A Virtual Legal Secretary provides administrative and support services to individual attorneys, small law firms, and larger law offices. There’s typically no special education needed, as many legal secretaries receive on-the-job training. Many community colleges and vocational schools offer training programs for legal secretaries if you’re looking for more formal education in this field.
What Does a Virtual Legal Secretary Do?
A virtual legal secretary, or law secretary, provides many of the same tasks that any virtual administrative assistant would provide, such as:
- Email management.
- Calendar management.
- Document creation.
- Database management.
- Accounting or payroll.
- And many more.
A law secretary also specializes in tasks related specifically to legal documents, legal research, and legal transcription. They also have to be able to communicate effectively with attorneys, court officials, and clients.
Legal Transcription
Legal transcription is the process of transcribing recordings by attorneys and other law professionals into legal documents that can be used in court proceedings. Attention to detail, excellent grammar skills, and proofreading abilities are needed for this type of legal work.
Types of documents that often need to be transcribed are:
- Discovery requests.
- Discovery responses.
- Stipulations.
- Legal agreements.
- Initial drafts.
- Pleadings and motions.
- Memos.
- And other documents as needed.
Legal Research
Almost every lawsuit, criminal court case, and appeal proceeding requires some type of legal research. Legal research involves the study and analysis of previous court cases and court decisions. Using online legal research tools, a virtual legal secretary checks and reviews the following, based on the specific needs of each individual court case:
- Answers to legal questions.
- Legal precedents set by past court decisions.
- State-specific laws and regulations.
- Other legal information as needed.
Pursuing a Career as a Virtual Legal Secretary
Now that you have more information on what a virtual legal secretary does, what do you think? If you already have experience in this field, pursuing a career as a virtual law secretary may be a smart professional move. For assistance on how to begin an online business, check out our other resources such as our video trainings, free new client forms, and valuable business documents.