Legal Secretary at Legal Aid South Africa

KEY OUTPUTS

• To provide administrative and secretarial support to the Civil Unit in accordance with Legal Aid SA policies, procedures and standards.
• Carry out the Civil Unit’s administrative functions effectively.
• Provide efficient secretarial support to the Civil Unit.
• Obtain, source, type, proofread, make copies and distribute according to instructions received.
• Co-ordinate and monitor all Civil Unit administrative matters.
• Participate and provide support to implement an effective filing and diary system to ensure that the Civil Unit addresses matters on behalf of clients and confirm the availability of the practitioners.
• Assist legal practitioners with all ancillary matters to the preparation and presentation of cases.
• Develop and maintain a system to ensure that receipt of documents emanating from other units and/or offices is acknowledged.
• Develop a system to ensure that documents received from opponent attorneys are received and distributed to the relevant practitioner, timeously.
• Develop a system to record sensitive documents and ensure same-day distribution of these documents.
• Gather the required information and arrange for consultative interviews.
• Assist with the completion of routine forms for legal practitioners and ensure that they are submitted for approval.
• Maintain and update meeting schedules.
• Maintain record keeping and filing system.
• Ensure that reports and documentation are timeously sent/delivered to the relevant people.
• Ensure that physical assets are reconciled to each individual office list at the office on a monthly basis.
• Maintenance and issuing of stationery in accordance with relevant Legal Aid SA procedures.
• Maintain attendance registers in accordance with the Legal Aid SA Human Resources Policy.
• Maintain a register of mail items and court documents sent by Docex and track their delivery.
• Maintain a register of documents sent to the High Court Unit, Strategic Litigation Unit and Senior Litigator.
• Maintain a list with regular fax numbers and double-check with customers to determine full instructions for handling of fax with full adherence to customer instructions.
• Always attach a successful transmission report to sent faxes.
• Attend to photocopying and binding of documents as required.
• Attend to the proper allocation of duplication/stationery costs as per Legal Aid SA policies/procedures.
• Assist with the accurate completion of practitioner Matter Activity Reports (MARs) and updating of any webpages designed to capture information for the Civil Unit.
• Keep handy the complete list of all relevant contact numbers for office personnel and major customer/role players at all times.
• Adhere to proper telephone etiquette, accurately taking and conveying messages at all times.

COMPETENCIES (SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND ATTRIBUTES) REQUIRED              

• National Senior/Matric certificate.
• Minimum one (1) year of relevant admin and secretarial experience within a legal environment.
• Understanding and application of basic computer software packages.
• Good written and verbal communication skills.
• Attention to detail.