Dixie Crooks Email & Phone Number

At the age of 15 when I started as a junior secretary, I realised that my career would always be in the legal field. I have spent the years since then acquiring knowledge to progress through senior secretarial, executive assistant and paralegal roles, where I have been fortunate enough to support and be an integral part of some of the strongest, most committed legal teams around.At the start of my career we used typewriters, wrote letters, kept manual diaries, made carbon copies and could even smoke in the office! There was no email, no spell-check and even the fax machine was a couple of decades away. Over my career a lot has changed but much has not. I have seen and trained many incoming secretaries who struggle with the basics of letter writing, administration, organisational skills and adapting to the legal environment. This has reinforced that career professional secretaries require the same skills now as they did then, but sadly they are now harder to find. Exemplary letter writing skills, a sound knowledge of language and grammar, attention to detail, a strong moral code, the ability to deal professionally at all levels, and the pride of a job well done are all the hallmarks of an old-school secretary that I am not ashamed to boast as I believe they are the mark of a rare and endangered breed.

Listed skills include Typing 90+ Wpm, Shorthand, Legal Writing, Legal Documents, and 15 others.

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  Avondale College, Auckland Nz