Upon completion of the program, students will be able to...
- Understand the legal secretary job requirements, career opportunities, and the various persons who are part of the law office structure and explain their duties
- Identify strategies for developing and enhancing your professional image
- Comprehend the best ways to handle office equipment, the proper handling of incoming and outgoing mail and email, how to arrange meetings and business travel, and the keys to effective time management
- Identify procedures for handling active, inactive, and permanent files, including the use of an electronic filing system
- Recognize major information technologies used in the workplace, including computers and communications
- Understand how to use reference materials, including dictionaries, the Internet, and libraries, to find information
- Understand how to set up a computer system, navigate in the Windows environment, locate files, create documents
- Identify the various kinds of documents used in litigation and the basic process of litigation in federal and state court systems
- Identify common legal terms and their meaning
- Comprehend the purpose of formal ethical guidelines for lawyers and how these guidelines apply to legal secretaries; discuss client confidentiality and conflicts of interest
- Understand the levels of authority in American law, references used to find relevant information for research, and where to look to find the most recent law decisions.
- Recognize and prepare effective office correspondence and a variety of the documents commonly used in legal offices using the correct format
- Create, edit, format, and add graphics and tables to Word documents
- Create Excel spreadsheets, using simple and complex formulas and functions, incorporate useful charts and graphs, and lay out table data
- Comprehend office management issues, including dealing with employees, office finances, and teamwork