jobs/candidate/job/173261/

Conveyancing Legal Secretary – Grist Legal

Location: Devizes

Salary: £19,000-£22,000

Have you ever thought about how you can save energy at home? Not only will it save you some money, but it will also help the environment. We can go through our everyday lives not thinking properly about the amount of energy we waste however, with the ongoing lockdown, we have a good opportunity to take time to reflect on our habits. It’s amazing how a few small changes can benefit us and the planet!

We have compiled a list of ways in which you can cut down on your energy use at home – and reduce your bills in the process.

As with other sectors in the UK, the legal profession has been significantly impacted the past few months. In this article, we are focusing on what changes are being seen by those working in family law.

Family relations are currently being strained in unprecedented ways and many in the legal profession expect there to be a surge in family law-related disputes. This could include a significant rise in the rates of divorce and cases involving finances and children. Divorce will obviously only affect married couples, but issues of money and children can be a problem for anyone.