Legal Receptionist Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Are you searching for a legal receptionist job description? Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a legal receptionist. Feel free to use our legal receptionist job description template to produce your own legal receptionist job description. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a legal receptionist.
Who is a Legal Receptionist?
Legal receptionists, in contrast to typical receptionists, frequently deal with confidential material and must be able to answer legal inquiries from callers. This can entail collecting money, determining if a client’s case qualifies for their firm, or with obnoxious or impatient clients.
In law offices, receptionists greet clients and take calls. They are in charge of managing mail and deliveries and making appointment schedules. They might also be employed by governmental institutions, courts, and business legal departments.
Receptionists that work in law firms are called legal receptionists, and as such, they need to possess a few additional abilities. Professionalism is essential for a legal receptionist. Legal receptionists should be well-versed in their field, amiable, and able to put clients at ease because they are frequently the first person they will see while visiting the law company. Legal receptionists do not require to have a legal degree, but they should be familiar with the fundamental statutes that govern the area of law that their law firm practices.
Legal receptionists serve as a legal firm’s public face. They welcome clients, take phone calls, set up appointments, and complete other administrative duties so that the attorneys in their practice can concentrate on providing legal services.
Legal jargon and processes must be thoroughly understood by legal receptionists. They frequently answer calls from clients who are concerned with the way their attorney is conducting their case or who have questions about it. They must be able to do this while always being kind and professional and directing callers to the appropriate person or division.
As a legal receptionist, a normal day might be unpredictable and different. They may spend hours taking calls and transferring messages at busy times. Additionally, they can welcome guests, serve them refreshments, respond to their inquiries, and let others know they are there. Other jobs can involve ordering and delivering flowers to a client’s office or scheduling a lunch meeting for lawyers at a local eatery. They occasionally conduct stocktakes during quiet moments to determine whether the office requires any vital supplies. They can also eliminate outdated or erroneous contacts from the company’s database by updating it.
Legal Receptionist Job Description
What is a legal receptionist job description? A legal receptionist job description is simply a list of duties and responsibilities of a legal receptionist in an organization. Below are the legal receptionist job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a legal receptionist job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of a legal receptionist include the following
- Arrange meetings with the court, witnesses, clients, and other parties engaged in the case
- Indicate if the attorney is accessible or will return calls later in the day or week, answer phones and kindly greet guests.
- Compose legal papers and dictating messages using word processing applications like Microsoft Word or Lotus 1-2-3.
- Make meetings with clients, attorneys, judges, and other legal experts to plan attorney schedules.
- Arrange for subpoenas, subpoenas duces tecum, summonses, and other legal notices, as well as coordinate court appearances.
- Put documents in an accessible area, and manage them in an orderly manner by giving them names and case numbers.
- Create legal documents like motions, subpoenas, complaints, summonses, and subpoenas duces tecum.
- Gather and compile information for court cases, such as witness interviews, document gathering, and forensic data analysis such as blood sample DNA.
- Research legal topics to ascertain how they relate to certain circumstances.
- Welcome customers and guests at the front desk.
- Guide customers and guests to the location of the legal staff.
- Appointment making and confirmation.
- Keep a professional appearance and abide by business decorum.
- Ensure that deliveries, faxes, and mail go to the correct recipients.
- Order and restock goods for the workplace.
- Manage office equipment maintenance and repair.
- Help with note-taking, copying, scanning, faxing, emailing, and booking trips.
- Set up meeting spaces and, if necessary, make arrangements for refreshments.
Qualifications
- GED or high school diploma.
- Formal training in secretarial work, office administration, or a related field.
- Preferably has a paralegal degree or equivalent training.
- Possess prior legal receptionist experience.
- Knowledge of legal jargon, paperwork, and filing.
- outstanding verbal and written communication abilities.
- Extensive working knowledge of word processing, spreadsheets, printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines, and call forwarding and appointment scheduling software.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal abilities.
Essential Skills
- Creating Letters: A legal receptionist frequently writes letters to clients and other professionals for their employer. They should be capable of producing polished, lucid letters and emails. To deliver documents through the appropriate channels, legal receptionists must also know how to structure documents correctly.
- Law Terminology: In a specialist language, legal terminology applies. Lawyers and other staff members can be communicated with more effectively by legal receptionists who are familiar with this jargon. They might understand the meaning of “discovery” or how to properly file documents, for instance. They may be able to work more effectively and communicate with people more easily if they have this competence.
- Communication: The capacity for clear and succinct information transfer is referred to as communication. Communication with clients, attorneys, paralegals, and other staff members is common for legal receptionists. To make sure that everyone understands one another, they need to be effective communicators both orally and in writing. When answering client calls or emails, legal receptionists put their communication skills to play.
- Proofreading: The skill of proofreading involves checking written content for grammatical, punctuation, and spelling mistakes. Before sending out legal documents, legal receptionists frequently review them to make sure there are no errors that can compromise their legitimacy. To ensure that incoming emails are understandable and clear, they also use proofreading skills.
- Multi-tasking: A legal receptionist frequently needs to multitask or carry out numerous activities at once. For instance, a legal receptionist might take calls, type emails, and file files all at once. This is crucial since it guarantees that all incoming requests are handled promptly. Ensuring that each employee gets the attention they require, also contributes to the seamless operation of the workplace.
