Litigation secretaries work in litigation attorneys’ offices. Traditional secretarial skills are required, as well as knowledge of the forms and procedures used in litigation. Many of the responsibilities of the job entail assisting the attorney in preparing for trial. Hearings may be scheduled, pleadings may be formatted and prepared, and court documents may be filed. Document organization and meeting court deadlines are critical aspects of the job.
Litigation is the process of presenting a case to a court. Each state will have its own rules of procedure for the formatting and filing of legal documents in countries like the United States. A litigation secretary must be familiar with the correct format of legal pleadings such as briefs and motions that are filed with the court, in addition to typing and transcribing dictation. Each jurisdiction has its own set of rules for citing legal authorities in pleadings. District courts in the United States have their own set of rules.
The process by which each side in a court case exchanges documents that will be used at trial is known as “discovery.” It involves a lot of data, and a litigation secretary can help organize it and keep track of when it was sent or received. The discovery process requires familiarity with retrieving electronically stored information. The rules of discovery require that documents be submitted to the opposing party within a certain amount of time, and the secretary involved assists in meeting those deadlines.
Litigation requires a great deal of planning. A litigation secretary is in charge of keeping track of all of the attorney’s deadlines and important dates. Hearings, depositions, settlement conferences, and the deadlines for filing pleadings are just a few examples. The secretary is usually in charge of the initial scheduling of hearings and conferences, as well as ensuring that the attorney’s schedule is free of conflicts.
A litigation secretary’s responsibilities do not always end when the trial is over. In many civil cases, one or both parties may file post-trial motions alleging trial errors. In most cases, the deadlines for filing such motions are very strict. The secretary, like other pleadings, is responsible for ensuring that the motion is filed in the proper format and that copies are sent to all parties involved in a timely manner.
The procedure for appealing a trial decision has its own set of rules and deadlines. Within 30 days of the court’s decision, a notice of appeal must be prepared and filed. A litigation secretary types the appeal brief in the proper format and ensures that the appeals court receives a certified transcript of the trial record.