Legal administrators supports lawyers and paralegals at a firm by performing administrative duties. They conduct greet visitors, answer phones, communicate with solicitors, conduct legal research, draft legal documents, manage schedules and run general administration for the office. The work of a legal secretary can be highly interesting, varied and there is a great opportunity for career advancement. You can work in many different areas of the law, and the role is an excellent foundation for a legal career.
What does a legal administrator do?
Typical job responsibilities for a legal administrator might include:
- Transcribing and proofreading legal documents
- Filing, organising, scanning, copying and faxing legal documents
- Scheduling court depositions hearings and client meetings
- Organising solicitor schedules e.g. travel arrangements, meetings
- Processing invoices
- Speaking with clients over the phone and in person
- Filing documents with the court ahead of deadlines
What key skills should a legal administrator have?
Skills that would allow you to excel in a legal administrator role include:
- Being highly organised and efficient
- The ability to be professional and courteous
- The ability to work in a team
- Strong sense of discretion
- Ability to prioritise
- Typing speed of at least 50 wpm
- Excellent written and communication skills
- Proficiency with MS Office
- Familiarity with legal terminology
What qualifications should a legal administrator have?
Ideally, you’ll have English language at GCSE grade C or above, or equivalent, amongst other GCSEs. These are the minimum requirements.
Good secretarial skills are essential, so you may want to consider taking and NVQ/SVQ in Business and Administration (Levels 3 & 4) or OCR Higher Diploma in Administrative and Secretarial Procedures.
Once you have the basic secretarial skills under your belt you might wish to continue developing your knowledge of the profession with the Legal Secretaries Diploma run by the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs (ILSPA) or the City and Guilds/ILEX Level 3 Certificate for Legal Secretaries
How much does a legal administrator earn?
According to our data from 2019, recruiters advertised jobs for legal administrators at an average of £18,638.39 pa. Good legal secretaries are highly valued, and while this average may not be very high, if you work hard enough to gain as much experience and training under your belt, you could request a much higher salary of up to £30,000 – £35,000 pa.
Below is a map outlining the regional average salaries for legal administrators, according to our 2019 data:
