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Legal Secretarial


Program Overview
Program Info
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Course Info
Required/Suggested

This program is designed to prepare students for secretarial positions in law offices, courts, or law-related offices. Education and training includes knowledge of legal terminology and preparation of legal documents from printed copy, and machine dictation.

In addition to the specialized legal courses, students receive training in writing skills (grammar, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary building, and writing), accounting principles, word processing, general office practices, telephone techniques, efficiency, work attitudes, and human relations.

Students considering a major in this field should contact an instructor in this discipline for additional information and planning assistance.

Call the Information Sciences Department, 707.476.4208.

Expansion of the legal services industry will continue to contribute to employment growth among legal secretaries. In 1996 there were over 284,000 legal secretaries, and the job opportunities in this field continue to grow.

Based on a survey of 160 metropolitan areas, the average annual salary for all secretaries with limited experience was $19,700 in 1995. Salaries vary a great deal, however, reflecting differences in skill, experience, and level of responsibility, with averages ranging up to $40,600 for specialized skills such as those required of a legal secretary.

Legal secretaries are employed by private law firms, District Attorney offices, officers of the court, administrators of large companies, and any business requiring an expert secretary.

The following agencies can provide you with further information on specific designations in your career as a Legal Secretary.

Certified Professional Secretary:

Professional Secretaries International
PO. Box 20404
Kansas City, MO
64195-0404
http://www.gvi.net/psi

Accredited Legal Secretary and Certified Professional Legal Secretary:

National Assoc. of Legal Secretaries
2448 East 81st St., Suite 3400
Tulsa, OK
74137-4238
http://www.nals.org

Board Certified Civil Trial Legal Secretary:

Legal Secretaries International Inc. 
8902 Sunnywood Dr. Houston, TX
77088-3729
http.//www.compassnet.com/legalsec

Required Courses (39.5 units):

BUS 16

 

Word Processing

4

BUS 53

 

Administrative Support and Procedures

4

BUS 94 *

 

Business Math

3

BUS 152 *

 

Business English

3

BUS 52

 

Business Communication

3

CIS1/1L

 

Computer Literacy

3

BUS 168

 

Editing Skills

1

BUS 169

 

Proofreading

1

BUS 111

 

Office Communication Skills for Career Success

1

BUS 113

 

Managing the Office Environment

1

BUS 156

 

Legal Office Procedures

3

BUS 157

 

Legal Office Procedures

3

BUS 18 OR

 

Business Law OR

3

LEGL 141

*

Intro. to Law

 

BUS 1 19T

 

Legal Terminology

2

BUS I l9V

 

Business Vocabulary Building

2

BUS 5

 

Business Document Transcription

.5

BUS 7

 

Legal Document Transcription

.5

 

 

 

 

BUS 121

 

Probate Law Documentation

.5

BUS 122

 

Family Law Documentation

.5

BUS 123

 

Civil Law Documentation

.5

Additional Requirements (at least 8.5 units):

BUS 1A

Principles of Accounting

3

BUS 11

Keyboarding and Typing

3

BUS 12

Keyboarding and Typing Skill Development

1

BUS 17

Word Processing

4

BUS 2

Automated Accounting

1

CIS 3

Problem Solving

3

CIS 50/50L

Database Applications and Lab

4

CIS 80

Introduction to Windows

.5

CIS 81

Introduction to Micro Applications

.5

*  These courses meet general education requirements. To qualify for an AS. degree, a student must take 12 more units of General Education requirements.