Legal secretaries are integral to the running of a law firm, as they are fundamental to the productive output of legal offices. Certain elements of the job are similar to that of a normal secretary, outside the legal profession. This is because they will handle emails, letter writing, telephone calls, diaries and copy
typing.  However, legal secretaries also need specific knowledge of the legal industry combined with legally specific skill set.

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Author Renjith Krishnan and image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Legal Secretary careers

Can attract high salaries, attractive packages and interesting work experiences. However, many people will look to move on, as
with anything else. Even in an interesting career, people will seek a change or to improve their career.

The good news for Legal Secretaries is that there are many options out there.
Options within Law
Many Legal Secretaries will pursue a CILEx qualification . The most common level of CILEx courses taken by Legal Secretaries is Level 3. However, the CILEx qualification will enable Legal Secretaries to continue their legal studies.This means that there is scope to continue to study law. If you progress beyond Level 3, it will open up some great job opportunities as a Paralegal. These types of roles will enable you to develop your legal skills and move away from administration and support roles.
There are options to actually continue and become a senior Legal Executive or even a Solicitor. You can become a practicing Solicitor at CILEx Level 7. However, it is not at all necessary as you can study to the level that you prefer.
Many experienced legal secretaries will decide to pursue a career as a paralegal or legal executive, which is a sound path for enhancing your career.
More Senior Roles

There are many areas of law and many legal secretaries will move to different areas of law. This can be due to interest in a particular area or because there are good benefits and career opportunities in other parts of the industry. A job in a small law firm can be a good stepping stone to progress to a larger firm,
with higher pay packages or more scope for promotion.

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Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net and author 10incheslab

The skills which you develop in your Legal Secretarial Training and during your work experience will provide you with the scope to further your career and decide on a variety of different paths. This explains why it is such a popular career and very often the first stage of landing your actual first legal job can be rather competitive.