A Legal Secretary works as a secretarial assistant in law firms or other organisations. Their main responsibilities include assisting lawyers, scheduling client appointments, and organising legal papers.

Each Legal Secretary course is 12 months long, while the National Diploma course for Legal Secretary is 18 months long.

Yes, you will need a National Senior Certificate or an Amended Senior Certificate to start the NATED Legal Secretary course.

The Legal Secretary Diploma course has a total of 360 course credits.

A Legal Secretary should:

• Be reliable
• Be consistent
• Be accurate
• Be patient
• Be efficient

Paralegals are higher than legal secretaries. Paralegals can perform more legal duties such as drawing up legal documents. While legal secretaries perform more administrative duties such as organising legal documents.

A legal secretary is responsible for the administrative duties in a legal environment and can undergo training within a law firm. A normal secretary is also responsible for the administrative task within an office but does not need to go for training in a law firm or legal department.

Legal Secretaries should have the following skills:

• Administrative skills
• Communication
• Writing
• Research
• Technological skills
• Organisation

If you have obtained your N6 National Diploma in Legal Secretary, you will only be able to work in a law firm as a legal secretary. However, to study law you will need to apply to study a Law degree.

Yes, a career as a Legal Secretary is great. Law firms are always looking for good, trustworthy, and knowledgeable legal secretaries.

To become a Legal Secretary, you can register for the NATED Legal Secretary course using your Matric Certificate.

The major types of secretaries include:

• Private Secretary
• Public Secretary
• Company Secretary
• Legal Secretary
• Medical Secretary

No, being a Legal Secretary does not make you a Lawyer. Legal Secretaries work with lawyers, assisting them with many different tasks.

The colleges that offer Legal Secretary courses in South Africa include:

• Bellview Institute of Distance Learning
• Skills Academy
• Matric College

Legal Secretaries are responsible for performing all clerical tasks in a law office or law firm.

Yes, they do. Legal Secretaries are required to accompany lawyers to assist them with anything they need in court.

The theoretical courses are 6-12 months long and the practical courses are 18 months long. If you decide to study full-time it will take you 36 months to complete and if you decide to complete this course part-time it will take you 54 months to complete.

No. Paralegals are responsible for research, writing up legal drafts while Legal Secretaries are responsible for administration duties.

A Legal Secretary can earn between R17 000 – R25 000 per month in South Africa.

The most successful secretaries possess drive and initiative. They do not sit waiting for an attorney’s instructions or assignments, they stay on top of what needs to be accomplished in any given time period. They anticipate their employer’s and clients’ needs.

Whether you work for a single attorney or a large law firm, there are certain skills that you need to succeed as a legal secretary. Here are six of those skills:

• Communication Skills
• Writing Skills
• Technological Skills
• Research Skills
• Reliability
• Confidentiality

Yes, Once you have completed your legal secretary course, your learning does not need to stop there. In fact, many legal secretaries get the bug for law and end up studying further to become a paralegal or even a lawyer!

When approaching a firm, legal secretaries are frequently the first point of contact. As a result, they must be excellent communicators and customer service representatives.

Legal Secretaries are there to assist lawyers with:

• Handling and managing of clients
  
• Organising legal documents
  
• Typing up notes and memos
  
• Managing schedules

The N4 – N6 National Certificate courses are NQF level 5 qualifications and the N6 National Diploma is an NQF level 6 qualification.

These are the Legal Secretary course subjects:

• Office Practice
  
• Communication
  
• Information Processing
  
• Legal Practice
  
• Mercantile Law

These are the SAQA ID numbers for the Legal Secretary courses:

• Legal Secretary: NATED N4 National Certificate – 66880
  
• Legal Secretary: NATED N5 National Certificate – 66959
  
• Legal Secretary: NATED N6 National Certificate – 67035

The NATED Legal Secretary courses are:

• Legal Secretary: NATED N4 National Certificate
  
• Legal Secretary: NATED N5 National Certificate
  
• Legal Secretary: NATED N6 National Certificate
  
• Legal Secretary: NATED N6 National Diploma

You will be completing two assignments for every subject. In total you are going to complete eight assignments for each theoretical course.

The Legal Secretary diploma will be issued by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and by the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO).

To qualify for the Legal Secretary N5 National Certificate course, you need to complete the Legal Secretary N4 National Certificate course first.

The NATED Legal Secretary diploma course has a total of 60 credits.