QUALIFICATION: certificate recognises greater professionalism


More than 40 law firms have joined forces with the Institute of Paralegals to create the first national competency standards and a government-recognised national qualification for legal secretaries.



The standards have been written by law firms and have been set at introductory, intermediate and advanced levels. They are designed to create a formal, nationally consistent career structure for legal secretaries to help firms to retain and motivate staff.



Secretaries will be able to obtain a qualification known as the legal professional qualification certificate in professional development. This will be issued by the government-approved national awarding body, IAM.



The standards and qualification are a reflection of the increasingly sophisticated nature of legal secretaries' work.



Institute chief executive James O'Connell said: 'Firms wanted the standards in recognition that the role of the legal secretary is changing dramatically, and that a much greater degree of professionalism is needed if they are to successfully adapt to their new responsibilities.'



Dawn Williams, secretarial services manager at City firm SJ Berwin and a member of the working party which put together the standards, said secretaries were becoming increasingly involved with more complicated tasks such as time-sheet management, billing and event management.



National firms Pinsent Masons and Thompsons, and City firms Norton Rose and Denton Wilde Sapte were among those involved in drawing up the standards, along with the Law Society, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Legal Services Commission and the Ministry of Justice.



Catherine Baksi