Every legal secretary must be fully trained in all aspects of court filing procedures to avoid missed statutes, unhappy clients, and lawsuits. Here are three simple ways to insure that every document submitted for court filing is completed timely. Since virtually every court has different filing requirements, it is important that your office staff is current on the local filing requirements. Your attorney service should be able to provide your office with current filing guidelines and up-date your staff of changes in local rules. When you sign a legal document, you are certifying that the information contained in the document is accurate, to the best of your knowledge.
Attorneys have a duty to insure that the document is accurately completed prior to filing.
Most attorneys are rushed to sign documents and take it for granted that their staff has properly completed the document. A quick, yet careful, review of the document prior to signing will often uncover minor errors or omissions which could result in filing delays. Unfortunately, a document typed on the wrong form or one that is incomplete will result in rejection, by the court, and ultimately reflects on the firm's ability to practice law in a manner expected by their client. Utilize Your Attorney Service Attorney services are more than just a filing service and process serving company. While one of the major functions of an attorney service is to get documents filed timely, they also have a duty to keep the law firm apprised of changes in court filing requirements, filing shortcuts, current backlog of specific documents within the court system, and ways to avoid filing rejections.