what is a legal assistant?
Do you have good interpersonal skills to handle people graciously, listen attentively and manage clients? Then you will enjoy working as a legal assistant. Your role is crucial to a legal firm or courthouse since you perform communication and office administration duties. You ensure the courthouse or law firm is efficient by offering clerical services and supporting legal professionals with their duties.
As a legal assistant, you handle communication duties in a law office. For instance, you receive clients when they walk through the door and direct them to their appointment. Since you are responsible for internal and external communication, you manage email correspondence with suppliers, answer phone calls and create reports.
Lawyers rely on legal assistants to perform their duties efficiently. For instance, you help legal professionals manage their schedules and appointments and respond to emails. You also coordinate meetings and conferences with other law firms and ensure client accounts are up-to-date. Since you are in charge of the paperwork, you create an information management system, filing system and databases to secure clients’ paperwork. Sometimes, you perform legal duties like doing legal research and writing legal briefs.
Would working as a legal assistant suit your interpersonal and organizational skills? Then read on to find out what competencies and qualifications you need to thrive in a legal assistant role.
legal assistant rolesaverage legal assistant salary
According to Job Bank, the average salary of a legal assistant is $50,097 per year or an hourly rate of $25.69. When starting as a legal assistant, you mainly perform general administrative duties, and you start with a salary of $39,975 annually. After working a few years in the role, your earning potential improves since you can take up complex duties like legal work. Your salary increases to over $74,181 yearly.
what factors affect the salary of a legal assistant?
As a legal assistant, your earnings are determined by various factors. For instance, your educational capabilities influence your earning potential. When you have a secondary school qualification, you are likely to earn less than a legal assistant who has completed a college program. A legal background also improves your earning potential.
The average earnings for legal assistants vary depending on the region or territory. For instance, working in Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia attracts a lower salary than in Quebec or Ontario. The company you work for also influences your earnings. When you work in a large law firm, you receive a higher salary than legal assistants in smaller law firms.
types of legal assistants
As a legal assistant, you can specialize in the following roles:
- corporate legal assistant: as a legal assistant, you work with corporate lawyers who assist companies in preparing contracts for companies. You help lawyers prepare shareholder agreements, employee contracts and stock option plans. You also perform legal research to help companies review the company regulations and prepare legal briefs for lawyers.
- litigation legal assistant: as a legal assistant, you assist criminal or litigation lawyers with their court cases. You organize the paperwork and maintain documents received from clients. Your job is to organize the schedule for the lawyer to ensure they attend all court sessions and the witnesses are available for court. Sometimes, you are expected to transport exhibits to court and organize the documents in the courtroom.
working as a legal assistant
If you love working in the legal environment, becoming a legal assistant is a good start for your career. Here are the specific duties and responsibilities expected in the role.
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what does a legal assistant do?
As a legal assistant, you perform the following tasks daily:
- handling communication in the legal office: as a legal assistant, you handle all the communication in a law office. You greet clients as they walk in and help them find their appointment. You also send legal briefs to other law firms and manage email communications. Sometimes, you are expected to answer phone calls, take messages and distribute mail.
- preparing reports and creating presentations: as a legal assistant, you handle most of the paperwork in the company and help lawyers prepare for their meetings. You are expected to schedule meetings and conferences, record minutes during the meetings and prepare reports. You also create presentation documents.
- organizing the lawyer’s schedule: as a legal assistant, you manage the schedule of the lawyer and other legal professionals. For instance, you make appointments and prepare a schedule for court cases.
- handling filing and court records: as a legal assistant, you manage the paperwork of the law firm. That means you create an information management system and set up the filing to keep documents safe. You also ensure the client file and office expense accounts are up to date.
- performing legal tasks: sometimes, you perform legal tasks like formatting documents related to criminal or corporate law. You also do legal research for the lawyer and record minutes during hearings, proceedings and conferences.
- administering oaths: in Ontario, legal assistants can administer oaths for a lawyer. However, you should be recognized by the appropriate body to be qualified to administer oaths.
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work environment of a legal assistant
You will find legal assistants where there are lawyers. That means legal assistants work in law firms, corporations, courthouses and municipal government offices. Most of the legal assistant duties are completed in an office environment. You spend most of the day handling paperwork. Working as a legal assistant also involves travelling since you sometimes go to courthouses with the lawyers.
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who are your colleagues?
