ILSPA Members are now eligible to receive a 20% discount on our Advanced Single Subject Legal Courses. This was previously available only to our Legal Secretaries Diploma graduates.

Many of ILSPA’s Members work in specific legal departments such as litigation or family law. Being able to advance your knowledge and skills in the area you work in will not only help you perform better in your role, but it will also show your employers that you are dedicated to your job.

If you are working in a certain area of law at the moment and you would like a change, that’s another good reason to study one of our advanced-level courses. You can acquire the knowledge and skills you need to make the move to another department or firm.

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

Corporate Commercial Legal Secretary – Blue Pelican

Location: Kent

Salary: £23,000 - £25,000

Blue Pelican are looking to recruit a Legal Secretary with experience in the corporate or commercial sectors. The firm are really striving to find someone who is forward thinking and who is a problem solver.

View the full job description here:           

https://www.institutelegalsecretaries.com/jobs/candidate/job/168574/

Part Time Legal Secretary – Sacco Mann 

Location: Leeds

Salary: £20,000 - £23,000 FTE

This month we will review what information a property seller should disclose as part of a conveyancing transaction and consider a recent case where a seller has been accused of misleading a buyer by saying nothing.

The starting point in any sale of land is to apply the contractual principle of caveat emptor or buyer beware. However, in practice it is rarely this simple. As part of a normal conveyancing transaction, a seller would complete a property information form in order to give a buyer detailed information about a property. The form has several versions, which cover sales of freeholds, leaseholds and new build residential properties. All of these forms have been designed by the Law Society as part of the national conveyancing protocol used in the majority of transactions in England and Wales.

As announced last year, ILSPA has partnered up with LegalEx as it makes its much-anticipated return to ExCeL London on 18-19 March 2020, hosting the most comprehensive and all-encompassing event dedicated to facilitating business growth and professional development for legal professionals and firms.

This year’s exhibition promises to be the most content-rich to date. Your FREE ticket will give you access to 150 cutting-edge exhibitors and more than 100 CPD accredited educational seminars from some of the world’s top legal experts, innovators and most forward-thinking speakers.

Charlotte O’Brien was an experienced PA working for a Director of multiple companies. When her PA role required her to get involved in a High Court case, she felt she needed a better understanding of law and decided to study ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma. From there, her interest in law grew and she decided to make the move into working as a Legal Secretary. 

Charlotte is now a Family Legal Secretary at the award-winning law firm Birketts LLP and is studying our Family Law Advanced Diploma. We spoke to Charlotte about her studies, her job search and how ILSPA’s Diploma helped her in both her previous role and her new role as a Legal Secretary.     

The legal industry is a competitive field to gain work in, therefore it is wise to equip yourself as best as you can before starting your search for a new career in law. But how do you set yourself up for an effective job search?

We spoke to our partner and specialist legal recruiter Simply Law Jobs and asked their advice on starting a job search in the legal industry. These ten simple tips, which perhaps seem obvious but are often forgotten, will help you search for jobs more effectively and submit a stronger application for legal roles in 2020.

Filter your search

The role of a Legal Secretary is much sought after among workers who want to pursue a career in law. It’s an ideal starting point at which to absorb knowledge of the industry before progressing through the ranks. There are many perks to working as a Legal Secretary – the salary is high compared to that of a standard Secretary and there is opportunity for generously paid overtime. The larger firms also generally offer health benefits and incentives such as ample holiday. London remains the main hub for legal firms, though there is a big market growing outside of the capital in major cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham. 

In Autumn 2019, over 2,800 legal professionals responded to TotallyLegal’s annual salary survey, sharing the details of their working lives from job title and practice area to PQE level and salary.

From the data provided by our audience, we crafted the 2019 Audience Insight Report – a free to download overview of the legal profession that also allows you to benchmark your current earnings.

With annual pay rises of 54% and 55% respectively, the report revealed a rewarding year for the majority of Legal Secretaries and Legal PAs. Additionally, 50% of Legal PAs and 39% of Legal Secretaries were awarded a bonus on top of their basic salary.

In terms of the gender pay gap, female Legal Secretaries earned 8% more than their male colleagues, and female Legal PAs were awarded a significant 45% more than men in similar roles.

Whether you’re a new graduate or the CEO, starting a new job can be daunting even for the most confident person. As the saying goes, ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression’ and your first day on the job can potentially have a huge bearing on how you are perceived by your colleagues from then on.

But there’s no need to panic! Here are 6 things you can do to maximise your chances of making a positive first impression:

1. Plan and prepare for your first day

Simple steps such as checking your new journey to work or planning your outfit the night before can greatly benefit the flow of your morning.

Last November, Joanne Wilson was named Legal PA of the Year at SecsintheCity’s PA of the Year Awards 2019. Joanne is a Fellowship Member of the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs.

After the ceremony, SecsintheCity caught up with Joanne to learn more about her career to date and her current role at Hall Brown Family Law, plus the advice she has for aspiring Legal PAs.

How did you become a Legal PA?