Four Tips for Aspiring Legal Assistants

Four Tips for Aspiring Legal Assistants

12/14/2013 12:53:00 pm
By M. Patrick Quinn
Expert Author M. Patrick Quinn
There is high demand for legal assistants in North America. The competition found in this line of work can be fierce, meaning that anyone wanting to pursue this type of career will want to optimize their skills with a good training program. Many times, experience will come hand in hand with being a successful legal assistant, however, there are certain tips that can be taken to heart to ensure an employer looks favorably upon a person. Let's dive in and take a close look at four of the most important tips a legal assistant can follow.
Tip 1) Maintain Top-notch Interpersonal Communication Skills
In many instances, it is the legal assistant that acts as a direct connection between a lawyer and clients as well as any other party that may be involved in a litigation. Because of this, the assistant must maintain top-notch interpersonal skills, making sure that all communications that take place are clear. In doing this, an assistant can ensure his or her employer that a misunderstanding within the case will not take place. Whether it is a simple phone call to a client or the delivering of paperwork to an associated party, the communication must take place in a clear-cut manner.
Tip 2) Enhanced Writing Skills
A successful assistant will require proficient writing skills. From drafting correspondence to creating contracts to typing up a motion, mastering the art of writing is essential. To make sure adequate skills are acquired and maintained, it will be extremely valuable to take writing courses offered through a local writing workshop or through a local community college. It is always best to consider the following things before writing a document:
- Who is the audience?
- Is the document for the employer, client or court?
- Should the document be prepared using formal or informal language?
- Is the document to be informative or persuasive?
Tip 3) Acquire Proper Training
All legal assistants will greatly benefit from completing a variety of courses through legal assistant schools. Common courses completed through such schools tend to include:
- General education courses
- Legal research
- Family law
- Personal injury
- Law
- Ethics
- Business law
- Intellectual property
- Legal writing
In addition to the above mentioned courses, legal assisting training will be comprised of accounting training; this is mostly because a large portion of the work completed by assistants will be directly related to administrative tasks, which tend to include accounting duties.
Tip 4) Master the Art of Research
Legal assistants will spend a large part of their time carrying out research. Because of this, it is imperative that the art of research be mastered, including research that takes place both through traditional means and via the Internet. There are many ways to go about improving one's research skills, including taking online classes or completing courses at a local community college.
Visit Academy of Learning College Alberta for more information about legal assistant schools.
Patrick Quinn is a Copywriter at Higher Education Marketing, a leading web marketing firm specializing in Google Analytics, Education Lead Generation, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing, and Pay Per Click Marketing, among other web marketing services and tools.

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