If you are working as a Legal Secretary or PA and would like to take a step up the career ladder, becoming a Paralegal can be a natural progression. Paralegals play an important part in the legal profession, helping Lawyers with cases, research and paperwork. While Lawyers are ultimately responsible for the work that is done, most Lawyers rely heavily on the services that Paralegals provide.

As a Legal Secretary or PA, you will already be accustomed to assisting lawyers with their work and you may already be performing some Paralegal duties. Therefore, if you would like to venture into …

It is great to have our first evening class of the year underway with our wonderful tutor Seamus Ryan! We are now busy enrolling Students for our next Legal Secretaries Diploma evening classes which will start on Thursday 11 April. The classes will run on Thursday evenings for 14 weeks at Regent's University in London. 

ILSPA's Legal Secretaries Diploma course will teach you about the day to day tasks of a Legal Secretary, various areas of law, the legal profession and how the court system operates. It also covers legal terminology, legal document production, how to complete legal forms, how to type …

We are very excited to announce our partnership with Legalex. On the 27th & 28th March 2019, London’s ExCeL will play host to Legalex, Europe’s most comprehensive and all-encompassing trade show for legal professionals and the business behind the solicitor.

Over 3,000 legal professionals will come together at ExCeL to discover the latest tools, products, services, resources and innovations that are changing the game in legal business growth and data security. Aside from the 200 industry leading exhibitors, visitors will also benefit from the expert-led seminar schedule, and the sophistication of the keynote line that gets better every year. …

Simply Law Jobs have released figures that show that the average salary of a Legal Secretary has risen by an astonishing 7.59% (year on year). The niche legal job board released the figures this week in its 2017-18 annual report, alongside data surrounding jobseekers in the industry. The report includes job hotpoints, gender insight, job category information, top growth areas and more surrounding law professionals and their preferences for a new job.

Other legal support roles that have benefited from a rise in pay since the 2016-2017 annual report include Legal Administrators, Legal Assistants and Firm Office Managers.

With positive reports such as this one …

February's edition of our Legal Secretary Journal has been published and we have some great contributions this month.

Our lead article focuses on asking for help at work. Whatever stage we are at in our careers, it is important to feel like we can approach our colleagues or boss for assistance or clarification. This follows on from an article we published last month about asking for help as a Student.

Whether you are working as a Legal Secretary or PA, or you are currently studying to achieve your career goal, you can find some really helpful advice. Legal PA …

The PA Show 2019 (formerly Office* Show) will once again play host to the UK VA Conference. The show will take place at the Olympia exhibition centre in London on ‘VA Day’ - 27th February 2019. The UK VA Conference 2019 has compiled a fantastic agenda that will appeal to a whole range of Virtual Assistants and their skill levels – from start-up newcomers to established and successful Virtual Assistants. The conference will include talks, expert panels and of course multiple opportunities to network with fellow VAs.

For the seventh year, VA Day will be kick-started by the popular …

To work as a Legal Secretary, you need to have good typing skills. This means that you should be able to type at least 50 words per minute and have a high level of accuracy. Some firms will expect you to be able to type 60-80 words per minute but others may not feel that a fast typing speed is necessary. It all depends on the individual firm's needs and these will be set out in the job description when they advertise a vacancy.

We advise our Students to have a minimum typing speed of 50 wpm. If you would like …

We have written a few posts about how women can excel in the legal industry, but just as importantly we would like to talk about men.

Becoming a Legal Secretary is a great way of getting your foot in the door and working your way up the ladder, however men can be cautious about taking on a job title that is usually associated with women. We would like to reassure you that both men and women can work as Legal Secretaries/Assistants/PAs. In today's world, people should not feel like the odd one out or be discriminated against for their sex, race or …

ILSPA is pleased to announce that it has formed a partnership with pa-assist.com. 

Pa-assist.com is the No.1 website for Office Professionals. It provides resources, services and information to help you make your tasks and challenges easier. You can find courses and training providers to advance your learning and development, networking and events related to your profession, and directory listings for sourcing suppliers. PA Assist also have a LinkedIn group where you can share your tips or opinions, and chat to other professionals. 

By registering and becoming a member of pa.assist.com, you can enjoy their newsletter and other benefits for FREE!

An exhibition called '209 Women' has been set up to mark 100 years since women have been able to be elected into UK parliament. The exhibition features beautiful photographic portraits of the women who are currently MPs. Please read more about the exhibition through Positive News.

Positive News is an online platform and magazine which focuses on all the good things which are happening in the world. They believe that the mainstream media tends to be negative and so they have become pioneers for constructive journalism where progress, possibility and solutions are at the forefront of their reports.

ILSPA thoroughly …