Hard working secretaries are in the spotlight as a leading lawyer has spoken out on their behalf.

Brian Bartley, Chairman of the Queensland Law Society’s ethics committee has attacked the legal profession claiming that secretaries working in law firms are being used as paralegals and their work is being billed for up to as much as $300 per hour – despite the secretaries rarely earning more than a mere $20 per hour out of this. Staff without legal qualifications can earn around $40,000 a year – yet their value to the firm they work for is estimated to be as high as $500,000. The sort of duties these secretarial staff may be expected to do includes booking appointments with doctors and specialists, collating reports and preparing documents for review.

Speaking to The Australian Mr Bartley remarked that is was possible for these hard working secretaries to have earned their weekly salary within just a handful of hours – meaning everything over and above that is profit for the firm that employs them.