General Overview
If providing legal services is your niche, you will be happy to know that there is more than just one way to be inducted into the legal system.
You do not have to wait for many years for your degree to end so that you can apply for a legal intern or assistant position. You can work as a court runner while you complete your degree or wait for the results, and decide and work your way up.
Contrary to what a court runner is expected to do (considering the designation), court runners do not only run to and between legal offices and courts to deliver documents.
Although moving of important documents is the primary job of a court runner, he or she is required to handle many other jobs within a legal office. These may include administrative and clerical tasks such as taking telephone calls, processing filing duties and managing correspondence.
Eventually, court runners are hired on as legal assistants – in most cases anyway. Court runners are at times required to perform legal research as well, which gives them great insight into the workings of a legal office. And make them a great choice for when employers want to hire new people on.
Typically, you will be performing the following duties as a court runner:
Court Runner Duties & Responsibilities
• Take orders for delivering important documents to and from courts
• Look through document dockets to ensure that the correct ones are being delivered
• Plan shortest and safest route to courts and back to the office to ensure timely delivery
• Ascertain that the right recipient is handed over the documents by inquiring about the identity
• Take signatures on receipts and ensure that delivery information has been communicated to the office
• Handle photocopying and document scanning duties along with managing correspondence
• Perform research work to determine case precedents and provide written reports to legal assistants
• Greet clients and witnesses and perform preliminary interviews and take notes
• Provide interview feedback and alert legal assistants/attorneys of any discrepancies in witnesses’ stories
• Take orders for and perform verification activities for real estate and title records
• Handle filing and records keeping duties by ensuring that all information is handled in a secure and confidential manner
• Perform data entry duties by entering important information in office data and checking it for accuracy
• Assist in leading security patrols by providing background information to legal attorneys and legal assistants
• Receive and distribute mail to intended recipients within the office