This month we are returning to the topic of no-fault divorce. When we last wrote about this, we examined the sad case of Mrs Tini Owens who was not given permission to divorce her husband despite it being an entirely loveless marriage.

In the Owens v Owens Supreme Court case from July 2018, the current failings of the system were highlighted. The Supreme Court ruled in July that the 68-year-old could not divorce her husband and escape her loveless marriage until a period of five years had elapsed. She and her husband, Hugh Owens, had been living separate lives since 2015. Mrs Owens will have to stay married to her husband until they had been separated for five years before she will be allowed to divorce him.

This month ILSPA has the pleasure of catching up with a former student of ours, Melinda Toth. Melinda enrolled for our Legal Secretaries Diploma course last year and after successfully completing her qualification in early 2018, went on to secure her very first Legal Secretary role not long after with MW Solicitors. We had a few questions for Melinda about how she found her qualification, and what advice she would give to recent graduates of the course when starting their Legal Secretary job search.  

What was the reason you decided to train to become a Legal Secretary?

On 8 November, the 7th annual PA of the Year awards took place at the prestigious Ivy Restaurant in London. Hosted by SecsintheCity – the UK’s only job site dedicated to Personal and Executive Assistants – the ceremony recognises and champions the very best talent and achievements in the industry.

We asked Joyce Dadzie, Legal EA at progressive firm Axiom and winner of the Outstanding Achievement award, to shine a light on her career thus far and give us a rundown of the glamorous awards ceremony.

Q: How did you become an EA?

Chelsey Newsom, manager and specialist legal recruiter at Sellick Partnership, provides the inside scoop on how to make recruitment consultants love your CV.

Imagine receiving 100 applications for a job vacancy, and having to read the CV and cover letter attached to each. Sound exhausting? Welcome to the world of the legal recruiter!

A recruiter’s job is to match the right candidate with the right employer, and they are often looking for a particular set of skills and experiences, based on a specific job specification. To even get a look in, your CV needs to hit the sweet spot with your consultant, as they can make or break your job search.

There are a few things that all recruiters dislike, so take note of these points to ensure your CV goes to the top of the pile.

As you progress your career as Legal PA and start to work with more senior fee earners, you may find yourself faced with the prospect of working for a Partner who is notorious for being “difficult”.

We’ve all heard horror stories of Secretaries and PAs leaving the office in tears, but has the fear of this happening to you ever put you off from taking that step up you have always dreamed of? Or perhaps you have recently been assigned a new Partner and it’s just not working?

If so, here are some tips on how to overcome these fears and crack a difficult boss.

Have an open mind

Here is a selection of vacancies from our Legal Secretary Jobs Board this month:

Legal Secretary – Stone King LLP   

Location: Bath

Salary: Competitive  

Stone King, a fast growing firm with office throughout the UK, is looking to recruit multiple Legal Secretaries to join their team in Bath. The Legal Secretaries will be required to work in the following departments; Education, Charity and Social Enterprise, Business and Private Clients.

Stone King welcome applications for candidates looking for full and part time hours.

View the full job description here:

The Mountbatten Program has opportunities in New York for graduates and young professionals, beginning in March 2019.

Our New York program provides you with an international business toolkit to succeed in an increasingly competitive labour market. It’s a golden opportunity to learn about American business practices and gain exposure to US culture and the US legal environment. You will develop your skills and experience, expand your professional network and have the opportunity to travel. Although we work with a number of law firms, we also have placements in a wide range of industries and departments, so this could be an opportunity to branch out.

The program includes:

Since starting her legal career as an Administrative Assistant at a well-known global law firm over 15 years ago, Michelle Clarke has progressed to the point where she is now working as a Fee Earner in her current firm, Land Law LLP. Along the way, she studied ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma and went on to study ILSPA’s Civil Litigation Advanced Diploma. Michelle kindly spoke to ILSPA about her career, her studies and the exciting new opportunity as a Fee Earner.

How did you come to work in the legal profession?

Social media, with its ever-growing popularity, is fast becoming an important part of the job-hunting process for both job seekers and recruiters. Job seekers can use social media platforms to search for opportunities and to research companies they are interested in working for. Recruiters can use social media to track down suitable candidates and reach out to them. Recruiters can also use your social profile to find out a bit more about you and decide whether or not you’d be a good fit with the company culture. Social media profiles can give recruiters an impression of who the candidate is and what they are like as a person in a way that a CV is unable to.

This month we are examining the impact of a June 2018 ruling by the Supreme Court on the state of relationships in Britain. More to the point, we are considering how the ruling could lead to a change in the law on civil partnerships.

A civil partnership is a legal union between same-sex couples. If you are a civil partner, you are entitled to the same treatment as a married couple on a wide range of legal matters. The problem that the case highlighted was that only same-sex couples can enter into a civil partnership. Those opposite-sex couples who do not wish to get married but want some kind of legal recognition are not allowed to form a civil partnership. Now, however, this may change.