A legal secretary is a key administrative professional within law firms and legal departments, supporting solicitors, barristers, and other legal staff. Their duties include preparing legal documents such as contracts and court forms, managing correspondence, handling confidential files, organising diaries, and arranging meetings. Legal secretaries need excellent organisational skills, attention to detail, and a good understanding of legal terminology. They play an important role in ensuring the smooth running of legal practices and often act as the first point of contact for clients. Many legal secretaries gain qualifications through courses or apprenticeships, but strong administrative experience and IT skills are also highly valued.
Legal secretaries in the UK typically earn between £18,000 and £35,000 per year, depending on experience and location.
There are over 20,000 legal secretaries employed in the UK, with opportunities in law firms, corporate legal departments, and public sector organisations.
Most legal secretaries work full-time, around 37 to 40 hours per week, usually during normal office hours.
Supports solicitors who specialise in property law by preparing legal documents for buying and selling homes, and liaising with clients and estate agents.
Assists solicitors working in family law, helping to prepare paperwork for cases involving divorce, child custody, and adoption.
Works with solicitors or barristers involved in criminal cases, organising case files, managing court dates, and preparing necessary legal documents.
Achieve at least five GCSEs at grades 9 to 4, including English and maths.
Most employers expect legal secretaries to have a minimum of five GCSEs, with English and maths being particularly important. Good grades demonstrate your ability to communicate clearly and handle written information, which is essential in a legal environment.
Take relevant courses such as a Level 2 or Level 3 Diploma in Legal Secretarial Studies or Business Administration.
While not always required, completing a legal secretarial course or obtaining a business administration qualification can improve your job prospects. These courses cover topics such as legal terminology, document production, and office procedures.
Gain experience in an office environment, ideally within a legal setting.
Look for work experience placements or part-time roles in law firms, legal departments, or other professional offices. This will help you develop the organisational and communication skills needed for a legal secretary role.
Learn to use standard office software and practise accurate typing.
Legal secretaries need to be proficient with computers, including word processing, email, and spreadsheets. Practising touch typing and familiarising yourself with legal document formats will also be beneficial.
Search for and apply to entry-level legal secretary positions in law firms or legal departments.
Prepare a CV highlighting your qualifications, work experience, and administrative skills. You can find vacancies on legal recruitment websites, company careers pages, or through apprenticeships.
Gain further qualifications or join professional bodies such as the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs.
Once in a legal secretary role, you can continue to develop your career by pursuing additional training or professional memberships. This can help you progress to senior secretary or paralegal positions in the future.
Explore relevant apprenticeships that can help you kickstart your career in Legal Secretary. Apprenticeships offer hands-on experience and training while earning a wage.
A Legal Secretary and a Legal Executive both work within the legal sector, often supporting lawyers and legal teams. While Legal Executives have more advanced legal qualifications and responsibilities, both roles require strong legal knowledge and administrative skills, making them closely related in terms of qualifications.
You can get into this job through:
You could do a law degree, or a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) if your degree is not in law. You would then do:
You'll usually need:
You could take the following college courses to qualify:
After completing a college qualification, you would do a 3-year period of qualifying employment. This means you'll carry out legal work under the supervision of a solicitor, senior chartered legal executive, barrister or licensed conveyancer.
You could do this in a legal practice, a legal department of a private company or in a government department.
You'll usually need:
You could take start by taking a Paralegal Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship.
You could then move on to a:
As part of an apprenticeship you will study to gain the following professional qualifications:
You'll usually need:
A lot of people work for a law firm and study for qualifications part time.
You could study for CILEx qualifications even if you're not working in a legal environment, as long as you meet their entry requirements. Qualifications may be studied full-time, part-time or by distance learning.
You'll still need some work experience to give you a chance of finding a job once you're qualified.
You can get more details about a legal executive career from:
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