Legal secretaries at AKD are given lots of responsibility, but also lots of freedom, say Anne-Claire IJsselstijn and Femke Scherpenzeel. A conversation about practice groups, court documents and personal development. "It's nice to know that lawyers have faith in my ability".

Anne-Claire IJsselstijn has been a legal secretary (PGA) with AKD in Rotterdam since early 2019. She's a member of the Transport & Trade practice group. Femke Scherpenzeel used to work as a legal secretary in the Employment & Benefits practice group in AKD's Amsterdam office. Right now, she's a trainee in the same practice group for four days a week. The reason being that in 2025 she hopes to obtain her degree in law from the applied sciences university she attends.

What does your day on the job look like?

Anne-Claire: "There's no such thing as a typical day on the job, for no two days are alike. I'm part of a practice group where many of the lawyers are frequent litigators. The make-up of my day depends on the cases that are going to be tried over the days and weeks ahead. It's not uncommon to have to submit hefty loads of court documents to the District Court or the Court of Appeal. That's what I tend to spend most of my time on. I check the documents to see if everything is correct, how the print job turned out, have all i's been dotted and t's been crossed. And at the same time I learn what the case is about, which is nice, too."

Femke: "Hah, I do that, too! Having an active part in a case from start to finish is kind of fascinating. And it makes me feel even more involved in my job. Not to mention that it ties in very well with my studies. It really makes for very interesting reading."

Anne-Claire: "Another thing taking up a lot of our time is the mail. Not exactly rocket science, but it's important to do it quickly and to do it well. All the mail that we receive is stored digitally. That ensures that the entire practice group is able to retrieve every letter, every document in a matter. Fortunately, a lot of the mail comes to us in digital form already."

Femke: "Apart from that, we open new matters, draft letters, archive closed matters, and manage the calendars of the various lawyers, civil-law notaries and tax advisers. We schedule internal and external meetings and keep tab on the court docket: when do we need to submit which documents?"

Anne-Claire: "When I started out as a legal secretary, five years ago, we were still typing text from voice recordings dictated by lawyers. That's now in the past, as most lawyers draft their own texts. Or I make a first draft, which they then review and modify. I do occasionally get a call from a lawyer who's on the road and needs something committed to paper, so I type out the text dictated by them. Anyhow, I definitely do not sit at my desk and type, type, type all day."

Femke: "Most lawyers are at home with digital tools, but some still prefer to read from paper, especially longer documents. For them, you spend a bit more time at the printing device. You learn pretty quickly which lawyer has which needs."

Anne-Claire: "In our practice group, we also organise regular seminars on recent legal developments. In my role, I'm responsible for planning these seminars, from the invitations all the way to receiving the guests on the day. We work together with other departments in the office, such as IT and Communications. And in collaboration with Recruitment, we organise an annual event for students. Spending a whole day with students is great fun."