As a legal assistant, you’ll be working in an administrative office-based role within the legal industry. While an interest in law and additional qualifications can be ideal, they aren’t necessary. Most positions are open to high school graduates or those with general office administration experience, but if you really want to stand out or move into higher roles within the industry, you might consider pursuing an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in law or paralegal studies or a Certified Legal Assistant (CLA) certification.
Even more important are administrative skills like computer literacy, filing, scheduling appointments, and typing correspondence. Familiarity with legal terms and procedures and experience preparing legal documents is also a plus. If you’re interested in a career in law, like becoming a paralegal or attorney, working as a legal assistant is a great way to gain some experience and insight into the field before you commit to an expensive degree.
Legal assistants are generally paid hourly, with salary ranges fluctuating depending on your state. Average wages across the United States can range from $16.86 to $25.49 per hour. In 2023, legal assistants should be aware of the impact of trends like automation and remote work on the industry.
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As a legal assistant, you'll play a crucial role in supporting attorneys by performing various administrative and research tasks. The legal industry has seen a recent trend in the growth of technology-driven solutions, so employers are increasingly seeking candidates with a balance of traditional legal knowledge and modern technical skills. Crafting a targeted resume is critical for standing out in this competitive field, as it allows you to showcase your unique blend of skills and experience that will make you an asset to any legal team.
Your resume should reflect your understanding of the legal industry, highlighting relevant experiences and emphasizing your ability to use technology to improve efficiency. To ensure your resume gets noticed, it's important to tailor it to the specific job requirements, as well as demonstrate your adaptability and commitment to ongoing learning.
Since technology plays a significant role in the modern legal landscape, ensure you highlight your technical skills on your resume. Mention any specific software programs you're familiar with, such as document management systems, e-filing systems, and legal research databases, as well as proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.
Like the name implies, legal assistants are mainly tasked with assisting lawyers and other legal professionals in an office environment. Depending on your industry and firm, your role could include anything from organizing and filing documents to gathering evidence and assisting during trial. You’ll need a high level of research and organizational skills, excellent communication, and the ability to take direction and work within a team.
Including numbers and metrics in your accomplishments is a great way to provide extra context for your experience. It also clarifies exactly what you achieved and emphasizes what you can bring to the position. “Updated office records” is a duty, but “updated office records, improving the department's efficiency by 40%” is a resume-worthy accomplishment.
When listing skills on your resume, remember to focus solely on hard skills — things like specific software programs and legal certifications. To make this section even easier for a hiring manager to skim, consider breaking these skills down into sections by including separate subheadings for software, techniques, and certifications.
As an entry-level legal assistant, you'll be responsible for supporting attorneys and paralegals with tasks such as organizing documents, conducting research, and drafting legal documents. The legal field is constantly evolving, and employers are looking for candidates who can quickly adapt to new technologies and stay updated on current regulations. A strong resume is crucial to showcase your skills and demonstrate your commitment to this fast-paced industry.
In the legal field, attention to detail and strong communication skills are highly valued. Companies will be looking for candidates who can efficiently manage their workload, meet deadlines, and maintain a high level of professionalism. Crafting a tailored resume for this specific industry is essential to demonstrate your understanding of these expectations.
Even if you don't have direct work experience as a legal assistant, you can still emphasize relevant coursework or internships that have prepared you for this role. Detail specific courses or projects that demonstrate your knowledge of legal concepts, research, and document preparation.
As a legal assistant, you'll often be tasked with managing large volumes of documents and data. Showcase your proficiency in digital tools such as document management software and Microsoft Office suite, as well as your ability to maintain organized files and records.
You can apply for entry level legal assistant positions even without any legal qualifications or office administration experience, or transition to the field from other administrative roles. Employers will be looking for evidence of transferable skills as well as technical skills like data entry software and Microsoft Access. If you have experience as an intern or volunteer in a legal or related field, that can also strengthen your candidacy.
Tailoring your resume to a specific position is easier than you think, even if you’re applying for an entry level position. Including the title of the job you’re applying for at the top of your resume is the quickest way to do this and is a great way of getting past Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
Avoid falling into the trap of listing job duties instead of accomplishments by starting each bullet point with a strong action verb. This keeps the focus on what you actually did and makes it easier for hiring managers to understand your skills and experience. Emphasize your transferable skills by talking about times you’ve organized records, analyzed data, or conducted research.
