Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
This question is about what a legal analyst does, what a paralegal does, and legal analyst.
Legal Analyst vs. Paralegal
A legal analyst provides support to attorneys for legal proceedings including preparing documents and inspecting evidence for trial, while a paralegal conducts factual and legal research and manages cases.
A legal analyst is someone who is familiar with laws and legal documents and generally assists an attorney with reviewing and drafting legal documents including contracts, litigation filings, and discovery material. Daily duties typically include drafting and proofreading documents, reviewing contracts, and organizing and maintaining legal documents in various databases. Legal analysts will also typically be the one to respond to 3rd party and regulatory requests.
Paralegals are professionals who are trained to assist lawyers in various legal capacities including research, documentation creation, and case management. Paralegals are involved in more challenging and substantive work rather than clerical tasks but may not provide legal services directly to the public unless permitted by law. Paralegals help lawyers deliver legal services more efficiently and economically by gathering and managing large amounts of the workload. Paralegals may communicate with clients, witnesses, and court personnel on the lawyer's behalf, so excellent oral and written communication skills are essential.
There are many similarities between a legal analyst and a paralegal with some very minor differences in how duties are carried out.
Here are the key differences between a legal analyst and a paralegal:
A legal analyst's work tends to be more clerical in nature involving things like document creation and proofreading
A paralegal's work will be more substantive and involve things like research and case management
A legal analyst typically requires a minimum of a Bachelor's degree
A paralegal can obtain an associate's or bachelor's degree in a post-baccalaureate certification
Choose from 10+ customizable resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
