The Top 10 Skills of the Best Legal Assistants

By Dawn Houghton

About Dawn Houghton

Dawn Houghton is the owner of O'Brien & Bails Court Reporting and Video, with headquarters in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and offices in Grand Rapids, Lansing, Jackson, Bloomfield Hills, Troy, Mt. Clemens, Novi, Battle Creek, Livonia and Southfield. With 29 years of freelance reporting experience, Dawn is passionate about legal technology. That is why O'Brien & Bails offers the newest technologies, such as internet streaming, realtime reporting, video syncing and web depositions. She shares her knowledge and experience with court reporting technology on the O'Brien & Bails blog found at http://obrienandbails.com/blog/ . One of Michigan's oldest and most reputable court reporting firms, O'Brien & Bails is known for quality and dependability. Their prompt, courteous and reliable court reporters ensure a pleasant legal deposition experience and an excellent transcription to follow. All reporters are state certified, each with a minimum of 18 years experience as a court reporter. Allow O'Brien and Bails to handle all of your court reporting needs, even when you travel out of town. Our large network of reporters across the state and the country allow us to easily make arrangements for your next deposition. O'Brien & Bails' professional office staff will be pleased to assist you in arranging and confirming your deposition today. Try our online deposition scheduler and enjoy the convenience of scheduling depositions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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The Top 10 Skills of the Best Legal Assistants

Legal assistants are a necessary, important part of any law practice. The best legal assistants provide integral support for attorneys and clients. An assistant with exceptional skills is a valuable asset to a legal office. When looking for a legal assistant, here are the skills you will want to look for in your interviewing process.

1. Organizational Skills
With all the details that need to be handled in a case, attorneys often need help with organization. Organizational skills are essential to efficiently manage a law practice or corporate legal department. The best legal assistants are able to maintain paper and electronic files, manage projects, track multiple deadlines, maintain calendars, schedule meetings, organize events and keep everything orderly and accessible.

2. Technology Skills
Many attorneys do not have the time to become expert at operating legal office technology. They rely on tech-smart legal assistants to perform a variety of computer-based tasks such as: creating spreadsheets, preparing presentations, entering time for billing purposes, creating and typing documents, maintaining calendars and tracking deadlines. Therefore, the best legal assistants are proficient in a variety of computer software applications. Some of the most common technologies that the best legal assistants have mastered include: Word processing Spreadsheet Presentation Document Management Time & Billing Calendar & Docketing Transcription Desktop Publishing Videoconferencing

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The Top 10 Skills of the Best Legal Assistants

3. Relationship and People Skills

Legal assistants interact daily with attorneys, paralegals, staff, clients, opposing counsel, judicial personnel, vendors and other third parties. Therefore, superior interpersonal and communication skills are essential. In addition to face-to-face contact, assistants communicate by e-mail, telephone and videoconferencing systems.

4. Research skills
Legal assistants perform Internet research for a multitude of tasks such as finding directions, gathering client information, researching the competition and locating expert witnesses. The best legal assistants also perform paralegal duties, including legal research, cite checking and tracking down case law.

5. Writing Skills
Think attorneys handle all the writing that goes into legal case work? Think again. Legal assistants are frequently responsible for drafting routine correspondence and file memos as well as proofreading legal documents such as pleadings, briefs, discovery and transactional documents. Writing is an integral part of the legal secretarys job. The best legal assistants have strong writing skills that are indispensible to the attorneys they assist.

6. Transcription Skills
Transcription skills are fundamental for a legal assistant. In addition to a fast typing speed, the best legal assistants will also possess good listening skills to comprehend voice dictation files. Strong grammar, spelling, vocabulary and language skills are necessary, as well as an understanding of legal terminology. In addition, the best assistants must be proficient in word processing applications and transcription equipment.

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The Top 10 Skills of the Best Legal Assistants

7. Attention to Detail
Attention to detail is critical in the legal profession. For example, typing $400,000 in a settlement offer instead of $40,000 could cost your firm a client. The best legal assistants handle the tiny details of daily law practice. Attention to detail is important in nearly every task, from drafting and proofreading documents to scheduling meetings and calendaring deadlines.

8. Experience with Legal Documents and Terminology

Whats the difference between an administrative assistant and a legal assistant? The best legal assistants are familiar with all things legal. Terms like subpoena, pro se and voir dire don't present a challenge. They understand the nuances of legal procedure and know how to create and format pleadings, discovery and transactional documents.

9. Teamwork
Teamwork is crucial to the role of legal assistants in delivering legal services. In all practice settings - from large corporate legal departments to solo practitioners - legal assistants must team with attorneys, paralegals, secretaries, file clerks, vendors and others to deliver legal services effectively. The best legal secretaries know how to get along with co-workers and collaborate with third parties to get the job done.

10. Multi-Tasking
Most legal assistants work for more than one person on more than one file. Simultaneously performing multiple tasks is second-nature to the best legal assistants. They know how to juggle multiple assignments and competing priorities and how to manage growing workloads in todays busy law office where one person frequently performs the job of three. The best legal assistants are a key resource for any practicing attorney. The best legal assistants get more work done at less cost. An experienced legal assistant can anticipate the needs of a lawyer in many instances and take care of what needs to get done, freeing up the attorney to focus his energy and time on work that is best performed by the attorney.

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