An experienced legal assistant supports attorneys in a variety of ways. Tasks you can expect include doing research, preparing legal documents, scheduling meetings, organizing documents, etc. To qualify for this job you need to have a degree in law or paralegal studies or a paralegal certificate. This position is for an experienced legal assistant so you will be expected to have years of experience as a legal assistant. It would also benefit you to have experience as an administrator, especially in a law firm. Take a look at this recruiter-approved resume sample.
This position will have you doing a variety of roles as you support attorneys, so show a variety of skills in the skill section. Some basic skills you can include are legal research, scheduling, docketing, etc. Take a look at our list of recommended skills in this guide for more options.
Action verbs are powerful tools that you can use to shape your experience section. For this position, you can use them to indicate that you have experience performing a variety of tasks expected for this position. Useful action verbs can include ‘filed’, ‘assisted’, and ‘organized’. Take a look at the action-verb section of this guide for more action-verb options.
We spoke with hiring managers and recruiters at top law firms and legal departments, such as Davis Polk & Wardwell, Kirkland & Ellis, and Google, to gather their best tips for creating a winning legal assistant resume. They've seen thousands of resumes throughout their careers and know exactly what makes a candidate stand out. Here are their top pieces of advice for crafting a resume that will get you noticed and land you an interview.
Hiring managers want to see that you have a solid understanding of legal concepts and can navigate the unique terminology and procedures. Weave in specific examples throughout your resume.
Drafted discovery requests and responses, including interrogatories, requests for production, and requests for admission, in complex commercial litigation matters.
Compare that to a more generic description:
Assisted attorneys with discovery in litigation cases.
The first example demonstrates a much deeper knowledge of the discovery process and the types of documents involved, making a stronger impression.
A resume summary for a legal assistant role is optional. It's a short paragraph at the top of your resume that provides an overview of your most relevant qualifications. While it's not required, a well-written summary can grab the hiring manager's attention and convince them to keep reading.
However, avoid using an objective statement instead of a summary. Objectives are outdated and focus on what you want from the employer, rather than what you can offer them. If you have relevant legal assistant experience and skills, showcase them in your summary. But if you're a career changer or entry-level candidate, you may want to let your experience section speak for itself.
The work experience section is the core of your legal assistant resume. It's where you detail your relevant experience and accomplishments to show employers you have the skills to succeed in the role.
In this section, we'll walk through the exact steps to write an effective work experience section for a legal assistant resume, including what to include and how to make your bullets impactful.
The work experience section of your resume should never read like a job description. Recruiters aren’t interested in what duties you were assigned — they want to know what you accomplished in previous roles and what you’re likely to achieve in this one. The easiest way of distinguishing between a duty and an accomplishment is by starting your bullet points with a strong resume action verb, which keeps the focus on what you actually did.
As a legal assistant, you’ll be conducting research, preparing documents, and organizing legal documents. To emphasize your ability to do the job, choose action verbs that reflect what you’ll actually be doing. Systemized and Organized highlight your attention to detail and organizational skills, while Supported, Assisted, and Coordinated emphasize your teamwork and communication.
For a full list of effective resume action verbs, visit Resume Action Verbs.
As a legal assistant, office administrative skills are crucial. These include both soft and hard skills, but remember not to lump these together in your skills section. Technical skills like document drafting or CLA certification are hard skills that can be listed at the bottom of your resume. Transferable skills, on the other hand — things that are harder to demonstrate, like communication skills or time management — need to be highlighted through your accomplishments rather than stated outright.
To find out the exact skills hiring managers and ATS are screening for, always review the job description itself. From there, you can pull out the top skills the job is asking for. For more guided assistance, you can upload your resume to our Targeted Resume tool or browse our comprehensive list of legal assistant skills and keywords to ensure your resume lands on the top of the ‘yes’ pile.
You can include the above skills in a dedicated Skills section on your resume, or weave them in your experience. Here's how you might create your dedicated skills section:
This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on Legal Assistant job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more 'important' it is.
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