Once a month, Students have the opportunity to attend a tour of the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, commonly known as the ‘Law Courts’. The building houses the Court of Appeal and the High Court. As you may have learnt from the English Legal System unit of the Legal Secretaries Diploma course, the Court of Appeal has two divisions – the Civil division, which hears appeals from the High Court, and the Criminal division, which hears appeals from the Crown Court. The High Court has three divisions – the Queen’s Bench division, the Chancery division and the Family division – and accommodates the Administrative Court. The building, breathtaking with its Gothic style and lavish interior, was opened by Queen Victoria in 1882.

Prioritise tasks using the Windows 7 taskbar

When you look at the Windows taskbar, you probably would never think that it can be used as an effective to- do list. Windows 7 allows you to drag application icons on the taskbar to the left and right, however, and you can use this to prioritise your tasks at hand. Arrange your open applications from left to right according to priority. For example, if answering email is your most important task, keep Outlook to the left, followed by that Word document you need to work on before lunch, then your case management system and finally the game of solitaire that you hope to win once you have completed your pressing tasks.

If you are a regular reader of articles from the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs on legal issues, you may notice that this subject was covered some time ago and it is an issue that insists on making the news. Politicians all seem to make noise about changing the law concerning the use of reasonable force to protect yourself, your loved ones and your property, but it is a fact that we are no further forward today than we were when the Tony Martin murder case hit the headlines back in 1999.

At times we can be our own worst enemy. Whilst this can take any number of forms, one particular culprit is self-criticism. You know the sort of thing: you find yourself saying or thinking things like ‘I’m useless’, ‘What an idiot!’ ‘I’m no good at this’ or ‘I can’t do it.’ Although an appropriate dose of constructive self-criticism can motivate us, a higher dose puts us under stress and generally makes things worse as a result. We invariably come out with global self-critical remarks or thoughts like the ones above when we are under stress already. Piling on yet more stress prevents us from accessing our innate capacity to help and support ourselves in a positive and encouraging way.

We are proud to present our new crest to you. It expresses some relevant meanings, encompassing the characteristics, work and role of Legal Secretaries and PAs.

The colours blue, white and maroon have been chosen to promote the attributes of truth, loyalty, sincerity and patience. These qualities will hold you in good stead throughout your career, ensuring that you are trusted and respected by your employers and colleagues.

The law surrounding the doctrine of doli incapax has always proven to be extremely controversial, and not just in England. No doubt every single country in the world has deliberated over the age at which a child should be presumed to know that he/she is culpable of wrongdoing to the same extent as an adult. However, where England is concerned, there are reasons that the Liberal Democrat Party is calling for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised.

Do your knees tremble and your hands shake when you have to make a speech in public? Would you rather do your filing than speak in front of a group?

Public speaking DOES NOT HAVE TO BE STRESSFUL! Even the best speakers have their critics. They too can make mistakes, get tongue-tied or forget whole segments of their speech. So here are the top 10 tips to help you overcome some of those fears:

If you have completed studying the English Legal System on ILSPA's Legal Secretaries Diploma Course, you will be aware that the two main branches of the legal profession are solicitors and barristers. These parts of the profession work together in some cases to ensure the best chance of success. When it is appropriate to use a barrister, the barrister is sent ‘Instructions' (when asked to give an opinion on a case) or a 'Brief' (if the barrister is to appear in court). Good instructions should give background on a case and will generally include the following:

Having left school at 16 with several “o” levels but no real direction other than that I wanted to work in an office, I started working in a small friendly commercial office doing general office work and reception duties.  It was devastating when I was made redundant after only seven months as I enjoyed my job and loved the people I worked with.  I immediately signed on with several recruitment agencies in my home town, had a short term temp job as a receptionist/typist in a very small legal office in the town centre and immediately got “the bug”.

Are you a perfectionist? Do you keep checking and rechecking documents? Or perhaps you ‘butterfly’ from task to task? Being a perfectionist or a butterfly will steal your valuable time unnecessarily. So here are the top 10 tips to help you overcome time obstacles.