A STUDY TO DETERMINE THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING REQUIREMENTS FOR ENTRY-LEVEL LEGAL SECRETARIES IN LARGE-SIZED LAW FIRMS IN INDIANAPOLIS, WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVEMEN

Problem. The problem was to determine the education and training requirements for entry-level legal secretaries in large-sized law firms in Indianapolis.;Procedures. A study was made of the responses of 98 lawyer/employers and 68 legal secretaries from seven large-sized law firms to two questionnaires. Also, a study was made of school catalogues from 30 secondary and 10 postsecondary educational institutions in Indianapolis. All of the information and data were for the 1981-1982 academic school year.;Results and Conclusions. The following are the results and conclusions based upon the analysis and interpretation of the data from the two questionnaires and the school catalogues: (1) The competencies which are "very important" to the success of the entry-level legal secretary in a large-sized law firm (in alphabetical order) are: ethics; filing; grammar; legal typing; legal terminology; punctuation; secretary-employer relationship; spelling; system of reminders; telephone etiquette and courtesy; treatment of office callers; transcribing machine; and, vocabulary (general). (2) The courses which are "very important" to the success of the entry-level legal secretary in a large-sized law firm (in alphabetical order are: Business English; drafting of legal documents; English; filing; legal ethics; legal machine transcription; legal methods, practices, and procedures; legal office procedures; legal terminology; office machines; office procedures; typewriting; and, written communication. (3) The only sources of a formal legal secretarial program with a sequence of courses in Indianapolis are in the postsecondary schools, that is, two business/secretarial schools and one university. (4) All of the 22 public and most of the eight nonpublic secondary schools in Indianapolis offer a general secretarial program with a sequence of courses. Units of legal teaching are offered in these courses: advanced shorthand; advanced typewriting; business law; cooperative office education - related; intensive office laboratory; office (clerical) procedures; and, secretarial practice. (5) The areas of job performance by entry-level legal secretaries most often needing improvement are: legal training background; and, spelling, punctuation, and grammar. (6) Most of the respondees do not favor providing informal on-the-job legal training in the large-sized law firms due to the loss of productive time.