Introduction to Legal Administration

Law firms, legal departments, courts, the State Attorney, Legal Aid South Africa and debt collection offices all depend on skilled administrative staff. Legal secretaries, receptionists, filing clerks and junior paralegals keep files in order, diarise deadlines, prepare documents, deal with clients and make sure nothing falls through the cracks. In a legal office, one missed date or one misplaced document can cost a client their case. This course gives you a practical introduction to legal administration in South Africa. You will learn how the courts are organised, who does what in the legal profession, the legal terms and court documents you will see every day, how to open and manage client files, how documents are issued, served and filed, how court days are counted, what prescription is, how fees and trust money are handled, and why confidentiality and fraud prevention matter so much. You will also learn about the different places you can work and how to deal professionally with clients. The course is fully online and self-paced. Each lesson has a short activity in your workbook. You finish with a practical task and a final assessment, and you receive a MetaCo Certificate of Completion that you can add to your CV. The course gives general information about legal practice, not legal advice.