Are you getting a sense of déjà vu here? Haven’t we heard this promise somewhere before? Yes to both of these questions: indeed, the Conservative Party used this enticement in their manifesto for the General Election back in 2010. However, when push came to shove and they were prompted to deliver on such a promise, they said they were unable to go ahead with this tax break after all, as the Liberal Democrats were so vehemently opposed to this move.

Most of our readers will spend a lot of time working with Microsoft Outlook as it is probably the most widely used mail and calendar client in organisations today. Here are some helpful keyboard shortcuts to lessen the time you spend in your Outlook in-box.

1. Open the address book with the ‘to’ field selected: ALT + .

2. Open the address book with the ‘bcc’ field selected: ALT + B

3. Move to the subject field: ALT + J

4. Check names in ‘to’ and ‘cc’ fields against the address book: ALT + K

5. Reply all: ALT + L

6. Reply: ALT + R

7. Send: ALT + S

8. Forward an item: ALT + W (will open a weekly calendar view if you are in the calendar)

9. Activate the find toolbar: F3

10. Spellcheck: F7

11. Select all: CTRL + A

12. Forward a message: CTRL + F

The skill to portray a good telephone manner is definitely one of the most important to your role in working as a Legal Secretary or PA. How you come across on the telephone affects the professionalism of your firm and, therefore, its reputation.

With this in mind, let’s treat this article as a gentle reminder of how best to develop a good telephone manner. There may well be some aspects here that had never occurred to you, and there may be some other things you do that are bad enough to warrant a visit from the ‘etiquette police’.

Applicable Salutations

First and foremost, we need to look at the applicable salutations you are using. It is always most professional to greet the caller with the relevant time of day (e.g. “Good morning/afternoon”), followed by the name of the company and then your name.

When you realise that you have many bad or mediocre habits that are holding you back in life, you may start to feel overwhelmed. Where should you begin?

Here’s a simple heuristic that will help you identify which habits to change first:

Add the Best and Drop the Worst

Let’s start with the first part.

Can you identify some of the absolute best habits you could add to your life, such that if you maintained these habits every day for the next 10 years, it would make a huge difference in your results?

Go ahead and brainstorm a few ideas. Jot them down. You don’t need a lot — a small handful of ideas are fine.

Now is there a certain idea that pops out at you? It may be on your short list, or you may come up with a new idea.

I think it is of value to play the part, step up, join in, think, act, move forward, plant the seeds and grow!

Last August I left my job at the Met Office, Exeter, as Executive Assistant to the Chief Scientist and wondered what I could do next. I am a single mum with a lovely teenage girl. I thought perhaps it would be exciting to do something quite different, and I thought that the Legal Secretary Qualification would offer me a ‘bolt on’ to my business and administrative skills. Last year, I had the opportunity to study for and gain the PRINCE2 Project Management Qualification.

There is no fatigue so wearisome as that which comes from lack of work. – Charles Spurgeon

If you’ve been stuck in a lazy rut lately, here are some suggestions to get yourself working productively.

Accept That Many Results Require Hard Work

Remind yourself of the simple causality chain from decision to action to results. That middle phase is where most of the work is.

If you have no willingness to ever work your ass off, if you have such resistance to the very notion of pushing yourself, if you have an overdeveloped sense of entitlement that all the goodness of life should flow to you with effortless ease, that’s great. You can read this article purely for entertainment purposes.

This month we are focusing on local searches, which are one of the most important checks that a purchaser should carry out before signing a contract to buy property or land.

Local searches are usually provided by the local authority where the land or property is located. These searches form part of the standard conveyancing process and are obtained by completing a Local Land Charges search (LLC1 search) and Enquiries of a Local Authority (CON 29 search). The CON 29 form was last written about in a Journal article early last year. The parts of this form relating to drainage and water searches was to be used by most water and sewerage companies since 1 November 2013, and all providers in England will have to use the new forms and reports by spring 2014.  

Have you been reading information about the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs’ courses and considering the possibility of studying again? Do you find yourself thinking that such study might be way over your head now that you are getting on a little bit in years? If this strikes a chord with you, carry on reading this article for some inspiration and advice in this regard.

ILSPA Students

So, to get straight to the heart of the matter here: you are never too old to study something that interests you. One of ILSPA’s course developers is in his 70s now and has recently started a Master’s Degree in Law!

As a Legal Secretary, you will sometimes find yourself needing to compile well-researched documents. The hallmark of any respectable reference document is its citations. Without citations to the sources of your information, your research is quickly rendered useless, as it is not verifiable in any way. 

Fortunately MS Office makes it easy to add citations to documents quickly and easily.

You can add your citations by following these steps:

This month we are looking at some of the latest developments in the world of wills and probate. 

The Law Society Wills and Inheritance Protocol

A new protocol published in July 2013 was linked to the Law Society’s Wills and Inheritance Quality Scheme. The protocol is not currently compulsory for Solicitors unless they are members of the Quality Scheme. 

The protocol sets out the ‘preferred practice’ for will drafting, probate and estate administration and covers areas of practice that commonly give rise to risks and errors. The protocol is intended to form the policy that a legal practice should follow to help it meet the high-quality service standards that clients expect. A few examples of key points that are covered on will drafting include these: