Technical Core Competencies for Legal Administrative Assistants

Core Competencies

Core competencies are the essential skills, knowledge and abilities to perform the broad duties of a LAA.  These competencies should be established, written and distributed to all employees.  These competencies can also be used as a tool to help design performance improvement initiatives. 

When determining what should be considered a core technical competency for document production, ask yourself the following questions:

•  Is there a look/standard the firm wants to project?
• Is there a firm-wide preferred way of working in a program?
• Is there a standard format/template that should be used/designed?
• When working in a specific practice area, are there agreed upon preferences?
• What should EVERY LAA know how to do in “name the software”?

         * No matter what department they work in.

• Does the LAA perform this task daily, weekly, or occasionally?

What Programs Should Have Core Competencies Established?

Core Competencies can be established in every program used in your firm:

• MS Office (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word)
• Comparing software
• Document management software
• Contact management software
• Billing software
• Records management software
• Litigation support software

Maxine “Max” McClellan is the owner of Max’d Out Training, Inc., a US Army veteran and a legal technology training specialist.  She has over 25 years’ experience in the legal industry working as a Paralegal, Legal Secretary, Word Processing Supervisor and Technical Trainer.  

Prior to starting Max’d Out Training she was the sole technology trainer for a Minneapolis-based law firm where she was instrumental in increasing the technical efficiency and proficiency level from 60% to 90% within 6 months.   

Her company provides customized education strategies and customized technical knowledge evaluations for law firms designed to significantly impact the productivity and efficiency of not only employees, but their processes too.  She assists HR Directors in establishing best practices and core competencies in the use of software and the production of documents, guides Technology Directors in the development of firm macros, templates, styles sets, etc., and helps Training Managers in the planning and implementing of customized technical training classes.  The tools are tailored to the firm’s culture, their unique software and document production procedures. 

She believes that when you educate and empower lawyers and staff in the use of technology you can streamline the workflow and gain the competitive edge. 

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