Legal administrative assistants

Overview

Legal administrative assistants perform a variety of secretarial and administrative duties in law offices, legal departments of large firms, real estate companies, land title offices, municipal, provincial and federal courts and government.

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

  • Prepare and key in correspondence and legal documents, such as deeds, wills, affidavits and briefs, from handwritten copy, shorthand and machine dictation using computers

  • Review and proofread documents and correspondence to ensure compliance with legal procedures and grammatical usage

  • Schedule appointments, meetings and conferences for employer

  • Set up and maintain filing systems, utilizing knowledge of legal records and procedures and frequently controlling confidential materials and documents

  • Open and distribute regular and electronic incoming mail and other material and coordinate the flow of information internally and with other departments or organizations

  • Determine and establish office procedures and routines

  • May supervise and train other staff in procedures and in the use of current software

  • May attend court, meetings or conferences to take notes, minutes and dictation

  • May perform other general office work as required including preparing financial statements.

Job titles

  • administrative assistant - judicial
  • administrative assistant - legal
  • collection legal assistant
  • commercial law administrative assistant
  • commercial law legal assistant
  • commercial law secretary

Employment prospects

Source: BC Labour Market Outlook 2023 edition

Annual salary

Low

$40,419

Median

$54,226

High

$82,506

Job openings

Use this interactive map to explore job openings in different regions across B.C.

British Columbia

1,207

expected job openings (5-year forecast)

Education and training

Employment requirements

  • Completion of secondary school is usually required.

  • Completion of a one- or two-year college or other program for secretaries or legal secretaries is usually required.

Certification requirements

  • No certification requirements

Post-secondary programs in B.C.

Explore programs related to this career offered at post-secondary institutions in B.C.

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