ILSPA's Legal Secretary Blog - Discover the latest legal insights, receive expert career advice and elevate your professional skills

Track Your Accomplishments for Career Success

Date : 9 Feb 2021, 4:29 p.m.

The new year is a great time to think about starting a new work habit. Keeping track of your accomplishments now can help you with future performance reviews, CVs, promotions and much more. Read Julie Perrine's advice about why you should track your accomplishments...  

As an admin, you perform many tasks on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. From simple, routine things like prioritising your executive’s email each morning to big, complicated undertakings like planning the annual board meeting, you move from one accomplishment to the next seamlessly.

But are you keeping track of those accomplishments? If a promotion becomes available or …

How Did the Business Support Profession Change in 2020?

Date : 27 Jan 2021, 2:31 p.m.

How has life changed for PAs, EAs and other business support professionals in the past year? Take part in SecsintheCity’s annual audience survey to have your say.

2020 was more turbulent and volatile of a year than many others in recent memory, impacting every individual and organisation in unique and often negative ways.

SecsintheCity – the UK’s only specialist business support job board and a trusted partner of the ILSPA – is interested in learning and sharing more about how the events of the past year impacted the lives and livelihoods of PAs, EAs and other business support professionals.

To …

Simply Law Jobs - 2020 Year in Review

Date : 8 Jan 2021, 2:27 p.m.

Our partner, Simply Law Jobs, has released its Year in Review for 2020.

The review provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of Covid-19 on the industry, specifically how it affected employment within the sector.

The legal industry faced one of its biggest challenges when a global pandemic forced the UK into a national lockdown in March 2020. The unprecedented amount of disruption shook up a seemingly calm legal recruitment marketplace.

The monthly average number of jobs posted to Simply Law Jobs in 2020 was 5,328, a 60% decrease from 2019.

Key findings reveal how 65% of professionals were …

The Virtual Christmas Party

Date : 11 Dec 2020, 5:20 p.m.

December is normally a time for Christmas parties and office get togethers. Festive gatherings may not be possible this year, but you can still celebrate with your team and toast the end of 2020 in style.

Here are our top tips for a fantastic virtual Christmas party!

1. Don't be afraid to keep the numbers small

Don't be afraid to organise smaller parties for each department or team. We all know what it is like being on a Zoom meeting with a large number of attendees. It's hard to interact or feel included. Keeping numbers smaller ensures a comfortable and inclusive atmosphere.    

2. Make …

World Mental Health Day

Date : 15 Oct 2020, 11:56 a.m.

To mark World Mental Health Day, Simply Law Jobs have put together a few tips to help you cope with stress and anxiety.

It’s natural for anyone to fall victim to stress or anxiety at any point in life, whether you are prone to these conditions or you’re going through a particularly difficult situation, like divorce, bereavement, or even lockdown at the hands of coronavirus. 

It’s tough to be told that you have to change your way of life as you know it – to stop seeing your friends, family, and not being able to spend your weekends letting off steam …

Attend the PA Forum Learning and Development Conference for Free!

Date : 9 Sep 2020, 10:55 a.m.

It has been a truly challenging time for us all! Therefore, The PA Forum Learning and Development team would like to give back to their community, and will be covering the cost of 30 places for their forthcoming online annual Conference on 29th September 2020.

If you know of any PA, EA, Office Manager or Business Support colleagues that have unfortunately been made redundant recently then the team would really like to hear from them.

To qualify for a free ticket please visit the PA Forum LinkedIn Post. Please ask your colleague to comment below it, just to say if they would like to …

The Assistant Room Membership

Date : 21 Aug 2020, 9:50 a.m.

Are you ready to start investing in yourself and embrace your potential? As a member of The Assistant Room they will help you focus on developing your soft skills, welcome you into an incredible global community of admin professionals and work with you to plan your future and achieve every goal you set your mind to.

What do you get? 

- Tribute Lounge - Receive over 25 exclusive discounts around the world across restaurants, lifestyle, health + beauty and more. Look like a boss to the boss while treating yourself at the same time!

- Exciting events - Fortnightly yoga? Spell casting for love …

Legal PA of the Year 2020

Date : 9 Jul 2020, 12:46 p.m.

Our partners Secs in the City recently launched the PA of the Year Awards 2020 - their ninth annual celebration of the dedication, hard work and dazzling talent of PAs, EAs and Office Managers in the UK.

Joanne Wilson, the winner of last year’s Legal PA of the Year award and PA to the Partners of Hall Brown Family Law firm, took the time to speak with them about her illustrious career so far and the glamorous, prestigious awards ceremony itself. You can read her full interview here.

If you know a fantastic Legal PA who deserves to be recognised why not …

New Offers Available for TOTUM PRO Members

Date : 11 Jun 2020, 12:19 p.m.

As ILSPA students are eligible for a TOTUM PRO card, we wanted to share some exciting new offers TOTUM have recently announced.

It’s always good to have an update on the great brands available to TOTUM PRO members. TOTUM have been busy behind the scenes working hard for members. Why don’t you take a peak…

All offers available to TOTUM PRO members can be found in the PRO category on TOTUM.COM.  If the offer is new it will have a "NEW" banner and if it’s exclusive it will have a an "EXCLUSIVE" banner. Please see https://www.totum.com/se/student-discount/cat/totum-pro 

So here are the latest new offers ready now - …

Free Webinar 3 June 7.15pm - The 8 Biggest Mistakes Legal Professionals Make When Applying For Jobs

Date : 29 May 2020, 4:48 p.m.

Join our partners Simply Law Jobs for this free webinar and learn why you might NOT be getting as many interviews as you deserve.

Tackle the 'Big 8' and discover some innovative strategies to help you craft an effective CV, leverage LinkedIn, excel in interviews and much more.

The webinar will be delivered by their friends from The CV & Interview Advisers, one of the UK's leading authorities on personal branding and career enhancement for job seekers and contractors.

This webinar doesn’t adopt the familiar ‘Top 10 Tips’ approach; it’s a leading-edge session, specifically for Legal professionals, and is packed with …