- Office Administration: Legal receptionists should be proficient in office administration because it will enable them to manage their employer’s office space and schedule. Strong office management abilities enable legal receptionists to keep track of all incoming and outgoing papers, keep the office tidy, and make sure that everyone has the resources they need to execute their jobs.
- Keeping Calendars: Legal receptionists must keep up with their calendars since they utilize them to manage their hectic schedules. The calendars of legal receptionists frequently include both professional and personal ones. Additionally, they must be able to set up meetings and appointments so that everyone involved is informed of the time and location of the meeting.
- Answering Phones: Frequently, a receptionist takes incoming calls and routes them to the correct party. Additionally, they respond to inquiries from customers, guests, or other callers to a business. Legal front desk staff may be required to take messages for attorneys and relay information to them when they call back.
- Data entry: Data entry is the process of inputting information into a computer system. Data entry is a common task for legal receptionists, therefore it’s critical to be comfortable with this skill set. Similar abilities are needed if you need to input data into a scheduling program or electronic calendar.
- Observation of Details: When processing calls and messages, legal receptionists must be able to pay strict attention to detail. This is because they frequently deal with private material, including customer information or legal paperwork. Additionally, they must guarantee that all incoming correspondence is handled properly. For instance, the receptionist should ensure that the files are saved in the appropriate area if a client sends an email with attachments.
- Making Appointments: Making appointments is a key ability that legal receptionists need to possess. They frequently set up appointments with other people who might need to speak with the staff members of the legal firm as well as with clients and attorneys. To take vacations or attend significant events in their lives, legal receptionists also plan their own time off.
- Flexibility: The ability to alter course as necessary. As a legal receptionist, you might need to be flexible with your schedule, your workplace, and how you respond to client calls and emails. If necessary, you should be able to quickly shift gears and manage tasks that are outside the scope of your normal responsibilities.
- Greeting customers: An essential component of the receptionist’s work is greeting customers. Whether a person is a client or not, they should be cordial and pleasant to everyone who enters the office. Greeting customers can improve their relationship-building skills with their coworkers and improve everyone’s enjoyment of their workplace. Additionally, it guarantees that customers get the attention they require when they arrive for appointments.
- Customer service: Being able to give your consumers a satisfying experience is what customer service is all about. This involves smiling when you meet them, paying attention to their requirements, and being approachable when you respond to their inquiries. Customer service abilities are crucial since they can help you establish relationships with clients and motivate them to do business with you again. You could also be able to sell your consumers additional goods or services they require.
- Organization: An organization’s capacity is its ability to keep track of a variety of responsibilities. Legal receptionists frequently have a variety of responsibilities, so organization is crucial. To do all of their tasks on time, they should be able to prioritize their work and effectively manage their time. Legal receptionists can keep a tidy and polished appearance at their desks by staying organized.
- Filing: The ability to logically arrange paperwork and documents is known as filing. When entering client data into computer databases, filing incoming mail, or keeping track of records for their firm, legal receptionists frequently use filing skills. The act of filing makes ensuring that all of an organization’s crucial information is correctly stored and can be easily found when required.
How to Become a Legal Receptionist
- Achieve a high school diploma: To work as a legal secretary, you must have at least a high school graduation or a GED. You should put more effort into honing your writing and grammar skills while in high school, as well as developing your database management and word processing skills.
- Complete a postsecondary course of study or formal training: Even while it is optional, some law firms favor legal secretaries who have earned a degree or other postsecondary credentials. Legal research, billing practices, state and federal court systems, court filings, and law office operations may all be covered in legal secretary programs. A secretarial training program that coordinates brief internships with attorneys is an option.
- Acquire work experience: You might inquire about internships or temporary work opportunities by contacting law firms or governmental organizations with legal divisions. Ask to help a paralegal if they hire you for an internship to increase your understanding of creating legal documents and submitting them to court. Look for other options to gain administrative experience in a comparable context if you are unable to receive training in a legal office.
- Take the certification exam: Although certification in the area is not required, it might lead to work prospects and career advancement. Take the accredited legal secretary and professional legal secretary credentialing exams, both of which are administered by the National Association of Legal Secretaries, if you have completed an accredited legal education program.
- Pursue professional development: There may be chances for you to advance in your legal profession. After getting some experience, many legal secretaries decide to pursue a career as a paralegal. You must have a paralegal certification to practice law as a paralegal. Legal assistants may choose to finish law school and work as attorneys in particular situations.
Where to Work as a Legal Receptionist
The majority of legal receptionists work in large corporations’ legal departments or in law firms, where they may serve the entire company or certain legal departments. Some people work for government agencies, such as those in charge of immigration and national security, while others work in open courts and others in places where the public is interested, such as the parliament.
Legal Receptionist Salary Scale
In the United Kingdom, the average salary for a legal receptionist secretary is £22,500 per year or £11.54 per hour. Most experienced workers earn up to £24,550 per year, while entry-level roles start at £21,000.
In the USA, the average legal receptionist earns $33,150 annually or $17 per hour. Most experienced workers earn up to $42,900 per year, while entry-level roles start at $29,250.
In Canada, a legal receptionist makes $35,100 annually or $18 per hour. Most experienced workers earn up to $47,500 per year, while entry-level roles start at $32,175 annually.