Legal Professional Salaries
The world of law changes on a regular basis, so Douglas Scott Legal Recruitment has kicked off its annual Big Data Survey and is inviting legal employees all over the UK to take part.
The salary and benefits benchmarker was launched last year and immediately acknowledged within the legal industry for shining a spotlight on all the issues facing legal recruitment, as well as for spotting trends within the ever-changing legal landscape.
Last year's survey pinpointed a massive discrepancy between legal staff and their employers with regard to bonuses, which helped a number of companies target candidates more strategically. By highlighting the needs of potential recruits as well as future trends in the industry, we hope to again provide valuable insights that will make the recruitment process more effective for all concerned.
When you finish ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma and head out to find work, you will be joined by hundreds of others in just the same position you are in. It is important to be prepared for your job search and to be confident of the value you can bring to an organisation.
Matrimonial and Family Law is a common legal area which lawyers deal with. If you are interested in learning about this area of law because it holds a particular interest for you or you would like to better your job prospects, read on.
I have decided to write this account of my own struggle of getting a job in the legal sector despite having a Diploma from the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs and also to question whether transphobia exists in the legal profession.
If you have covered Constitutional Law in some detail, you will appreciate just how difficult it can be to get Private Members’ Bills pushed all the way through both houses of Parliament in order to become law. Only a very small percentage of these bills acquire Royal Assent and become statutes. Therefore, it is interesting when a Private Member’s Bill appears to be attracting more attention than usual, especially when it covers such an important aspect of family and criminal law. 
While we can all agree that the autumn can be exceptionally beautiful in many ways – what with the glorious changing colours all around us – we would also tend to concur in that the dreaded colds do their rounds at this time of the year. 
“Would you say you’re a good communicator?” is a classic interview question, but the follow-up, “Explain why”, can really scupper interviewees, who might find themselves mumbling and scrabbling for examples and looking like anything but a good communicator!
In my younger days people would say that shorthand and typing were “such useful skills” and that one would scarcely be out of a job with such aptitudes tucked under one’s belt.
I enrolled for the 
This month we are doing something a little different and looking at the big picture so far as English law is concerned. This is something that is covered in the first unit of ILSPA's Legal Secretaries Diploma so that students can get a good grasp of how English laws are created. By knowing something about the ‘big’ picture, you are showing an interest in the same thing that intrigues many lawyers.
It’s official – employers have zero patience when it comes to CV grammar and spelling. When asked, ‘What is the biggest turn-off for you to see on a candidate’s CV?’ the top answer employers gave was poor grammar and spelling mistakes, according to a recent survey. Recruitment consultancy Nicoll Curtin asked 550 companies, and a massive 65 percent pointed to CV errors as their ultimate bugbear.
As a Legal Secretary or PA, you may be required to proofread a document before it is sent out. This means checking it over carefully yourself or reading it out loud with someone else who also has a copy. You may even be asked to just look something over for someone. If you are given a proofreading task, it is useful to know some tips, as it can be easy to read the body of the text quickly and not notice small, but important, errors.
Studying with the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs can be done by distance learning from home. This facility allows you to be in complete control of your time. With most people now having a computer and Internet access, taking a distance learning course is becoming a very popular way to study. 
The role of a Legal Secretary in the United Kingdom is viewed as a specialist niche area within the legal profession. Law firms rely heavily on Secretaries due to their expertise in administration and technology and their knowledge of law and legal procedures. Based on that theory, Legal Secretaries are beneficial not just to law firms. Anyone who has achieved the Legal Secretary Diploma from The Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs can be sought after in many business sectors. 
Employment law updates are not broadly announced unless you look for them. On 29 July 2013, updates to current employment legislation were made under government reforms. There were only a handful of planned reforms that launched on 29 July; nevertheless, these reforms should be highlighted for both employers and employees. 
A lack of self-confidence is often the underlying cause of a lack of job offers. So what can you do to pump up your feelings of self-worth and personal positivity before an interview?
