Career Experiences

On 18 November 2021, SecsintheCity – the UK’s only dedicated job site for business support professionals – hosted the 10th annual PA of the Year Awards.

These awards celebrate the successes and accomplishments of Personal Assistants, Executive Assistants and Office Managers from the past year. For the second year running, the PA of the Year Awards were held virtually, but that didn’t stop attendees from turning out in the event’s traditional black-tie attire.

Breanna Worton – a Legal PA working at global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and winner of the Legal PA of the Year Award at this year’s event – took the time to answer some questions about her career, winning this accolade and what it means to her.

One thing is for certain, there is no one set way into the legal industry! No matter which role you are interested in – Solicitor, Paralegal or Legal Secretary – there are multiple paths you can consider to reach your goal. Simply Law recently spoke with Beata Rebalska. Beata is a Risk and Compliance Assistant at Clyde & Co. She kindly shared her path to becoming a legal professional.

The legal industry

I have wanted to become a lawyer for as long as I can remember, and that’s why after finishing school, I decided to go to college to study law, business and finance.

As a law degree student at the University of Sussex, Evelina Tarabuta has a keen interest and in-depth knowledge of law. When seeing how competitive the job market was for law graduates, she realised that she needed something to give her some practical experience, and make her stand out in the crowd. So, after some research, Evelina chose to study ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma. Her career has gone from strength to strength since qualifying. She has started her own business and now offers legal services to a range of clients.

We spoke to Evelina about her company, her pro-bono work and her future plans.

What were you doing before studying with ILSPA?

Former ILSPA Student Kimberley Evans was working as a teacher when she decided to take the plunge and go for a career in law. An encounter with a family law Solicitor prompted Kimberley to study ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma course. Since she completed the course at the end of 2018, Kimberley’s career has gone from strength to strength. She is using her current role as a Legal Secretary for the Qualifying Work Experience needed to become a Solicitor and hopes to cross-qualify as a Barrister in the future.

Our partner, Simply Law, recently caught up with Samantha Evans, a Legal Assistant who kindly shared what she does on an average day at work, her hopes for the future and her advice for those looking to join the legal profession.

Career path

At college, I chose to study law as one of my subjects, as I had a general interest from watching crime dramas on the television, reading John Grisham’s books, and obviously, Elle Woods in Legally Blonde! I thoroughly enjoyed the course and knew it was something I wanted to study at university. In September 2018 I started my Law Degree (LLB) at the University of Worcester.

Vicky Cons was working as a full-time Team Manager at Tesco when she decided to take the plunge and begin her studies to become a Legal Secretary. Little did she know that soon after starting her studies the world would go into lockdown. Clearly not one to be deterred, Vicky continued to work full time as a key worker throughout the pandemic. She completed ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma with a distinction and secured her first Legal Secretary role while still waiting for her results.

On the evening of Thursday 12 November, 20 of the UK’s most talented Personal Assistants, Executive Assistants and Office Managers celebrated their successes at the ninth annual PA of the Year Awards.

Hosted by niche business support job board SecsintheCity, the awards were held virtually for the first time. Logging on to Zoom for the awards ceremony, all the hopeful finalists and their supportive bosses fully embraced the event’s traditional black-tie dress code.

Tanya Jennings, PA to a partner at global law firm Freshfields, took the time to answer a few questions about her career so far and what it’s like to be named the 2020 Legal PA of the Year.

We are looking for the brightest and most talented Legal PAs for the PA of the Year Awards 2020. If you work in a law firm and want to celebrate the achievements of a colleague, or if you’re a Legal PA yourself whose hard work deserves some recognition, then we want to hear from you.

If you aren’t quite convinced to submit a nomination yet, read on to find out first hand from Legal PA of the Year finalist Eleanor Lawson about her experience with the PA of the Year Awards 2019.

Hello, Eleanor. How did you become a Legal PA?

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?

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.