Professional Development

As a Legal Secretary or PA, you may be required to proofread a document before it is sent out. This means checking it over carefully yourself or reading it out loud with someone else who also has a copy. You may even be asked to just look something over for someone. If you are given a proofreading task, it is useful to know some tips, as it can be easy to read the body of the text quickly and not notice small, but important, errors.

Firstly, make it easy to read. When checking a document, try to do so from a paper copy, rather than reading it from a computer screen. If the document has a particularly small font, it is helpful to enlarge it so it is then easier to read.

Consistency

This month we will consider a recent publication by the Legal Ombudsman about client care¹ and note what lessons might be learnt. The leaflet contains many general points about client care, but in particular it focuses on vulnerable clients such as the elderly and issues they might have. This is a subject that those who have completed the Wills, Probate and Administration unit of the Legal Secretaries Diploma course will be familiar with. 

The law is an ever-changing area as legislation and case law is continually conceived. As a Legal Secretary, it is important to remain in touch with the law, and it is a part of your job which needs you to be on your toes. 

Think about how happy your firm would be if you could take on more responsibility and be more productive in your role. If you were to further your knowledge of law, you could be more involved in legal procedures and save your employer precious time and money. Not only would it be beneficial for the company, but it would lead to greater job satisfaction for you.

We all strive or wish for a positive work environment so that we can effectively do our jobs and enjoy our roles.  This can be accomplished by listening to others and making sure that each of your colleagues feel valued and respected for what he or she does or has to say. 

The mind is like a muscle; in the same way as a muscle, the mind cannot be in tension and relaxed at the same time.

Visualisation has proved one of the most effective ways to relax. It is well worth taking time to practise this as a relaxation skill. It is an experience of focused attention on images and feelings which are positive and nourishing for you, allowing you to cultivate an ever-greater sense of freedom from the distractions of mood or circumstances. 

With spring just around the corner, now that you might have a little more of a ‘spring’ in your step, this exercise builds on some of the previous relaxation exercises in a rather more active way. Believe it or not, walking promotes our relaxation response; any physical exercise produces natural, feel-good chemicals in your brain. It need not be a long walk – even 10 minutes once or twice a day makes a positive difference. Building on this distance can enhance the relaxation response and turn walking into something you can add to your relaxation repertoire in order to promote better physical and mental health overall. With practice, walking can become part of your routine of simply going to work, going home after work or, if you have a particularly stressful day, taking 10 minutes to step outside and feel refreshed.

Education in modern society has largely been a regimental process. A person is born, begins their education at an appropriate age, continues to higher schooling, and achieves education until they can secure employment! But in fact, learning is a lifelong process; we learn things constantly, every day of our lives. A variety of surveys have shown that people who undertake formal study later in life not only have the obvious benefit of gaining new knowledge, but also receive related benefits that improve their overall well-being. 

ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma course contains a conveyancing module which is based on residential conveyancing. This article will look at some of the differences in the procedure if you are working for a Commercial Property lawyer. 

Commercial properties can be bought and sold just as domestic properties can, but they are also commonly occupied by commercial tenants under a lease. Indeed, most commercial property transactions will involve leasehold property, although some are freehold.

This is the second article in my series of relaxation exercises. The whiteboard exercise, which I will describe here, is useful to reset the mind to shift away from any particularly negative things and instead focus on things which are positive and supportive for you. No actual whiteboard is necessary! You just need to plan some time when you are unlikely to be disturbed and can be quiet for a while.