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

Legal Secretary – LF Legal Limited  
Location: Central London
Salary: £20,000-£30,000

An opportunity has arisen for a Legal Secretary (remote) to join a small legal practice specialising in different areas of law, including areas such as company commercial, immigration, litigation and dispute resolution, family law, white collar crime and litigation, but not necessarily limited to them.

For this role, the candidate must have had experience working within a law firm as a Legal Secretary for at least five years. This is an ever-evolving role, and the nature of duties will develop and alter with the progression of time and the gaining of experience.

Our Legal Secretaries Diploma Course is suitable for a wide variety of individuals, whatever their experience, whatever their schedule and wherever they live in the world.

We were pleased to be able to communicate with Shama Ali, who recently completed our Legal Secretaries Diploma course from Dubai. An experienced Legal Secretary, Shama took a five-year career break to have two children, returning to the legal sector during the pandemic. We asked her what led her to take a qualification at this stage in her career, as well as how she found studying overseas with a busy family.   

What were you doing before you joined ILSPA?

Last month saw the gathering of PAs, EAs and Office Managers, from across the UK, to celebrate the annual SecsintheCity PA of the Year Awards, sponsored by Tay Associates.

Boasting the splendour of the Ivy in London, the event saw hopeful nominees, friends, and supportive colleagues gather to celebrate the achievement of all those involved.

Having received an outstanding 700 nominations, the judges whittled down the nominees to just 19. 

Everyone in the legal profession is confronted with a degree of administration duties. As a legal secretary this is an area you are expected to lead on. You may have years of “admin” experience and already consider yourself an expert, but it can be very beneficial to take an assessment of your current skill level from time to time. You may also just be starting in the legal profession, so we will start with the basics before considering what kinds of advanced skills would help you achieve expert status.

Blogs are a fantastic, but often shamefully underrated resource. Think about it, where else can you access free, constantly updated, and tailored information from some of the world’s lead thinkers in their area?

When considering blogs in those terms, many of you may be now thinking “Why don’t I read more blogs?” It could have a lot to do with how many bloggers there are out there- how do you know that you are getting the most accurate and relevant information for your search?

ILSPA has selected some of our favourite blogs to help you navigate the plethora out there:

All Things Admin

Many of us have a basic understanding of some aspects of the law, but there are a few areas where myths seem to persist. For example, is there such a thing as a Common Law wife or husband? Does a Will guarantee your wishes will be followed after your death? And if you break the law unwittingly because you genuinely didn’t know the action you took was illegal, the courts will be lenient. These are three commonly held beliefs – but how accurate are they?

Let’s take a look at each in turn: 

Myth 1: ‘Common Law Wife or Husband’.

Have you ever thought that living with a long-term partner gives you ‘legal’ rights in law similar to that of a married couple?

If so, then you are wrong! There is no such thing as a ‘common law wife or husband’.

‘Quiet Quitting’ is the new buzz phrase, born from lockdown where people have started to re-evaluate their priorities and work/life balance. Gathering speed on social media, it essentially means ‘just staying within the parameters of your job description’ – doing no more, and no less, than what is required by your contract. For example, no more staying late at work, checking emails outside of your contracted work hours, or volunteering to do the ‘nice to have but not really necessary’ jobs, such as organising social events outside of office hours.

Partly because of the pandemic and perhaps because of years of chronic under-investment, the UK court system is under pressure. Case numbers are rising and the time taken for claims to reach trial is increasing year on year. More use of alternative dispute resolution is seen as a solution, so there is a proposal to make it compulsory in commercial disputes. We will consider the case for this and compare how compulsory mediation has worked in family matters where it has been a feature for nearly 10 years.

Matrimonial disputes and mediation

When it comes to job hunting, people get overwhelmed by the number of numerous strategies at their disposal. Some may send hundreds of applications to companies hiring employees, while others may reach out to acquaintances within the industry to help secure a job. Nonetheless, it all comes down to one thing – networking. Networking doesn’t mean pestering people with your problems. With limited time on our hands, it is only possible to network with a few people, especially those within your field. 

Personal and professional growth comes from acting in ways that support our health, values, and goals. Turning our awareness towards what we really want from life and doing things that make us happy enables us to live more authentically and in alignment with ourselves.

You may have developed unhealthy habits or have responsibilities which are holding you back. A great way to break free of these and develop a more positive way of being is to create a code of conduct for yourself. You can do this by making a list of directives you would like to follow. At first you can brainstorm anything which comes to mind, then you can go through your list and refine it, focusing on the things that really matter.

Here are some examples of directives for you: