Who is an Executive Legal Assistant?
An executive legal assistant or executive secretary is a legal professional who provides administrative support to a senior executive or group of executives at a law firm or non-profit organization.
Employers increasingly desire candidates with potential for advancement. Administrators with executive-level skills tend to have broader responsibilities and higher salaries, and they sit at the hiring table for lower-level positions.
As a natural career progression, legal secretaries often seek administrative assistant roles in order to move up corporate and legal ladders faster. Senior executive assistants are closely involved with upper management, so they may have an influence on the hiring process and help determine organizational structure .
The nature of the position means that the role of an executive legal assistant usually entails more limited direct interaction with clients and is less social than the typical legal secretary position. An executive legal assistant must adapt to the specific needs of the person or group they directly support, but their duties generally include:
Executive legal assistants should ideally possess several years of relevant experience in addition to advanced technical proficiencies and a strong educational background so as to be able to operate capably and comfortably in a high-pressure environment.
Skills Required by Executive Legal Assistants
An executive legal assistant must possess a keen ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both verbally and in writing. A high degree of accuracy is vital due to the legal implications of errors. Working with lawyers, judges, paralegals, and clients requires professionalism, dependability, discretion, and adherence to many different administrative procedures.
Some of the primary duties and responsibilities of executive legal assistants include preparing, filing, and serving various documents; preparing witnesses for court testimony; drafting legal pleadings; scheduling depositions; pre-trial orders and hearings; handling electronic filings with the court; tracking and submitting invoices; discussing case status with clients; managing hundreds of personal and business contacts; reviewing and replying to emails; drafting memos, privilege logs, complaints, briefs, discovery, motions, and interrogatories; document production, organization and storage; and assisting attorneys with trial preparation.
Executive legal assistants are expected to be highly skilled and knowledgeable about the law, legal procedures, and ethics. They are generally required to have advanced knowledge and expertise in Microsoft Office, Westlaw, Clio, Tabs3, Lexis Nexis, PowerPoint, Excel, Basecamp, Casemap, and Clear Law Pre-Law research software. Most legal assistants have a bachelor’s degree or certification through the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC) or National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) with at least three to five years of related experience. Some may complete a National Certification Examination though the American Bar Association (ABA).
Executive Legal Assistant vs Regular Legal Assistant
Executive legal assistants work in a substantially more responsible capacity than standard legal assistants. The duties are more complex and demanding. Generally, they also need to have more years of experience. Essentially, an executive legal assistant handles all aspects of legal support from letter correspondence, report preparation and setting up meetings to filing clients’ claims in litigation and creating and maintaining client case files.
A standard legal assistant performs the same type of functions, but on a different scale. Although the organizational and detail-oriented skills are critical, standard legal assistants tend not to take on the primary responsibility of day-to-day procedural matters in a case. In most large firms, they are managed by an executive legal assistant and have more of a facilitator function. Standard legal assistants manage all aspects of the attorneys’ schedules and work, including conflict checks, making travel arrangements, event coordination, client billing and receivables, and project tracking, but most hiring executives seek applicants with four to five years of prior experience, while executive assistants expect them to have six to seven years of experience. This is not to say that standard assistants do not also have significant work experience. They do, but the difference is in the level of responsibility and at what level that responsibility is assigned. Thus, while there is a hierarchical difference in choice and selection of executive against standard legal assistants, the developing field shows evidence of a career ladder that can be used to pursue individual aspirations.
Career Options and Job Growth
The career trajectory for an executive legal assistant is often as dynamic as the legal industry itself. After gaining substantial experience, many legal professionals at this level can choose to further elevate their careers by stepping into roles of increased responsibility or shifting their focus to a complementary discipline.
One common career advancement path typically involves the transition from executive assistant to a management role with increased supervisory responsibilities. Another option is moving into business development or marketing , where having a comprehensive understanding of legal operations can be extremely valuable in generating new business for the firm or the corporate legal department. The planned implementation of new technology is another area candidates can utilize their experience, either in the management of a legal operations team or as a project manager.
Sometimes the best option for longtime legal support professionals is to seize new opportunities in a related field, such as compliance, risk management, e-discovery, or practice management. While the duties of an executive legal assistant are ideal preparation for moving to these professional verticals, working with a specialized recruiter can help maximize the potential for a successful and timely career transition.
The Influence of Technology on Executive Legal Assistants
The introduction of legal accounting software packages has changed the role of an executive legal assistant and allowed them to expand their value beyond the traditional secretary duties. Legal accounting software allows for a wide variety of simple to complex functions, including time tracking, billing, contact management and billing. Essentially, an executive legal assistant must now have a firm understanding of pretty much any legal accounting software that a law firm or in-house legal department will use. Training through legal accounting industry leaders, like Clio, allows them to build the skills required to deliver value to their team.
With the rise of remote work, the role of an executive legal assistant has also changed. Now , they can work from literally anywhere with a secure internet connection. This is useful for both in-house and law firm legal assistants because they can provide flexible support, but also allow for greater integration with cloud-based software solutions. These tools allow them to track their client’s work even when on the go, as well as facilitate easier management of the legal support team across regions or countries.
New technology continues to make the role of an executive legal assistant more valuable than ever before.
Other new technologies impacting the role of an executive legal assistant include:
The rise of technology means that an executive legal assistant must continue progressing their career with formal and informal training.