Legal assistants work in law firms and courthouses. You are likely to work alongside paralegals, judges and lawyers. When you work in corporate settings, you work with various professionals, from administrative assistants and customer service representatives to drivers. You are also likely to interact with developers, HR managers and sales associates.
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legal assistant work schedule
The work schedule of a legal assistant in a full-time position is the traditional business hours from 9 am to 5 pm. You work more than 40 hours weekly and sometimes evenings to cover additional roles. When you are in a part-time position, you are likely to work flexible hours a few days a week. Sometimes, legal assistants work weekends attending events or completing paperwork.
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career opportunities as a legal assistant
As a legal assistant, you have numerous opportunities for career growth. Most legal assistants improve their skills to become paralegals and later lawyers. Alternatively, specialize in one type of law and improve your skills. As your experience and skills improve, your career opportunities also expand.
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advantages of finding a job as a legal assistant through randstad
Working with Randstad offers you a range of benefits.
- always a contact person you can fall back on and ask for help from
- many training opportunities
- a range of jobs in your area
legal assistant skills and education
Some of the educational requirements for legal assistants include:
- educational qualifications: most employers require a high school diploma for an entry-level position. However, it helps to have a college-level qualification. A college program for legal assistants can take one or two years and imparts knowledge of legal and administrative duties.
- work experience: you require experience to work as a legal assistant. Most law firms train legal assistants to ensure they understand their requirements. You also gain experience through internships and entry-level jobs.
competencies and characteristics of legal assistants
Some of the skills of a legal assistant include:
- writing skills: as a legal assistant, you prepare documents for lawyers and reply to email correspondence. You require good writing skills to prepare email briefs and ensure the legal documents have proficient spelling and grammar. Your writing skills are also useful in transcription and documenting legal proceedings accurately.
- technical skills: as a legal assistant, you should understand the latest technology. Some of your duties include running video conferencing sessions and creating presentations and document backups. You require expertise in legal software, document management systems and word processing.
- organizational skills: lawyers and paralegals are busy professionals, and you are responsible for their schedules. You require organizational skills to balance ongoing trials, paperwork and client meetings. You help paralegals organize their duties by overseeing their calendars, handling legal documents and managing projects.
- interpersonal skills: as a legal assistant, you interact with various law firms or court professionals. You are expected to greet people graciously, defuse tense situations and relay instructions from lawyers clearly. You require interpersonal skills to listen attentively, interpret non-verbal cues and express ideas.
- attention to detail: you handle a lot of paperwork as a legal assistant. Legal documents require precision, so it is important to be detail-oriented. Your detail-oriented skills also help you spot and correct errors and identify missing evidence or double-booked meetings.
FAQs about legal assistant jobs
Here, you will find the answers to the most frequently asked questions about the profession of a legal assistant.
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what are the duties and responsibilities of legal assistants?
As a legal assistant, you assist the lawyer in handling communication at the law office. You help them prepare their work schedules and assist clients who walk in. Sometimes you manage email correspondence and prepare the paperwork and legal briefs to send to other law firms. You also assist with legal research and keep the company's legal documents up to date.
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how do I become a legal assistant?
To become a legal assistant, complete secondary school and a one or two-year college program for legal secretaries. You also require experience working in a legal environment. Look for internships and work-study programs to gain the knowledge necessary for the role.
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what is the difference between a paralegal and a legal assistant?
While paralegals and legal assistants assist lawyers in preparing cases for trial, a paralegal takes on more legal tasks. For instance, a paralegal performs additional tasks like interviewing witnesses and preparing arguments for lawyers. As a legal assistant, your duties are more administrative, like planning schedules and typing briefs.
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can a legal assistant become a lawyer?
If you are interested in practising law, working as a legal assistant is a great step towards your goal. A legal assistant role introduces you to the legal environment, and you can learn from paralegals and lawyers. Your experience in legal research will be useful in your law career.
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how much does a legal assistant earn?
As a legal assistant, you earn an average salary of $50,097 annually or an hourly rate of $25.69. When you are new to the role, your starting salary is $39,975 yearly. With more experience, your earnings are over $74,181 annually.
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how do I find a job as a legal assistant?
Finding a job near you as a legal assistant is easy. Search our job offers. Have you found what you're looking for? Then submit your application using the ‘Apply’ button top right on the page. No jobs available right now? Send us your resume and we'll pass it on to a recruiter who will contact you if an opportunity opens up for you.
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