Legal Assistant

Dictionaries

• Dictionary - Legal Terms (Canadian) - Canadian, but very comprehensive and some good explanations. See also Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law and West's Encyclopedia of American Law
• Dictionary & Thesaurus
• Dictionary of new words and phrases Dictionary of new words and phrases as they evolve
• Thesaurus Visual - word maps that blossom with meanings and branch to related words. Hear words pronounced correctly.

Plain English Lexicon (link is in the last line) is a free download (I could only get the download to work in Internet Explorer). It is a guide as to whether or not your words will be understood and suggests alternative plain English words.

Writing Skills & Document Assembly

An excellent book on improving writing skills for everyone in a legal office is English Essentials - "The wouldn't-be-without-it guide to writing well". It is written by Mem Fox and Lyn Wilkinson and published by Macmillan.

• Writing "It" Is a Start; Getting "It" Read Is the Goal
• A Time of Transition: Logical Links to Move the Reader Forward
• Writing Paralegal Resumes
• Proofreading for the proper setting out of a document
• Proofreading and editing tipps
• Smart Document Generation
• Listen to What You Write: Your Ears Will Tell You if You're Communicating Ideas Effectively
• 20 Ways to Write Like a Tool

Email Etiquette

Netiquette.  "Netiquette" is network etiquette, the do's and don'ts of online communication.

Netiquette covers both common courtesy online and the informal "rules of the road" of cyberspace.

See also 50 ways to write an email and Email Signatures: Valuable Real Estate.

Training

Leo Cussen training for support staff Schedule of courses. 

The Specialist Paralegal Magazine

The Specialist Paralegal Magazine

Useful and Useless Tools

• Dealing with Difficult Clients
• Paralegals Handbook (friendly advice)
• Why can't I just Google - Brilliant from LaTrobe
• Computer Tan
• Stretch Clock - a reminder and short video to stand and stretch every hour
• Schedule a meeting time that works for everyone. Simple and free.
• delete 25 Best & Worst Legal TV Shows Jan 2011

Microsoft & Shortcuts

• Hands-on pointers for Everyday Applications
• The Word MVPS website is a collection of articles by experts on Word for PC. There are tutorials, general instructions and answers to specific problems (like good old numbering). Topics include Formatting, Macros/VBA, Mail Merge, Numbering and Tables, Fields & Forms.
• 60 indispensable Microsoft Word tips (free registration - but worth it)
• 75 essential Excel tips (free registration - but worth it)
• ASAP Utilities - The essential free add-in for Excel users
• KeyXL is a database of keyboard shortcuts and tips.
• Excel shortcut keys
• Firefox shortcut keys
• Internet Explorer shortcut keys
• Outlook shorcut keys
• Word shortcut keys
• 2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Save as PDF (Free)
• Delay or schedule sending a message in Outlook
• Convert PDF to Word for Free
• Create a better e-mail message in Outlook

Open Office

Open Office is the free alternative to Microsoft's software for use in the office.

Open Office can open Word documents and save its own documents in Word format.

Open Office has a toolbar like the older versions of Word, rather than the ribbon used in Word 2007. It has a more user friendly method of automatic numbering of paragraphs. If you have a document with complex numbering and Word is the standard software in your office, then consider preparing the document in Open Office then saving it as a Word document. 

There is also a lot of other free open source software available. See the Open Source Software Primer for the Solo and Small Firm Lawyer.

Institute of Legal Executives

The Institute is the professional association for Legal Executives.

Its objectives include:

• To advance and protect the status and interest of this branch of the legal profession.
• To promote professional unity, co-operation and mutual assistance between them.
• Generally to promote the education and professional advancement of persons with a view to assisting them to become proficient in the Law and to qualify as Legal Executives

web site: The Institute of Legal Executives (Victoria)

Legal Assistant Today

Paralegal Today Magazine (incorporating Legal Assistant Today)

Their List of Articles by Subject that may be helpful:

• Career
• Ethics
• Legal Writing
• Management
• Software Reviews
• Technology
• Trends

The Estrin Report

The Estrin Report; Created for professional paralegals - not of a certain level, specialty or firm - but of a particular attitude.

Some news feed headlines from the Estrin Report:

• 15 Ways to Leave Your Lawyer ...And Set Yourself Free
• Warning: Shift Ahead - Are You Ready?
• What??? Consider a Career with a Legal Support Provider?
• Participating in Salary Surveys Can Lead to Big Surprises
• Would you give your Facebook password to a prospective employer?
• You Coulda Fooled Me.....
• 10 Ways to Sink Your Paralegal Career - Guaranteed