Job Description for a Litigation Secretary

A litigation secretary must possess specialized skills.

If you aspire to a career as a litigation secretary, you need to make sure your qualifications meet stringent requirements. Litigators are lawyers who specialize in civil trial work, handling trials of large, complex, and costly lawsuits. A litigation secretary is an important part of the litigation team and usually answers directly to the attorney directing the litigation. The mission of a litigation secretary is to provide the litigation attorney and the attorney's staff with a broad range of administrative support.

Responsibilities

Your responsibilities as a legal secretary will ultimately depend on the wishes of the supervising attorney. But they will undoubtedly include assisting attorneys and paralegals in managing the litigation discovery process, document collection and preservation, document review, document production tasks, and maintaining the case filing systems and discovery databases. Word processing duties will include preparing briefs and other lengthy indexed documents. You will be expected to coordinate with litigation teams on specific assignments, providing such assistance as scheduling, drafting basic correspondence, preparing documents for trial and filing documents electronically. You will also be required to interact successfully with attorneys, court personnel and staff from opposing law firms.

Education Required

Your résumé should reflect successful completion of at least two years of college courses. An associate degree or higher is preferable. You must be able to demonstrate superior written and verbal communication skills, proficiency in spelling, and correct use of English grammar and punctuation.

Technical Skills

A litigation secretary must be competent in the use of a variety of computer software programs. This means you should be proficient in the current versions of WordPerfect, Microsoft Word and Excel, and file management software. Excellent proofreading skills are vital. Another necessary skill is the ability to use electronic filing software to file pleadings with various court systems accurately and on deadline. An important survival skill for this position is the ability to learn new skills and systems quickly.

Experience Necessary

Experience with the litigation process and discovery is important. Familiarity with basic litigation terminology is also required. You should demonstrate strong technical organizational abilities. In addition, you should take the initiative to learn and implement new tools and technologies as they become available in order to streamline the team's existing processes.

Those Special Qualities

A litigation secretary needs strong interpersonal skills to function successfully in a high-pressure environment. The litigation team environment is fast-paced and requires an individual who can provide administrative and secretarial support for numerous, simultaneous projects to meet targeted deadlines.This means that you must be responsible, organized, detail-oriented and a problem solver.