Brush Up Your Secretarial Skills at Home

Secretarial Skills.jpgAre you studying a Legal Secretary course and need to improve your everyday secretarial skills? Or maybe you are qualified as a Legal Secretary but feel you need to improve your everyday secretarial skills on the latest software?

Lewis College provides a range of distance learning courses for secretaries, and the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs has kindly asked us to discuss some of the courses we offer.

ILSPA’s Legal Secretary Jobs Board: An Avenue for Progression

Jobs Board.jpgILSPA’s Legal Secretary Jobs Board brings together Legal Secretary positions from around the country into one convenient place. It is the only niche Legal Secretary Jobs Board in the UK, and there are a wide range of roles advertised, from trainee to experienced. Recruiters and law firms advertise their roles with us because they know that our candidates have the experience and skills that they are specifically looking for. This means that there is a wealth of senior and experienced roles available which are perfect for those of you looking to progress in your career.

Stamp Duty: What Is It, and Why Do We Pay It?

Stamp Duty.jpegAfter the personal tax allowance and the duty on alcohol and tobacco, one of the most eagerly scrutinised elements of the UK Government’s Annual Budget Statement is Stamp Duty. More correctly known as Stamp Duty Land Tax, this is a levy that is of interest to anyone who is considering the purchase of a house.

What is Stamp Duty?

Stamp Duty is a tax levy that is payable on the purchase of a residential property or piece of land. The tax is applicable to freehold and leasehold, whether the transaction is financed by a mortgage or is an outright purchase. Stamp Duty is also payable on second and subsequent homes but at a different rate.

Who pays Stamp Duty?

Meet Lyn Lennox: An Outstanding Legal PA

Lyn Lennox (4).jpgAt SecsintheCity’s PA of the Year Awards 2017, there were two Legal PA winners. Meet Lyn Lennox, Legal PA at The Law Society and winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award.

How did you become a PA?

I studied a PA Diploma and A levels at college, after which I became a Legal Secretary at a major London law firm. After this role, I was lucky enough to be recruited as a PA to a Chairman of a London surveyors.

What’s great about your job at The Law Society?

SecsintheCity Launches a New Mobile App

SITC App.jpgSecsintheCity has just launched its new mobile app, which allows jobseekers to get the latest PA, EA and admin jobs direct to their phones as soon as they’re posted.

The app allows users to apply for the latest jobs with global brands, FTSE-listed firms and market-leading recruiters by:

 

  • Saving searches to get notifications when relevant jobs are posted
  • Uploading their CV to iCloud, Google Drive or Dropbox to apply for jobs on their iPhone
  • Shortlisting jobs to apply for later

 

Digital Divorce and Other Electronic Developments

Divorce.jpgMore than 110,000 divorce proceedings were begun in 2015, but soon the bulk of divorces may take place over mobile phones and computers. The Government has continued with the digitisation of various legal processes across England and Wales, and this includes divorce proceeding. HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) piloted a scheme last year which enabled people to apply for a divorce online, print off the form and send it to court. In the first week HMCTS received 130 online applications. Susan Acland-Hood, HMCTS Chief Executive, said of the changes: “These measures are drastically cutting the number of applications returned because of errors – streamlining the process and ensuring we are best supporting people going through a difficult and often painful time.”

Legal Secretary Vacancies March 2018

Vacancies_2.jpgHere is a selection of vacancies from our Legal Secretary Jobs Board this month:

Legal Secretary – Stone King 
Location: London
Salary: Market Rate

Stone King is looking to recruit a new Legal Secretary to work in either their Charity, Education or Corporate and Commercial team in London.

The successful Legal Secretary's role will cover a wide range of tasks. They must have excellent IT, typing and audio typing skills. They must also have fantastic inter-personal skills and a willingness to learn and take on new tasks.

View the full job description here: 
https://www.institutelegalsecretaries.com/jobs/candidate/job/110322

Share Your Experience at the Legal Skills Academy

University of Westminster.jpgThe University of Westminster’s Legal Skills Academy is a joint initiative between the career development centre and the Westminster Law School to increase employability of students entering the legal profession. We host events and workshops nearly every week during the semester at the Little Titchfield Street campus, with representatives from various law firms, organisations and companies leading the presentations. The Legal Skills Academy provides individuals and employers with an excellent opportunity to showcase their expertise, network with their high-calibre students to promote employment opportunities, and attract new talent, whilst also enhancing our visibility across the university.

Legal Secretary Vacancies February 2018

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

Legal Secretary – Stone King 
Location: London
Salary: Market Rate

Stone King is looking to recruit a new Legal Secretary to work in either their Charity, Education or Corporate and Commercial team in London.

The successful Legal Secretary's role will cover a wide range of tasks. They must have excellent IT, typing and audio typing skills. They must also have fantastic inter-personal skills and a willingness to learn and take on new tasks.

View the full job description here: 
https://www.institutelegalsecretaries.com/jobs/candidate/job/110322

Different Types of Rights in Land and How They Can Affect Us

If your studies with The Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs have delved into the intricacies of land law, you will appreciate that there are a number of rights in land that can arise within our legal system. From the beneficial interests that flow from trusts in land to covenants and easements, there are myriad ways in which a particular piece of land may be burdened by another person’s right, and this article aims to look at these in turn.

Restrictive covenants

The first thing you need to know about restrictive covenants is that they are never any more than an equitable interest in land (in line with S.1 of the Law of Property Act 1925). This is unlike the easement that we will discuss next, which can also be a legal interest in land.