Excellence is about delivering work of quality and doing the best you can do at every moment. Success naturally follows for those who are prepared to go that extra mile in their job and are willing to devote their time and effort to bettering themselves. Excellence is brought about by doing things better than they have been done before, and only being satisfied with the very best from yourself.
If you are studying through the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs, you will learn that the burden of proof in Criminal Law cases is set considerably higher than in other areas of law. In fact, there is a requirement for the Crown to prove a case against the defendant beyond all reasonable doubt.
In contrast, with civil cases, which make up the vast majority of legal cases and work dealt with in England, the burden is on the claimant to prove his or her case on the balance of probabilities.
In days of yore it was so much simpler – you were either married or you weren’t. The sanctity of marriage was the norm. You reached, say, your late teens or early twenties, you got engaged, and then you were married; whether you lived happily ever after was another matter. In those days, in both a sociological and a legal way, marriage was to be supported, and it was. Socially, marriage was the way in which families were created and fostered; consequently, the legal idea was that the sanctity of marriage had to be protected.
It is important to note that there have been a few changes to the structure of the civil courts system in England and Wales over the past 10 years or so, the most important of which occurred at the very top of this hierarchical chain with a change in name from the House of Lords to the Supreme Court. Also, there have been a few changes to the Family Court that primarily derived from Part II of the Crime and Courts Act 2013.
The best way to summarise the civil law courts system of England and Wales is to start from the bottom and work your way up the hierarchical chain. As we progress through the different levels of court, you will notice that the importance of the court becomes increasingly profound, especially each court’s ability to set precedents for the lower-ranking courts beneath them when decisions are made over important cases.
The County Court
Your first question might be – what is “employability”? Employability has been defined by the Confederation of Business and Industry as “a set of attributes, skills and knowledge that all employees should possess to ensure they have the capability of being effective in the workplace – to the benefit of themselves, their employer and the wider economy.” Put in simple terms, employability boils down to the knowledge, personal qualities, attitudes and behaviours you need to get a job, stay in that job and be successful in your work.
The idea of being able to study a complete course from the comfort of your own home certainly sounds like an attractive proposition for many people. It allows you to enrol for courses that do not offer classes in your area, study at your own pace and fit your work around your existing commitments, to name but a few of the benefits. However, this style of learning may require many students to rethink their study methods and mind-set, especially if they are new to the concept. This is why we have produced a list of 10 top tips to help you with your distance learning and hopefully achieve a good grade.
1. Set enough time aside to study
There is nothing worse than cramming your studies into a few minutes that you have managed to grab in your busy schedule. Be sensible here and allocate a sufficient amount of time for studying each week.
If you are studying ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma course, you will be familiar with the elements of offer, acceptance and intention in regards to contracts. Whilst these elements of the law of contract should make perfect sense to you, the elements of consideration might be a little trickier to understand.
For many centuries, the English legal system struggled to produce a clear definition for the contractual element of consideration. However, towards the end of the nineteenth century, the case of Currie v. Misa (1875) LR 10 Ex 153 came along and allowed Lush J to define consideration in the following way:
Amy Marsden, EA to the CEO at WorldRemit, was announced as PA of the Year 2016, at an awards ceremony hosted by SecsintheCity, the UK’s #1 job site for PAs and Executive Assistants.
The awards ceremony was held at The Ivy Restaurant on Thursday 10th November.
The winners of the PA of the Year Awards 2016 are:
- PA of the Year – Amy Marsden, World Remit
- Social Media PA of the Year – Janice Parker, Odgers Berndtson
- Legal PA of the Year – Georgie Theobald, Facebook
- Outstanding Achievement Award – Sue Fletcher, Department of Health
Amy Marsden is EA to the CEO at WorldRemit, an online money transfer provider – a role she was headhunted into in September. Following the announcement, Amy said: “I’m overwhelmed to have won SecsintheCity’s PA of the Year Award 2016.
I once worked as a secretary for a large law firm which had offices in many countries, and on six of the seven continents. There were quite a few secretaries in the London office who were working their way around the world – just for this one firm! It was a great way to finance their adventures and must have been a massive boost to their CVs when they got home. They illustrated the point that one of the best aspects of secretarial skills is that they are “transferable” – valid in any industry and anywhere in the world.
Here is a selection of vacancies from our Legal Secretary Jobs Board this month:
Legal Secretaries – Girlings
Location: East Kent
Salary: c. £19,000
Girlings, a leading East Kent firm with offices in Canterbury, Ashford and Herne Bay, is currently seeking competent Legal Secretaries with experience in Private Client, Family and Residential Conveyancing.
View the full job description here:
https://www.institutelegalsecretaries.com/jobs/candidate/job/64879/
Part-Time Conveyancing Secretary/PA – Rosenberg & Co
Location: Hampstead
Salary: £18,000 - £22,000 depending on experience