CCLS stands for California Certified Legal Secretary, a certification program sponsored by Legal Secretaries, Inc. Marin County Legal Professionals Association is the local chapter of LSI and currently boasts 3 CCLS certified members. [Editor’s Note: You can read more about MCLPA in Kristi’s article in our July 2018 issue.]


Certification

All attorneys who hire support staff should be aware of the CCLS program because when you hire a CCLS you are assured of hiring someone who has passed a comprehensive examination in the following areas:

1) California Legal Procedure: Knowledge of procedure in five areas of law: Civil Litigation, Probate/Estate Planning, Family Law, Corporations, and Real Estate;

2) Legal Terminology: Proper format of citations and abbreviations, as well as terminology from the five areas of law covered in California Legal Procedure;

3) Performance Skills: An “in-basket” exercise in which the examinees are given an instructional memo and multiple versions of forms, with only one correct form. This section is designed to test an examinee’s ability to follow directions and to proofread;

4) Reasoning and Ethics: Reasoning verifies an examinee’s ability to evaluate facts and situations logically and to reach rational conclusions. Ethics tests their understanding of accepted professional standards of conduct, including accounts management in a law office and notary public issues;

5) Law Office Administration: Alphabetic filing, computer use and terminology, notary public practices, and general office procedures;

6) Effective Communication: Correct punctuation, grammar, spelling, and word usage; and

7) Legal Computations: Several types of computations performed every day by legal support staff: practical calendaring of due dates and hearings, ability to determine appropriate filing fees in various areas of law, and basic math calculations done in everyday practice.

A minimum of two years-experience is required to participate in the program. The rigorous and detailed eight-hour exam is offered twice a year (next in September 2019 and March 2020). Continuing legal education requirements must be met for recertification every three years.

Benefits to the Employer

Hiring a CCLS ensures that you are hiring:

• A well-rounded employee who has knowledge of several areas of law — your employee will have enough knowledge in various areas of law that will allow him or her to jump in and assist on cases that may not be in the firm’s usual practice area(s).
• A professional employee — a CCLS must maintain continuing education credits.
• A quick reference — a CCLS will have a wealth of knowledge ready to answer questions and assist others, or if he or she does not know the answer, they know where and how to find it quickly.
• A self-confident employee — a CCLS has passed a very difficult and thorough exam. Passing the exam increases their self-confidence, which improves efficiency and boosts their morale.
• A pre-screened employee — you will know that they already have knowledge in many areas of law, and that they have passed an exam that thoroughly tests them on that knowledge.

I think this program is particularly valuable to Marin County attorneys because there is no legal secretarial school producing qualified applicants in our area. I have personally fielded inquiries from local attorneys desperately seeking staff members who can properly compose a letter and proofread briefs, have knowledge of legal terminology and procedure, and understand the ethics of working in a law office. Hiring a CCLS or supporting your current staff in studying for the exam solves the problem!

For more information on the CCLS program, please visit LSI.org or contact me at kledwards@justice.com.
Kristi L. Edwards, CCLS
Marin County Legal Professionals Association