This month we will consider a recent publication by the Legal Ombudsman about client care1 and note what lessons might be learnt. The leaflet contains many general points about client care, but in particular it focuses on vulnerable clients such as the elderly and issues they might have. This is a subject that those who have completed the Wills, Probate and Administration unit of the Legal Secretaries Diploma course will be familiar with. 
The topic of online trolls and bullies is hot news at the moment, but it’s also been around for some time. The tragic death of Hannah Smith has highlighted this issue and brought to the attention of parents and other people that while online media has its benefits, it hides a dark flaw and allows people to abuse and bully. Unfortunately many people clearly feel that nothing can or will be done to prevent such overt abuse..jpg)
On 1 April 2013, the provisions of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act came into effect to cut the legal aid bill. Legal aid has been withdrawn for clients who are involved in family disputes such as child residency disputes. Prior to the changes in April, the Legal Services Commission enabled Family Law clients access to legal aid for all services. 
The law is an ever-changing area as legislation and case law is continually conceived. As a Legal Secretary, it is important to remain in touch with the law, and it is a part of your job which needs you to be on your toes. 
As we become more technology savvy across all industries, there has been an impact on the recruitment process. In the past, a straightforward printed CV, sent in the post with a covering letter, would be the standard procedure of application; however, times have changed. Video CVs, online CVs, online automatic applications, all mean that there are a number of ways that jobs can now be targeted. The application process is more varied, but if you tackle it with professionalism and tenacity, this simply means there are more opportunities for you.
In a law jobs market as competitive as today’s, it is likely that an active jobseeker will have to face up to many rejections. Letters, phone calls and emails bringing the news that you have not been selected for the Legal Secretary job you set your sights on are painful to receive. There may be times when you feel like giving up, especially if you are experiencing several rejections in succession.
Perhaps the biggest lie on the Internet is saying, “Yes, I have read and agree to the above statement.” But if you want to obtain any service, you will have no choice but to agree with a company’s terms. This month we will be looking at the implications in contract law of clicking the ‘I agree’ box. 
If you find yourself falling behind in your 
Think about how happy your firm would be if you could take on more responsibility and be more productive in your role. If you were to further your knowledge of law, you could be more involved in legal procedures and save your employer precious time and money. Not only would it be beneficial for the company, but it would lead to greater job satisfaction for you..jpg)
Professional-level job adverts used to state that candidates were required to be ‘computer literate’. As I remember, people used to interpret this nebulous phrase to mean anything from ‘can type’ to ‘knows how to program’ – and, of course, everything in between.
It is quite common to find yourself getting more interested in some parts of a course and struggling with certain other areas. Even if the course seems perfect for you, there may be some parts of the syllabus that you simply do not find as interesting as some other aspects of the course material. For instance, with the 
We recently saw massive changes in the way legal aid works in England and Wales. In a bid to cut legal aid budgets by over £350 million pounds a year, the Government have made several changes to the system and cut the availability of legal aid to a variety of civil as well as criminal law cases. The changes came into force in April 2013 and are, as predicted, resulting in changes in the way people deal with legal matters and, more specifically, a rapid rise in the number of people having to represent themselves in court. 
This month we will consider a recent Court of Appeal decision which should remind those practicing in Wills and Probate of the importance of following best practices when preparing wills for clients. .jpg)
Why do you need rapport?
In October 2012, David Cameron made a statement about the prison system and that prisons should be made to work for the offenders. He also said that punishment and rehabilitation should in fact take equal precedence in preventing crime. The Prime Minister said that the debate on punishment had become too ‘black or white’, and that the prison system should be one that has a positive and rehabilitative impact on an inmate’s life, rather than merely a punitive one. 
Legal aid is a way to offer legal advice and support to people who cannot afford to pay for it themselves. It has been one of the basic pillars of the welfare state since it came into being. But new changes that came into effect in early April in England and Wales have removed legal aid funding from various areas of civil law, including family disputes and social welfare benefits advice as well as housing and debt problems. The Government claims that resources are extremely tight and that spending on legal aid the way we have is no longer an option. According to official sources, the new cuts will save £350 million from a £2.1 billion budget.
