Legal Secretarial Program

Buckeye Joint Vocational School

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Legal Secretarial

The Legal Secretarial program is one of the majors available in Buckeye Career Center's Business & Marketing Academy.

First year students will learn general office procedures and computer programs as they relate to the legal office.  Basic accounting principles will also be taught.  Second year students will apply all concepts learned in their first year through practical classroom applications as well as, if qualified, through school-to-work/co-op situations.

Demand in the Field:

Overall employment of secretaries and administrative assistants is expected to grow more slowly than the average for all occupations over the 2002-12 period. However, employment growth in the legal services industries should lead to average growth for legal secretaries. Opportunities should be best for applicants with extensive knowledge of software applications. Changes in the office environment have increased the demand for secretaries and administrative assistants who are adaptable and versatile. Secretaries and administrative assistants held about 4.1 million jobs in 2002. Of that number, legal secretaries accounted for approximately 264,000.

Nature of the Work:

Specific job duties vary with experience and titles. Most secretaries and administrative assistants are responsible for administrative and clerical duties necessary to run an organization efficiently. These duties might include serving as an information manager for an office; planning and scheduling meetings and appointments; organizing and maintaining paper and electronic files; managing projects; conducting research and providing information by using the telephone, postal mail, and e-mail; and handling travel arrangements. Legal secretaries prepare correspondence and legal papers such as summonses, complaints, motions, responses, and subpoenas under the supervision of an attorney or paralegal. They also may review legal journals and assist in other ways with legal research, as by verifying quotes and citations in legal briefs.

Future Opportunities:

Students in this field are well prepared to enter formal paralegal training or administrative assistance programs. Paralegals and legal assistants are projected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2012. Law firms and other employers with legal staffs increasingly hire paralegals to lower the cost and increase the availability and efficiency of legal services. Private law firms will continue to be the largest employers of paralegals, but a growing number of other organizations such as corporate legal departments, insurance companies, real estate and title insurance firms, and banks hire paralegals.

Without further training, successful students in the legal program could seek employment as bookkeepers, receptionists and information clerks, human resources assistants, computer operators, and data entry and information processing workers.

Program Curriculum:

Word Processing using Corel WordPerfect 11 and Microsoft Word 2003
Spreadsheets using Microsoft Excel 2003
Database using Microsoft Access 2003
Presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint 2003
Basic Accounting, both Manual & Automated
Legal Office Procedures
Legal Terminology
Legal Document Preparation
Criminal Law
Civil Law
Business Law
Legal Transcription
Telephone Techniques
Calculator Applications
Client Billing
Career Planning
Training Emphasis:

Keyboarding Proficiency
Grammar, Spelling, & Punctuation Skills
Developing Good Interpersonal Skills
Discretion
Using Good Judgment
Organizational Ability
Initiative
State Competency Requirements:

Communications
Office Technology
Financial Functions
Records Management
Support Tasks
Professionalism
Legal Terminology
Legal Document Preparation
Legal Reference Material Usage
Employability Skills
Here's a partial list of companies that have employed graduates from the Legal Secretarial program:

Woodard & Bohse, Attorneys
John Bates, Attorney
Johnson Urban & Range, Attorneys
Childress & Smith, Attorneys
E. K. Wright, Attorney
Richard Goforth, Attorney
Carroll County Prosecutor's Office
ReMax Realty
Titlesource, Inc.
Elastotec
Genie Co.
Foutz Appliance
Allstate Insurance
Tuscarawas County YMCA
Ohio Department of Transportation, District 11 Office