ILSPA has introduced a fantastic new Membership scheme. As from 1 July 2015, ILSPA Members will be able to renew their Membership for a one-off fee of £50. This will entitle them to Lifetime Membership of the Institute.

Rather than Members renewing each year and paying a fee of £35, they will only need to renew their Membership once, and they will receive Membership benefits for as long as they need them. 

We have received positive feedback about the scheme already. Members are very keen to renew knowing they only have to pay a one-off fee, and we have had former Members showing an interest in joining us again. We believe this will greatly aid Membership retention and help us form closer relationships with our Members.

Lifetime Membership is also available to new Members of the Institute. Whatever level you are at in your career, you can receive a wealth of benefits through ILSPA.

Like most areas of legal practice, civil litigation has been affected over the past few years by the cuts in public spending. Following the withdrawal in April 2013 of legal aid for most civil claims, there are many people who are unlikely to be able to afford to pay privately for a solicitor to advise them. To help these clients, the Law Society published guidance on 19 March 2015 for solicitors called ‘unbundling civil legal services’.

Normally when a litigator uses the word ‘bundling’, he or she would be talking about the process of getting all the documentation ready for a trial. The term ‘unbundling’ has an entirely different meaning. Unbundling could be compared to the concept of ‘pay as you go’ or ‘a la carte’ legal services. The fees that a solicitor charges a client (called the retainer) are limited to particular stages in a civil claim. Some examples of unbundled legal services include:

Finding the right level of stimulation for your work and relationships is one of life’s key challenges. Sometimes we procrastinate on tasks and check out from relationships because the overall stimulation level isn’t a good match for our preferences. Some situations are understimulating, causing us to feel bored and listless. Other situations are overstimulating, causing us to feel stressed or anxious. In the middle is the preferred zone where we feel attentively engaged, but this zone is different for each individual.

Fortunately, we don’t have to accept every situation as it comes. We can take steps to alter the default stimulation level to make it a better fit for us. This gives us more conscious control and flexibility.

When the Stimulation Is Too Low

Working as a Legal Secretary will require you to be extremely focused and organised in order to adhere to tight deadlines and to keep up with the fast-paced legal industry. Dividing your work or objectives into specific goals is an important part of managing your workload and achieving your overall ambitions. This is not just true for people in employment – for those of you currently studying for qualifications, the setting of goals is just as important.

Setting goals is only the first step, though. This article includes some tips which will help you stick to your goals once you have decided what they are.

Be organised

The Data Protection Act (1998) includes legislation to protect the personal information of Internet users to ensure that they are not exploited illegally online. This is the only real legislation which exists in the UK to protect individuals from what goes on online, and it is only scratching at the surface when it comes to Internet safety. Victims of cyberbullying, websites containing illegal and indecent images of children or minors, plagiarism or illegal sharing of intellectual property, and other online content which can be considered illegal are not protected, censored or restricted in the same way that our credit card details might be, and this is causing a huge degree of controversy over Internet use.

Since the new Conservative government was elected, there have been announcements that significant changes will be made to the strike laws which are currently in place. When these changes come into effect, any strike which will affect the public services will need to have the support of 40% of the eligible voting union members. As it stands, a strike can be carried out if it has the support of the majority of those who vote.

Unions have responded to the announcement by saying that the new legislative measures will make legal strikes almost impossible. The new percentage will not be calculated from the number of people who vote, but from the total number of union members who are eligible to vote and therefore could have voted.

We are often much better at identifying our strengths than looking objectively at our weaknesses, but knowing the areas in which we struggle most is usually the most beneficial piece of information we can have in terms of improving our performance. Whether you are not receiving the marks you were hoping to achieve on a course or not getting the recognition or results you want in the workplace, there are a few things you can do to try to work out where your weaknesses are and therefore give yourself the best chance of improving them.

Ask for feedback

There are several skills you need to have when studying ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma course. Firstly, you do not need to have any previous experience in law to enrol. ILSPA’s Diploma will give you an understanding of the most important and most commonly practiced areas of law. Once qualified, you will be able to secure employment as a Legal Secretary and advance your knowledge on the job.

With the explosion of technological advances we’ve seen in recent years, it seems as though every single aspect of life has been affected and enhanced by technology. Not just life, though, but death as well: the wills industry has already started modernising itself in various ways in order to keep up with the times.

From probate apps on Apple and Android devices to the recording of video Wills, the Wills and Probate industry is undergoing a technological revamp in all sectors. Here are some of the major shake-ups we can expect to see in the coming months and years, as well as some of the implications of said developments.

The Main Upcoming Advancements

Our Legal Secretaries Diploma unit relating to Wills, Intestacy and Family Provision explains why it is important to make a Will. In the course assessments, Students learn how to produce a Will.

However, it is possible to make a Will without professional assistance; in fact, it is possible to pick up a draft Will with basic instructions on how to complete the same from a High Street stationery retailer. Whilst this can produce a valid Will, it is also very easy to make a mistake when writing the will or signing it, which can render it invalid or ambiguous.