Do you ever feel like a shape-shifter in your legal support role? One minute you’re responding to routine emails and the next you’re reviewing documents to help lawyers prepare for upcoming trials. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
Today’s legal admin teams increasingly require team members to take on responsibilities that are outside of their traditional roles. What does this mean for you? Well, as your skill set widens and responsibilities grow, salaries tend to follow suit. Let’s take a look at three in-demand legal admin jobs that have seen increased starting salaries in Canada as a result of these changes.
1. Office Manager
A legal office manager is responsible for overseeing the overall functioning of the office. This may include some accounting, hiring and firing staff, administering of benefits, organizing the office, supervising the staff, tracking court appearances on the calendar, preparing legal documents, and managing case files.
- Average starting salary: $78,000 - $110,750 at a large law firm
- Increase since 2016: 3.0 per cent
2. Senior Law Clerk
These trained professionals do independent legal work - which may include managerial duties - under the direction and guidance of a lawyer. Their primary role is to relieve a lawyer of routine legal and administrative matters and assist them in the more complex ones. As law firms are constantly constantly challenged to provide the highest level of service at the lowest possible cost, it is certain that the law clerk job will continue to expand.
- Average starting salary: $51,500 - $66,250 at a small law firm
- Increase since 2016: 3.5 per cent
3. Legal Assistant
Legal assistants play a key role in a law office, a corporate legal department or the judicial system. A Legal assistant must have excellent oral and written communication skills, time management skills, with the ability to prioritize and meet deadlines. They always require superior computer skills, excellent attention to detail and proof reading skills, work well in both a team and independently, have a high standard of work ethics and be able to keep client information confidential.
- Average starting salary: $36,000 - $41,250 at a midsize law firm with 1 to 2 years of experience
- Increase since 2016: 2.7 per cent
Naturally, the rate for these positions will vary depending on your location and the size of the organization you work with. You can use our Salary Calculator to see what the going rates are in your region. For more information on Canada's mosts in-demand legal roles, check out our hiring trends infographics at Robert Half Legal’s Salary Centre.
