Anyone here a legal secretary ? What's the profession like ?

[bringmeashrubbery]

Just wondered if anyone has legal secretary experience. How did you get into it ? Is i t worth taking a qualification ? What's the pay like ? Is it a good profession ?

So many questions !

Hi ,
I have just finish my training with the ILSPA as a legal secretary but I'm finding it very difficult to find any law firms looking for legal secretaries /assistants/ receptionists without experience . London I really demanding and I was wondering of any of you has / knows any law firms willing to hire trainee secretaries

Right now I don't think is a good time, unless you can get an in-house role. In-house means working for a company with a legal department.

We had three major firms merge very recently, tons of secs in the market. Most of whom haven't been trained properly in recent years. One other firm has just closed it's doors for good, so even more. The big names have the best benefits, but not necessarily the best working culture. Medium sized firms, have opportunities to do more than just secretarial, but you never know what kind of lawyer you end up with. You only have to do the hours that you want to do over the time.

I see some people arrive at 9 leave at 5 and that's okay, I see other people come in at 8, still working at 6 and no even handing in an overtime sheet. In fact many lawfirms are cutting back on overtime. They definitely don't want to pay temps for it. The bigger firms also have evening/night staff. Such as White & Case, Hogan Lovells.

Some want you to do more and be enthusiastic and give you opportunities, others want you to be sitting outside their office just incase.

The worst thing is working with lazy secretaries, if you are not lazy. You get resentful. Oh yes, and lets not forget the Team Leaders, some are good and let you get on with it. Some are threatened by you if you have decent experience, but in another field (so an Executive Assistant in an accountancy firm is not stupid and the crossover should be fine).

I could talk about this topic all day. Been doing it for 20+ years seen all the changes, loved it in the beginning in Civil Litigation, moved to Commercial Litigation then Corporate. Did a stint in property right at the start of my career and never looked back. The 90s were great for Legal Secs and PAs, not so much now, but if you can find the right people to work with, in the right conditions, then you should enjoy it.

Working outside London doesn't really make sense, not enough money to make it worthwhile doing the course. If you are in insurance or Accounts, it's an easy transfer.

Buck3t

Iris Unfortunately, they're looking at hiring apprentices, young girls they can mould, if you are over 25, your best bet is to try local and move to London later, or try temping to get your foot in. I can recommend decent (and not so decent) agencies who should be able to help. Don't expect a great wage though.

B

I've been a legal secretary/PA for years in London. I work for a large US firm and I've been very lucky in that they allow me flexible working (I work the last two hours of my shift from home in the evening), pay is OK (although not many perks), I have a great boss and the firm has been massively supportive of letting me work from home on days my daughter has hospital appointments for ongoing medical issues. However, every day there are stories of law firms in London closing their days and going into administration.

I agree with PP, there are jobs out there but experience is key right now, and a lot of firms only recruit permanently these days through temp-to-perm contracts. Take any temp job you can get, maybe look for admin roles, something to get you in the door.

I'm only 22 and I started the ilspa thinking it would actually help me . I live in London about 30 minutes from the central . I was thinking to also do cilex but first I've been trying to find a way to set my foot at the door which seems so hard as I'm always tuned down for not having legal experience.

Iris it won't hurt having it. But if you live so close to London that is a bonus too. CILEX do chartered secretarial courses, so why not do that, if you can?

Can you afford the apprentice route, they have a tendence to start low but keep you on if you are good and then you can grow in PA roles, and the transition isn't long. Like most companies, its a case of if your face fits.

L

I will be doing the cilex but only after having the opportunity to experience the job itself as it is pricey and I don't wanna end up dissapointed . I've been searching for unpaid work experience (I can allow myself up to 15-20 hours unpaid a week for 3-6 months ) . The problem is most of the adds on the Internet are agencies and their usual reply is "the minimum one years experience " .
I am starting to lose hope tbh as I often see adds 5 years experience plus a degree required starting at rediculous salaries .
I had high hopes when I took the course as the tutor was telling us that's all we need etc.

Iris just saw this. Ignore the ads online. Look on Linkedin, start putting a profile together, if you want to come into London. There will be no problem, with offering services to local companies, so that you get an idea of what the work is like. Being mindful that local gives you more experience to try other things, but doesn't necessarily prepare you for the 'professionalism' of the City.

Try in-house roles also, sometimes you don't need experience, just familiarity with the Jargon.

Make offering your services for free a last resort not a first one though. Call up and speak to agencies, ignore the fact that you need at least a year's experience. Alot of them will work hard for you if you are resourceful and put yourself out there.