In the legal world, pressure is part of the job, not just for lawyers, but also for the professionals who keep the engine running behind the scenes. Legal secretaries, administrators, and support teams are often managing multiple deadlines, juggling client needs, and responding to last-minute changes, all while keeping their cool and ensuring the quality of work never drops.

Handling pressure well isn’t just about surviving the chaos. It’s about becoming a key contributor to a firm’s performance, reputation, and client outcomes.

Over the years Simone Macdonald our Legal Support specialist recruiter has met with and interviewed many high-performing legal support professionals and this is what she has learnt on the best way these professionals navigate high-pressure situations and turn them into opportunities to demonstrate real commercial value.

1. Understand the commercial impact of your role

Support professionals directly influence efficiency, client satisfaction, and bottom-line outcomes. In high-pressure situations, your responsiveness, accuracy, and foresight are what keep matters moving and clients confident.

2. Anticipate, don’t just react

Knowing what your authors, practice managers, or clients will need next sets you apart. Anticipation minimises last-minute pressure, reduces risk, and ensures smoother matter delivery, all of which drive stronger client-focused service and solutions to their immediate issues.

3. Prioritise for productivity, not just completion

Learn how to assess tasks through a business lens. What’s urgent? What’s critical to the client relationship? What enables fee earners to stay billable? Managing your time effectively is a value-adding skill.

4. Communicate like a project manager

Accurate, timely communication keeps the legal team aligned. Clear updates, early warnings, and confident check-ins ensure the right people have what they need and avoid duplication or delays. If something feels off, raise it. Flagging issues before they escalate shows commercial maturity and risk awareness, which are essential in a legal environment.

5. Stay calm, it builds confidence

Pressure is contagious but so is staying calm. Staying level-headed gives others in your team the confidence to focus on strategy while you maintain execution and delivery. Your composure becomes a commercial asset.

6. Invest in Your Capability

The legal world evolves fast, and so should you. Ongoing training in systems, communication, and time management keeps you sharp and confident under pressure. Capability directly influences commercial value.

Legal support roles aren’t just about "getting it done", they’re about enabling the business to perform at its best, especially when it matters most. The ability to stay calm under pressure, solve problems on the fly, and keep things moving isn’t just “a nice to have”. It’s what makes you indispensable.

When you handle high-pressure moments well, you're not just supporting the team, you're actively driving the firm’s success.

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