Pitman Training

Legal Secretary – An Introduction

Course Outline

Our Legal Secretary Introduction course takes you through the workings within a legal office, including introducing the practitioners and support staff. You’ll examine civil and criminal law, the court system and how legislation happens. Following this, your first steps in to legal secretarial work continues with layouts, file management, office and client accounts, recording time, client care and abbreviations. Then you complete this, the very best of initial legal secretarial courses, with handling amendments and corrections.

This is a flexible course, so you work at your own pace – and in addition to having Pitman Training on your CV, you keep your workbook as a handy reference guide. And on completion, you can progress your career with further legal secretarial courses or opt for the full Legal Secretarial Diploma, the very best of training if you want a high-flying career as a top legal secretary.


Unlike other legal secretary courses, this tried and tested programme of study gives you the perfect overview of what’s involved and the different legal departments. Meaning you’ll have the confidence to show potential employers that you’ve been trained to high level.

If you’re considering becoming a top-notch legal secretary with all the rewards that career can bring, this is an excellent first step.

If you live in Scotland, there is also a Scottish version of this course, so you can be confident that wherever you work, you’ve chosen the very best training.

If you wish to pursue a career in a legal department then the introductory module provides a sound understanding. You will learn more about the responsibilities of a legal secretary focussing on the working of a legal office, civil and criminal law, and the court system.

  • Lesson One – Including: The legal office, legal practitioners, support staff, the legal secretary, importance of proof-reading;
  • Lesson Two – Including: Difference between civil law and criminal law, court system and structure, how laws are made, general office procedures, different methods of communication, setting up files for a new client, client care letter, instruction form, telephone attendance note;
  • Lesson Three – Including: House style, business letter layout, special instructions and marks. Routing correspondence, inserting dates into documents, legal document layout, inserting specified horizontal space, precedents and specialised software, preparing a codicil, importance of good file management;
  • Lesson Four – Including: The office account and client account,  how time is record, client care and invoicing, business memo layout, letter before action, correct expansion of abbreviations;
  • OCR Additional Exercises – Including: Revision of OCR topics covered during the course, interpreting amendment and correction signs, locating information for insertion in a document.

This course should take around 8 hours to complete.

Our Legal Secretary Introduction course is part of our distance learning range – which can be accessed online via our distance learning portal. 

This means that you have the flexibility to study our Legal Secretary course:

  • In centre, with our friendly course advisors available for support and guidance as and when you need it.
  • At home or from work – with support via email or telephone during working hours.
  • On a blended mix – in-centre for the modules you need help with, at home or from work for those you are gliding through.

Once you’ve decided to go ahead, all you’ll need to do is contact your nearest Pitman Training centre that offers and supports our distance learning platform, and they will arrange for you to have an induction to show you around the system and talk you through how our online training works. After this, you can learn in your own time and at your own speed, but with the knowledge you have support at hand if required. 

To find your nearest centre that offers and supports our online Legal Secretarial training, click here.


The best way to make sure your training programme suits you, your skills, your ambitions and your busy schedule, is to get in touch with us for a free, friendly expert career consultation.