Legal secretary advice please

melodies

Hi all

Are there any legal secretaries on here who would have in-depth knowledge of formatting legal documents (multi-level numbering, styles and TOC) and who would be willing to do a tutorial (I would pay of course). I'm in Dublin.

Also, can anyone tell me what version of word the top 5 to 10 companies use, and whether any of those have housestyle numbering set up in their precedents.

Is there any temp legal sec work out there?

Any advice would be kindly appreciated.

Thanks

Melodies

Mr. Incognito

All law firms have house styles which they format themselves.

Theres no one size fits all. A tutorial is a waste of time.

If you can use word youll pick it up.

melodies

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

All law firms have house styles which they format themselves.

Theres no one size fits all. A tutorial is a waste of time.

If you can use word youll pick it up.

I had an interview with a top 10 firm and they don't yet have set housestyles - I was tested on creating and amending styles in an old version of Word - something I haven't had to do for years as my last firm had templates with built in styles that you didn't need to reformat. So I believe I've flunked the interview.
Is that just a one-off firm do you think? Do you work in law?

Mr. Incognito

I work in a law firm yes.

We have a house style and recently changed our case managment system so was a bit ropey on the change over.

Those sort of things take practice to be honest.

nuac

1. There was a very good manual on typing for legal work, published by Pitmans, I think. It was very much UK related, but still useful. Had a copy about 15 years ago

2. Word Processing has changed the scene. On change over to WP many offices wrote up notes about formatting of various docs.

I remember when some offices had the old system re drafting and amending documents - different coloured inks for each set of amendments etc.

There used to be different sizes of paper - A3 on which briefs were typed, including copy typing of correspondence, small size for short letters, parchment on which registry of deeds memorials were written in indian ink.

3. Now thankfully practically all is on A4, with perhaps better quality paper for deeds.

4. Margins and setting out differs between letters, affidavits, court documents, wills, deeds. You could practice setting up some, or use some of the templates.

5. Beware of the spelling corrector. I was once accused by an eminent colleague of " some antics". He meant "semantics". Even the judge found it amusing.

6. Word processing has taken the drudgery out of legal typing, but has spawned a lot of paper. Look at modern commerial leases. Allied to the photocopier there seems to be ever more paper about, especially in litigation.

7. After about 2000 years with papyrus/parchment/paper we are now moving to paperless offices. Still a memory stick does not have the same interest as a bundle of old deeds going back 200 years or so

melodies

Many thanks for your advice.

However, what I am seeking is very specific styles and list numbering and trouble-shooting advice - just to augment my current experience which is to quite a high level. What I guess I need is someone who is an expert in document production.

But thanks anyway for your advice - much appreciated.