This month I thought I would share a few tips for MS Word that will save you time and hopefully stop you from pulling your hair out on those days when you just can’t make Word do what you want it to.
This is the final part of the series and I thought that I would end it with the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to me in my legal career. Before I do this, however, I just want to mention two incidents that are highlighted in my memory..jpg)
ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma unit relating to Wills, Administration and Procedure sets out why it is important to make a will, and the assessments for the course require Students to type a will.
A career within the field of law is not all about Judges, Juries and dramatic cases fought in the courtroom. In fact, a large proportion of legal work goes on behind the scenes in the office and is done by support staff such as Legal Secretaries. Legal Secretaries ensure the smooth running of a legal department by providing essential administrative and managerial support. Legal Secretaries are expected to carry out administrative duties such as producing legal documents and compiling official correspondence as well as more specific work such as conducting legal research. Apart from office work, Legal Secretaries can also be required to attend court hearings or visit police stations from time to time. 
We all strive or wish for a positive work environment so that we can effectively do our jobs and enjoy our roles. This can be accomplished by listening to others and making sure that each of your colleagues feel valued and respected for what he or she does or has to say. 
The President of the Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger, recently expressed grave concerns about the imminent cuts in legal aid for civil cases. These cuts are expected to save over £350 million after they come into effect this month. But the statement by Lord Neuberger was closely followed by yet another announcement by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling, detailing further cuts in legal aid spending, this time for criminal cases. 
If you have studied ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma course, you will already know that a leasehold estate is one of the two ways under the Law of Property Act 1925 that you can own land in the UK. Leasehold is a form of ownership that allows you a temporary right to hold land or property. The length of this temporary right is often measured in decades, usually 99 or 125 years. What you have not bought when you obtain a leasehold title is the land a property stands on. The land is owned by a freeholder or landlord, who will charge a ground rent.
The experience of seeing one’s parents split up, however amicably, can be difficult for a child to cope with. But divorces are not always amicable. The fact is that many split-ups are bitter and frequently involve protracted legal battles, including child custody cases. In the bitter battle between warring parents, children often end up becoming the prisoners of war. Parents often use children as weapons in their personal fights with each other, and according to legal experts specialising in family and divorce law, this behaviour is escalating. 
A question a lawyer is often asked is, “How can you defend a client when you know he or she is guilty?” The answer to that, of course, is that you can only know if a client is guilty if he admits it, and if he does admit it, then, of course, you cannot run a ‘not guilty’ plea – you can plead in mitigation, bringing to the attention of the court any circumstances that you think will help the court in determining the sentence to pass, but you cannot put forward a defence to the charge, because such a defence would be spurious. However, what about a situation where your client’s instructions show that an offence has, or may have, been committed, but it is not the offence that he has been charged with?
The mind is like a muscle; in the same way as a muscle, the mind cannot be in tension and relaxed at the same time.
There are no specific qualifications or experiences that can prepare a person to study law. For school-leavers, A-level studies in subjects that are similar to law such as economics or politics may be beneficial but are not essential. 
One of my hobbies is going to folk clubs. I do comic songs, and once I made up some doggerel about things which can go awry in a legal office – for instance, an inexperienced casual receptionist telling a client point-blank that the legal eagle is too busy to talk to him or her, rather than ‘talking round the subject’, explaining the fee-earner is presently occupied and taking a message. I do not want to alarm any budding young Legal Secretaries by mentioning solely things that can go amiss, however.
ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma course contains a conveyancing module which is based on residential conveyancing. This article will look at some of the differences in the procedure if you are working for a Commercial Property lawyer. 
On 21 January 2013, the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) published its ‘Review of Government action on United Nations’ recommendations for strengthening children’s rights in the UK’. The report criticises the Government for failing to implement the changes recommended in a 2008 report by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child – changes which, in 2010, the Government had committed to take into consideration when enacting law and policy. 
