Job Duties
Legal secretaries do secretarial and administrative tasks. You may work for law offices, legal departments of large companies, real estate companies, land title offices, or municipal, provincial and federal courts or government offices. You may also be called a legal office assistant.
Generally, legal secretaries:
- Prepare correspondence and legal documents such as deeds, wills, affidavits and briefs from handwritten notes or machine dictation.
- Review and proofread documents for errors and to make sure they comply with legal procedures.
- Schedule appointments and meetings.
- Set up and maintain filing systems.
- Open and distribute mail; coordinate the flow of information with other departments or organizations.
- May take notes in court, meetings or conferences.
Source: HRSDC
Job Requirements
Education
This job requires: College or University
Comparison with other jobs in this profession| Post-Graduate |
| Post-Graduate |
| College or University |
| College or University |
| College or University |
Experience
This job requires 0 - 2 years of work experience.
| 5+ |
| 2 - 5 |
| 0 - 2 |
| 0 - 2 |
| 5+ |
Source: HRSDC
Essential Skills
As a legal secretary, you need to:
- Speak, write and read English.
- Be well-organized and manage multiple tasks.
- Have good attention to detail.
- Type quickly and accurately.
- Understand and prepare legal documents such as contracts, agreements, statements of claim, legal motions and affidavits.
- Be familiar with the legal system in Ontario.
- Use word processing, spreadsheet, database, accounting, internet and email software.
Source: Ontario Skills Passport
Language Skills
You need to communicate in person, on the phone and in writing with clients, lawyers, law clerks, court clerks and other clerical and administrative staff.
Labour Market Information
Trends
Legal secretaries need good computer skills because you need to use the internet for research and to prepare and file documents on computerized systems. However, due to several administrative tasks being automated, the demand for legal secretaries has been declining. The primary source of job openings have been current workers retiring. However, there are opportunities for legal secretaries to become paralegals.
Prospects
The work prospects for this job are: FAIR
Comparison with other jobs in this profession| No Data |
| Good |
| Fair |
| Fair |
| Good |
Wages
The average hourly wage for this job is: C$19.75/hour.
Comparison with other jobs in this profession| $0.00 |
| $32.97 |
| $26.00 |
| $19.75 |
| $34.97 |
Source: HRSDC
Retraining
Educational Programs
These links will give you a list of related educational programs or where you can search for them. There may be other schools that have similar programs, such as private career colleges. You may be able to get advanced standing.
- Related programs at Ontario colleges
- Search for related programs at Canadian universities
Bridging Programs
Here is a list of some bridging programs. These programs can help you assess your education and skills, get practical training or improve your language skills so that you can work in your field.
- Internationally Trained Lawyers Program- University of Toronto
- See bridge training programs for lawyers
Language Training
None
Work Experience Programs
Some college programs and bridging programs in this field include co-operative (co-op) work experience.
Voluntary Membership Opportunities
- Association of Legal Administrators
- The Ontario Bar Association
Helpful Links
- Career Map for Lawyers
- Information for Foreign-Trained Lawyers
- Law Society of Ontario
- Federation of Law Societies of Canada
- The Canadian Bar Association
The data in this profile is provided for informational purposes only. Some of the information may have changed since this profile was written. Please check the source for the most up-to-date information.