Education in modern society has largely been a regimental process. A person is born, begins their education at an appropriate age, continues to higher schooling, and achieves education until they can secure employment! But in fact, learning is a lifelong process; we learn things constantly, every day of our lives. A variety of surveys have shown that people who undertake formal study later in life not only have the obvious benefit of gaining new knowledge, but also receive related benefits that improve their overall well-being. 
When studying Land Law, few students expect to come across what ordinary people might regard as legalised theft. The part of the law I am referring to is known as adverse possession, which can allow a squatter to obtain rights over land – commonly referred to as ‘squatter’s rights’. This concept may seem controversial, but it is based on the notion that unused land does not benefit society as a whole. In other words, on some occasions it is better for everyone that a limited resource like land should be used by someone rather than by no one. 
With spring just around the corner, now that you might have a little more of a ‘spring’ in your step, this exercise builds on some of the previous relaxation exercises in a rather more active way. Believe it or not, walking promotes our relaxation response; any physical exercise produces natural, feel-good chemicals in your brain. It need not be a long walk – even 10 minutes once or twice a day makes a positive difference. Building on this distance can enhance the relaxation response and turn walking into something you can add to your relaxation repertoire in order to promote better physical and mental health overall. With practice, walking can become part of your routine of simply going to work, going home after work or, if you have a particularly stressful day, taking 10 minutes to step outside and feel refreshed..jpg)
During the Queen’s Speech of May 2012, an announcement was made regarding a new bill of law that is aimed at improving the lives of children and families. The bill seeks to implement plans that will permit parents to share parental leave, enabling the father to also take time off during a maternity leave, for example. The bill also proposes to make the process of adoption easier for international families. Along with these changes more options are to be made available for children who have special educational needs. And finally the bill seeks to improve the level of access fathers have to their children after a divorce.
The school years may be a distant memory for some, but study and work habits that ground us in later life (while often taken for granted) are often set in place during this formative phase in our lives. This is not to say that one cannot change one’s study habits, but if good practices are put in place during the school years, studying as an adult will be that much easier. Learning how to study and how to memorise at work can be extremely difficult and may seem very frustrating, but there are things you can do to help yourself improve.
Applications for the trainee Legal Secretary scheme offered by Berwin Leighton Paisner usually take place in January of each year, however, they will now be starting in February or March instead.
At the Office Show towards the end of 2012, National PA Day celebrated Britain’s estimated 600,000 highly skilled Personal Assistants, showcasing the increasing importance of PAs working in offices throughout the nation. The aim of National PA Day was to promote this exciting and stimulating profession amongst well-educated, career-minded young people.
Buying and selling a property has long been regarded as one of the most stressful things you will ever do in life. After all, you are dealing with the most important and costly financial asset you are ever likely to own, and you want any such conveyancing transaction to go as smoothly as possible. Of course one hopes the instructed conveyance firm will be able to deal with the transaction as professionally and expeditiously as you deserve; however, according to the Legal Ombudsman, in an increasing number of cases this is not proving to be the reality.
CareersINFO produce careers job profile films for young people and are looking to create film content for their online careers resource Skills Explorer: http://www.skillsexplorer.com/. Skills Explorer gives users a chance to explore their skills and career options through videos.
Douglas Scott Legal Recruitment is helping to judge the inaugural Legal Support Staff Awards, which have been organised by GEM Legal Training and will take place at Bolton De Vere White’s hotel in September 2013.
We would like to share how impressed we are with the standard of coursework we have been receiving for our 
Silver River Productions have been asked by Channel 4 to produce a new history series that tells the story of social change over the past 40 years through the stories of four different professions – Doctors, Police Officers, Teachers and Secretaries.
Following the massive success of last year’s awards and after months of preparation and work behind the scenes, nominations for the Legal PA of The Year Awards are now OPEN!